Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have been a personal trainer for over a decade so I have tried just about every sports product out there, to the point that I VERY seldom review them just because I would not even know where to start. To be honest, most of the time whatever 'new' fitness product is the same old crap in a pretty new bottle and if you don't eat right and train properly, its a waste of money. However, every once in a while, I find a product I am actually impressed by and that I feel the difference. Being that I have pretty much tried it all, my body DOES know the difference between powered junk and quality supplements. I have to say, this product is GREAT QUALITY and worthy of a 5 star review! The reasons are pretty simple: 1) It tastes GOOD and the fruit punch tastes like Kool-Aid and NOT some nasty, chalky old-school muscle head swill like the stuff back in the old gym days. 2) It MIXES easily and smoothly in water with a spoon and I didn't need to shake it, put it in a blender or use a jackhammer to break up clumps because it had NO clumps! Amazing! 3) It reduces muscle soreness, speeds healing time and does everything a great amino formula SHOULD do! 4) It's fairly cheap per serving and you don't have to take 10 huge tablets to get the proper dose. 5) The powder form makes it easy to adjust the dose to your weight, which is handy if you weigh 105 lbs. like I do and don't need a 'bodybuilder' size dose. So NO this won't give you some magical ability to gain muscle, lose fat or have super energy. BUT when added to a good diet and workout program, a good BCAA supplement can help you recover faster, reduce soreness and have a stronger workout when taken regularly. So its not the magic powder but its probably as close as you will get if you had to choose one supplement to take for recovery A HUGE bonus too: IF you have some type of muscle injury, tear or sprain, extra branched chain amino acids can help your tissue heal faster. This was exactly how I discovered what a great quality product this was, compared to others I have taken. I sprained my ankle and bruised my heel on a hike and it was healing very slow and bothering me for DAYS! Amino acids seemed to be helping it but the progress was slow. I was taking some other horse-size tablet brand of BCAA'S and ran out. I picked up this brand because it was on sale and the guy at the health food store said it tasted good and I couldn't STAND to take any more huge horrible horse pills. My foot felt MUCH better within two days of taking this and I started noticing my arms and abs looking slightly leaner too, BONUS! I was not even working out at that time. I took the full two scoops for a week until my foot was healed and it was the ONLY thing that really seemed to work. I took TONS of supplements trying to get this thing healed but this product by FAR made the most difference in my recovery time. It does not have caffeine or sugar and it can certainly help repair muscle and that is important no matter what sport or type of workout you do, or even if you don't work out. This is not just a product for "gym" people. Amino acid supplements are great for anyone recovering (but check with your doctor of course) from an injury. Branched chain amino acids help tissues, skin and muscle repair and even if you eat enough protein, boosting the levels of certain amino acids can help the body heal faster. So while this is strongly marketed as a fitness product and has the "pretty" and flashy label aimed at gym rats, the actual STUFF in the tub has health uses that go far beyond the gym. I highly recommend this product as an NASM certified personal trainer and an NASM fitness nutrition specialist and I have NO affiliation with this or with any supplement company. I only review products I feel are great. I have a no-nonsense approach when it comes to supplements and I believe in sticking to the basic ones that work...A good multivitamin, a good protein powder, maybe some extras for women and those who are athletes AND a product like this one = A good quality branched chain amino acid in a mixable and great tasting powder form. This doesn't taste like chalk and it doesn't require swallowing 5-10 horse tablets. On a side note, I am back in the gym now and I use this regularly instead of the BCAA chalk-fruit-powders or horse pills I used to take. For normal workouts, I take half the suggested dose but when I am very sore (like leg day) I take the full dose and I am a lot less sore the next day. Also, I take the full dose anytime I feel run down, sore or am recovering from an injury or a cold or flu. For those of us that are naturally small, slender or lean this is a VERY good way to keep your strength up. So basically anyone young or old that needs to build up strength, this is a great supplement to take. Many women who are dieting avoid "muscle" supplements like this one BUT I do notice that BCAA's have some nice side effects for ladies, like looking more toned, having stronger nails and hair and even healing up skin breakouts faster. Your muscle, skin, hair and nails are all made of protein so adding amino acids do a lot more for me than any of those so called "hair and nail" vitamins, or at least it did for me. Even on days I don't work out, I sometimes take a half-dose if I am gardening, hiking or doing something active. This has been added to my list of "basics" and is one of the BEST new-school products I have tried in a long time!