Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

HOW TO USE WISELY: - for your first dose, try 1 scoop (or a half scoop if you're small or female) & sip slowly - do NOT take simultaneously with other vitamins or supplements (raises risk of niacin flushing) - do NOT take simultaneously with other caffeine (until you know your sensitivity) - drink 8-10 glasses of water daily to maintain hydration, + more if needed for workouts - be aware it creates a "pumped" feeling of increased bloodflow & energy (so if you dislike that, don't take it) PERSPECTIVE: I'm a former athlete & gym trainer during college, currently a daily runner, part-time crossfitter & yoga enthusiast. I've weight-trained consistently for over a decade, drank many preworkouts & taken almost every fitness supplement ingredient on the market in one form or another. Considering the ingredients + price + availability + consistency of taste & texture, SixStar Explosion is the best on the market in my humble opinion. I guess others agree with me, because when I researched for this review, I discovered this is the best-selling preworkout in the US by units (& some sources say it's the best-selling fitness supplement powder in the US of all time, with ~200 million sold). TASTE/ TEXTURE: I like the Fruit Punch best, but all flavors are good and mix easily in a blender bottle. If you enjoy that generic all-American fruit punch taste (think: fruit punch KoolAid, sip-up drinks & candy flavors, not some gourmet authentic taste lol) then I think you'll like it best too. I sometimes add vanilla protein powder if I can't eat for a while. The Icy Rocket flavor is good, but it had a different mouth feel or aftertaste for me which took a bit of getting used to. It tastes excellent with vanilla protein powder + lots of ice, though, like those fruity + vanilla popsicles we ate (or some of us ate) as kids. INGREDIENTS: I'm 5'5" & 120lbs, and my daily workouts are a mix of running & resistance training. I do crossfit or yoga a few times per week with friends. For ME, 1 scoop of SixStar Explosion has almost exactly the amount of caffeine, niacin, beta alanine, & creatine that I want in a preworkout. If you're a big dude who's twice my weight, then you may want to increase your dose to 2 scoops after you know how it affects you. This is consistent with the label which says 2 scoops are fine. We know caffeine & some of these other ingredients have a stronger affect on females & individuals with smaller body weight & lower % of lean body mass, so those individuals should be conservative in dosing. Keep in mind that larger individuals, particularly larger males with a high % of lean body mass, may need additional creatine to reach optimal levels. Optimal creatine levels depend on multiple factors like lean mass, supplement dose, length of time & consistency of supplementation. Beta alanine and niacin both help improve blood flow and there's evidence that beta alanine may increase endurance so these are common ingredients in preworkouts. I'm SHOCKED by the reviews of people who claim they took 1 scoop and felt uncontrollable itching & redness. I work in healthcare and have NEVER seen a patient present with those symptoms from taking ANY legal supplement. That said, if you're sensitive to caffeine, then it's UNWISE to take any caffeinated product with additional caffeine, stimulants, or stimulating meds. Also, this product contains niacin which can cause slight flushing, a harmless side effect of increasing blood flow to the skin (which is what most people WANT in a preworkout). Do NOT SIMULTANEOUSLY take this product with a multivitamin that also contains niacin. I'd think this is common sense, but I realize that not everyone is as experienced with supplements. Lastly, some folks do claim that high doses of beta alanine (ABOVE this product) make them feel tingly, which could be a result of greater nerve sensitivity. Of course, greater sensitivity is a side effect of increased pump in general, which is what you want in a preworkout. The people claiming to have outright itching are mysterious, as there's no medical reason that should occur. If you're experiencing real itching & inflammation after consuming ANY food or product, PLEASE SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION. Genuine itching & inflammation are likely an allergy. But again, I've never seen that occur from these types of products and there's no medical reason for it with this product in particular. In healthcare, we consider a lot of the supplement "reactions" (that people entertain their friends or forums by talking about but never seek medical care to treat) to be "gym lore" inspired by groupthink/ placebo effect. Ya know what's likely to make you itch? Reading reviews/ forum tales of people claiming product made them itch, then taking that product & waiting to itch! ;-) BOTTOM LINE: The good news is that SixStar Explosion preworkout WORKS. I recommend it frequently, because It's the best value for the price. It contains ingredients that DO create real effects on your body and help you reach your fitness goals, which is what most of us want. You'll get a pump, increased energy, & increased blood flow. The amount of creatine in this product is sufficient for many of us to reach optimal levels. The flavor is good, the texture mixes well, and this preworkout can be used alone or with vanilla protein powder + 16oz of water.