Neogenix Velocity XT Review: Pre-Workout Energy Rush

The Velocity XT® sales copy focuses on the product's energy-elevating characteristics, with a secondary nod to its fat burning capabilities...

"Whether you are looking for an all-day energy boost, to incinerate body fat, or just a pre-workout energy rush; Velocity XT® is the only choice!"

With Velocity XT, Neogenix has bucked the trend of jamming 3-dozen under-dosed ingredients into their formula (a big thumbs up for that!) and instead, has opted for something much simpler. A single 3-capsule, 1260 mg serving contains a mere 5 ingredients!

Very refreshing!

Of course, because it's a proprietary blend, we can't be 100% certain of the exact amounts of any of the ingredients. Nonetheless, with so few included, it's at least possible they are all included at a worthwhile dosage.

So what's in Velocity XT?...

1) Thiamine Disulfide Butyrate: Thiamine, also known as Vitamin B1, plays an important role in energy metabolism, and is thought to play a role in appetite suppression. This novel, potent version of thiamine is being touted as a potent enhancer of physical and mental energy—especially when combined with caffeine (as it is in this formula).

2) Caffeine: On its own, caffeine is a mild thermogenic with demonstrated benefits for weight loss (see Am J Clin Nutr. 1989 Jan;49(1):44-50, Am J Clin Nutr. 1980 May;33(5):989-97), although some data indicates it offers greater benefits to lean individuals that those who are overweight (see Am J Physiol. 1995 Oct;269(4 Pt 1):E671-8).

Of course, caffeine is cheap, and works effectively to provide a "boost" of energy many people find helpful, especially at the end of the day when a little "extra" is needed to make it to the gym for a productive workout.

3) Phenylethylamine (PEA): PEA is an "amphetamine-related", mood-elevating chemical naturally present in foods like chocolate and was once thought to be the reason people were "chocoholics." It is generally used in fat burner supplements in the hopes it will elevate mood and promote a feeling of well being (some retailers claim it works as a thermogenic, but there's no evidence to support this assertion).

Perhaps not surprisingly, there is a problem with PEA though.

It is too rapidly metabolized by the enzyme monamine oxidase (MAO) to be of much use to us.

That's why most products focused on squeezing the most from PEA also contain natural monamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI's).

Does this one? With that said, let's look at the next ingredient in this formula...

4) Hordenine: A biogenic amine found in a number of plants, including barley and several species of cacti. It’s alleged to be beneficial for fat/weight loss, due to its ability to stimulate the release of norepinephrine, although there is no research to confirm this claim.

This ingredient is also included in many formulations that contain the aforementioned phenylethylamine for the reason that it may increase its effectiveness. According to the most credible research I've seen, hordenine isn't a MAOI per se, but a highly selective substrate for MAO-B.

What does this mean in plain English?

It means that the enzyme responsible for the breakdown of phenylethylamine is really, really attracted to hordenine, meaning that if the two compounds are both present at the same time, it will prefer to act upon hordenine, allowing the PEA to slip into the bloodstream intact. That's the theory anyway. How well it works in the real world is a matter of some speculation.

5) 1,3-Dimethylamylamine: This compound is also known as "methylhexaneamine." 1,3-Dimethylamylamine (DMAA), is an adrenergic amine that acts as a CNS stimulant. It was originally patented by Eli Lilly as a nasal decongestant in 1944, but largely abandoned until re-introduced as a dietary supplement (Geranamine™) by Proviant Technologies, the parent company of Ergopharm.

Although there's no current research to validate the claims being made by the retailers (for performance, weight loss, or otherwise), it's not unreasonable to assume that as a potent CNS stimulant, it does offer some thermogenic effects. As previously indicated however, how much so has yet to be established by any credible studies.

DMAA has gotten mostly rave reviews from users for its effects on mood, focus and energy. A few have reported problems with higher doses, however, so some caution is advised when supplementing.

This is not the first weight loss product to contain DMMA. Ergolean's AMP (and now AMP 2) contains it, and garnered a fair bit of mainstream negative publicity, with one expert calling the legality of DMAA into question and saying...

"The chemical structure is similar to amphetamines and ephedrine..."

Other newer DMAA-containing products include Ripped Freak and USP Labs' Oxyelite Pro.

Although I haven't used any DMAA-containing thermogenics, I have experimented with a DMAA-based pre-workout supplement (Nutrex's HemoRage) and I can testify to the potency of DMAA for getting you "jacked."

So there you have it; Velocity XT in a nutshell.

How's it measure up?

Well, on the "energy" front, I have no doubt it works very well indeed—the caffeine / DMAA / thiamine disulfide stack pretty much ensures that.

The PEA/hordenine blend is the dark horse here—it's difficult to say how much it contributes to the formulation. If the hordenine does inhibit the metabolism of PEA, that may take Velocity XT into the "tear your head of territory" of other DMAA supplements like the aforementioned Ripped Freak or OxyElite Pro.

As far as true "fat loss" ingredients go, only caffeine has any credible data behind it. This product is definitely strong on the "energy" ingredients and short on the proven "fat burning" ones.

One thing I'm happy about is that a full dose is served up in a 3-capsule serving, which means you can easily start with a small, single-capsule dose to assess your tolerance... something I highly recommend in the case of this, and any other DMAA containing supplements.

So, should you experiment with Velocity XT?

Well, if customer feedback on BodyBuilding.com is any indication (and visitor feedback must always be taken with a grain of salt, even on this site) this product OVER-delivers on the energy front. If that's what you're looking for, and don't have any underlying health issues like high blood pressure or heart issues, this product is probably as good as any.

Just don't expect any fat burning miracles from it.

Have you used Velocity XT? Share your
comments and read Velocity XT user reviews / testimonials, click here!

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5) To watch our video on deceptive billing practices, click here!
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ErgoLean Amp 2 Review: Weightloss And Energy?

ErgoLean's Amp 2 is a pretty popular weight loss supplement (squeaking into 19th position on BodyBuilding.com's Top 50 list of fat burners at the time of this writing), and therefore, worth a good long look. According to the advertising I saw, Amp contains...

"... ingredients that are turning the dietary fat loss market on its head."

Does it?

And what about the claim that taking this product and its unique blend of ingredients...

"...results in tremendous energy boost and appetite suppression."

Well, let's find out by having a closer look at Amp 2 and its ingredient profile. A single 2-capsule serving contains 483 mg of the following ingredients...

Caffeine Anhydrous: No surprise here; caffeine's got a well established record as a thermogenic, and does help with weight loss (see Am J Clin Nutr. 1989 Jan;49(1):44-50, Am J Clin Nutr. 1980 May;33(5):989-97). It also cheaply and effectively addresses the most common complaint of dieters; lack of energy. Zingerone: A component of ginger, small animal studies performed on zingerone have been positive for weight loss (Yakugaku Zasshi. 2008 Aug;128(8):1195-201) albeit the dosage used (170 mg/kg) is too high to be transferred into humans (a 180 lbs. person would need to take about 14 grams a day). Raspberry Ketone: a phenolic compound derived from red raspberries, raspberry ketones have only really been shown effective in animal studies (you can view the details of the study here). You are not a mouse, and the results of animal studies do not necessarily translate over to humans.

An unpublished pilot study performed on Razberri-K (a patented form of raspberry ketones) demonstrated it enhanced post-exercise fat oxidation, although the results were apparently not large enough to be statistically significant.

Fursultiamine: A derivative of Vitamin B1, the Amp 2 advertising states that this ingredient may

"...improve exercise performance and reduce muscle fatigue."

I did find some evidence that high-dose thiamine supplementation (100 mg/day) does appear to reduce exercise reduced fatigue (Metab Brain Dis. 1996 Mar;11(1):95-106).

On the other hand, studies performed with large doses of Fursultiamine (1,000 mg/day) showed it to have no effect on exercise performance (see Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol. 1997;75(6):520-4).

Dimethylpentylamine or DMAA (Constituent Of Geranium Oil): DMAA is an adrenergic amine that acts as a CNS stimulant. It was originally patented by Eli Lilly as a nasal decongestant in 1944, but largely abandoned until re-introduced as a supplement ingredient (Geranamine™) by Proviant Technologies (the parent company of Ergopharm). Although there's no current research on it, DMAA's gotten mostly rave reviews from users for its effects on mood, focus and energy.

When the original AMP came out, it created a bit of a hubbub due to its DMAA content, even receiving some pretty negative publicity in the Washington Post.

Green Coffee Bean Extract: This ingredient is likely standardized for something called "chlorogenic acid." Although there is some animal data that indicates this compound has weight loss benefits (see BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2006, 6:9), there is currently no human-based clinical data available. Evodiamine: a Chinese fruit that some claim burns fat by increasing the body's production of heat, as well as reducing the body's ability to store fat. Although a preliminary animal study shows promising results, to date there's no evidence showing evodiamine works in people. Kaempferol: This ingredient, usually derived from grape seed, has shown anti-obesity activity in animal and in-vitro experiments, but human data is lacking. Coleus forskohlii extract (On BodyBuilding.com, the ingredients list includes forskohlii, but the product label does not): Usually standardized for forskolin, clinical data indicates that this ingredient provides modest benefits for fat loss.

As you can now see, Amp 2 doesn't exactly contain ingredients that are "turning the fat loss market on its head."

With the exception of caffeine, the fat burning value of the remainder of the ingredients is largely speculative, based almost entirely on animal-derived clinical data.

That's not to say some of these ingredients might be proven helpful in humans in later studies, it's just at this time, those studies don't exist.

So as I say... their value is largely speculative.

Next, there's the issue of dosage. ErgoLean's AMP 2 contains 160 mg of caffeine per serving, which means there's only 323 mg of ingredients left— to be divided between the remaining 8 ingredients. That's not a lot, obviously, and pretty much guarantees that most ingredients are going to be present only as "label dressing" (i.e., they make the label look impressive, but are unlikely to be present in a dosage high enough to elicit any effect).

As an example, consider the coleus forskohlii included in this product. One study (Obesity Research (2005) 13, 1335–1343), demonstrated modest weight loss with this ingredient... when 250 mg of 10% forskolin extract was taken twice a day. In this formula, we don't know how potent the extract is, but we do know there's nowhere near the required 500 mg here.

At the same time, reviews of this product are largely positive, most praising Amp 2's clean and "jitter-free" boost of energy, which could very well be attributed to its dimethylpentylamine content (DMAA does not need to be present in a huge dose in order to be effective. In fact, the DMAA / caffeine combo pretty much guarantees you're going to "feel" this product, and low dosages or not, it might be smart to start off with a half-dose to assess your tolerance.)

Little is said about its fat burning characteristics, on the other hand.

The product label recommends anywhere from 1-4 caps per serving—and at 4 caps, this product becomes pretty potent (320 mg of caffeine alone), but expensive; a 120 capsule bottle retails for around $35 at BodyBuilding.com. You'll go through that pretty quickly taking a 4-capsule dose a couple of times a day.

Have you used ErgoLean Amp 2? Share your
comments and read Amp 2 user reviews, click here!

UltimateFatBurner.com Recommended Quick Links:

1) For a listing of popular women's fat burner reviews, click here!
2) For a listing of popular "unisex" fat burner reviews, click here!
3) To see which products we recommend, click here!
4) To read what our visitors say about us, click here!
5) To watch our video on deceptive billing practices, click here!
6) To read the review of our recommended diet program, click here!
7) For an introduction to fat burners; what they are, what they do, and what you absolutely need to know about them, click here!

To find a specific product review, use the search function on the top right hand side of this page, or the alphabetical listing to the right of this table.

Have you been the victim of a product that makes exaggerated claims? Launch a complaint!

US visitors should submit a complaint to the US Federal Trade Commission!

Canadians, submit a complaint at the Canadian Competition Bureau!

Back to UltimateFatBurner.com: Reviews of Fat Burners, Diet Supplements and Weight Loss Programs!

  

View the original article here