Thread: Cam's Critiques: Amino Recovery by BB.com Platinum Series - A Watermelon IntraWorkout

Thanks for stopping in; I present to you my second installation of my new supplement reviewing series, Cam's Critiques!

But who is Cam?
First of all, I want to give a little bit of background on myself so that you all know who this review is coming from. To start, my name is Cam and I'm an 18 year old college student from Maine. I have been lifting since April of 2011, when I started in my friend's basement with a jr. bench set, some adjustable dumbbells, and a yoga mat. I didn't start wrapping my head around nutrition, form, and programming until the end of May last year when I started All Pro's Beginner Routine. I completed three cycles of All Pro's before leaving for France my first semester, where I made it through four cycle of Wendler's 5/3/1 using the bodybuilding template for my accessory lifts. My lifts (in lbs) are as follows:

Low-Bar Back Squat: 260x1
Deadlift: 265x6
Bench Press: 143x5 / 135x10
Standing Press: 100x5

Goals
I'm currently attempting to reevaluate my maintenance calories in order to establish proper macros for when I start my cut through Leangain's Intermittent Fasting on January 1st, 2013. I'm standing at 5'11" weighing in at 190lbs, and am an estimated 18-20% body-fat. Through my cut, I would like to attain 10-12% body-fat by July without losing muscle mass and while continuing to make strength gains.

------Now onto the product!------

Amino Recovery from the Bodybuilding.com Platinum Series

A HUGE thanks goes out to Kate Kennedy and the rest of the ever-so-generous crew with BB.com for hooking me up with some watermelon Amino Recovery.

So a little bit about Amino Recovery. It's the new intra-workout apart of the high-quality bb.com Platinum Series, consisting of 8g BCAAs for recovery, 1.5g L-Citrulline for pump and vascularity enhancement, and 3g L-Glutamine starring as muscular repair optimizing agent. Here's the profile to those interested:

Directions:
Unlike most products that give a range of how much liquid to mix the supplement with, Amino Recovery suggest 16oz of water with one scoop of powder. The directions propose drinking it intra-workout or throughout the day on recovery days. You'll want to be sipping this all the time (srs). I'm actually drinking some right now on the rocks that [B]I hand stirred, which actually turned out very well, with only very limited sediment at the bottom. Hopefully this does the job and stops this soreness from my combined bench and squat session yesterday, which resulted in two new rep PRs; 200x10 for squats and 135x10 for bench!

Proof:

*I'll continue now with posting pictures of using the product with some comments, then follow up with a clean, final review summing up all of my thoughts and opinions toward it.*

Here's an aerial view of Amino Recovery. It's pretty fun because the powder is white but the drink isn't. Stay tuned to see what I mean! What I really enjoy though is the texture and smell of the product. It feels exactly like talcum powder, yet smells of a thousand watermelon Jolly Ranchers. It's fantastic.

Here we have the before and after products of shaking Amino Recovery with 16oz of water. You'll notice a vibrant color, accurate with what the flavor is, and very limited foam or remnants of powder. Thumbs up in this department.

Final Ratings

Packaging: 10/10
Packaging is a huge aspect that some companies just don't get right. For example, I almost never purchase a supplement without an anesthetically pleasing container, simply because supplements can be dangerous and if a company can't spend the time and money to make a nice package, I'm automatically suspicious of the quality of their product. Fortunately, all bb.com Platinum Series products sport an especially sexy dark blue tub with plenty of platinum, white, other vibrant colors, and sweet designs on it. Definitely a 10 in this field.

Smell: 10/10
Watermelon Jolly Ranchers/10.

Mixability: 9/10
No serious problems in this department. When shaken, there's very little foam or remaining powder (however there is just a bit), and when stirred there's only a thin nickel-sized gathering of powder on the bottom of the glass. Very impressed.

Taste: 10/10
Here's where Amino Recovery stands out; it is easily the best tasting watermelon drink I have ever had, 100% serious. There's absolutely NO chemical taste and it is actually better tasting than sugary, delicious watermelon Kool-Aid, except without any of the calories or cavities. Next objective: to make a Watermelon Amino Recovery slushy. Will report back when said objective is completed .

Efficacy: 7/10
Here's where I'm slightly concerned. The last time I used Amino Recovery was during my combined bench/squat session, which was done on a 20 hour fast and lasted two hours. With the combination of my pre-WO and this product, I never lost a bit of energy, and even managed to hit TWO PRs on both of the big lifts of the workout, so that gets the rating up from 5 (neutral). However, even though I've been drinking Amino Recovery everyday, my soreness is just the same that it always was. Thus, I'm giving it a 7/10 for helping me sustain energy and power, but no more because of the fact that it hasn't reduced my soreness. Obviously this will be different for everyone, as everyone's body is different! Remember that reviews are very subjective based on personal thoughts and body types; everyone should give this a try to see how it works for them.

Value: 8/10
With the the current sale putting Amino Recovery at a tempting $19.97 per 30 serving tub (.67¢/serving), I'm giving it an 8/10 in terms of value. Had I noticed better effects, I would certainly up this to a 10/10 as it isn't expensive at all, however it is a product that I can live with taking or without.

OVERALL: 9/10

Once again I would like to thank Kate Kennedy and the rest of the crew at Bodybuilding.com for giving me this incredible opportunity. I loved taking the time to make this review and I'm enjoying the product very much. I would certainly recommend it to anyone! If you would like to purchase Amino Recovery, click HERE.

To see my workouts, videos, and possibly additional commentary about Amino Recovery until it runs out, feel free to subscribe to my log. I always love gaining more subscribers to get advice, criticism, and motivation from! Click here --> My Workout Log.

Thanks for reading; Happy New Years everyone!

Now this..

This is a fantastic review! Nice work, it's clear lots of thought and effort was put into this.

Great work!

nice job! stuff looks damn tasty too

Nice solid review man!

I got the blue raspberry flavor and had the same experience as you it seems.

Originally Posted by 12ccopeland

Oh nice how was blue raspberry? I had some pre-WO in blue raz so I wanted to venture into the watermelon realm of things .

It was pretty good man reminded me of a blue raspberry jolly rancher. Had a little bit of grain taste to it but not that bad if you mix and shake it up a decent amount. From the reviews it seems like I should of picked the Watermelon lol

Holy ultimate review!

Fantastic job my friend!

Great review Cope!

Ladies and gents, this young man will be a success one day in whatever he chooses in life. Damn impressed.

Nice work brother, always thoughtful.