Comments on: Cheapest NO Xplode Ever! How To Make Your Own

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 12:15:07 +0000

@jae. No I don’t. I just have a meal, maybe an hour or two beforehand.

By: Jae

Jae — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 12:04:12 +0000

Mark,
Do you take any kind of protein for preworkout or just your concoction?
Thank you very much for all your articles.

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 10:52:54 +0000

@Scott. You can mix it with a protein shake no problem. It wouldn’t be diluted so long as the active ingredients are there in the specified amounts.

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 10:52:08 +0000

@Dan. I’ve only seen b12 appear beneficial when taken as a cocktail with other ingredients, so it’s difficult to know of its true efficacy in isolation. I’d recommend you come off it, so you know once and for all if it’s doing any good. Try my cheap cocktail instead.

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 10:48:10 +0000

@Mike D. In the article I link to recommended supplements for US readers. See above The Protein Works section.

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 10:47:54 +0000

@Mark. The question is would it do anything additional that you won’t get with beta-alanine (it delays fatigue fantastically) alone? I don’t think it would.

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 10:45:12 +0000

@Cesar. On a HIT split like that you would end up doing too many sets and not be recovered 48 hrs later. You might get away with it for the first week, but not for long. So you would stall your progress because of overtraining.
Cable preacher curls to failure is the best thing you can do for your biceps.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 05:45:15 +0000

Hi Mark,
Was quickly wondering if you could mix this with a protien shake and acheive the same effect or would the shake dilute the performance of this pre workout?

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 20:54:01 +0000

Just ran out Of my ASSAULT and haven’t had the money to want to buy another 30 day supply. I’ve noticed since I haven’t had it my workouts haven’t been as Intense, I will definitely be trying this….can you tell me your thoughts on b12 supplements. When training for the police academy my dr gave me a b12 shot and it seemed to really help my endurance. I’ve seen many pre workout supps include b12 and if I stop using them inlieu of this, I may want to add another source of it. Thanks for everything, so far you haven’t steered me wrong

By: Mike D

Mike D — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 20:07:34 +0000

Hey Mark,
Great plan you’ve come up with. I am, however, in the U.S. and TheProteinWorks won’t ship to the US. Do you have any recommendations for international shippers or a US company?
Thanks,
Mike D

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 17:51:43 +0000

Great article Mark
I also think L-Citruline to be a worthy addition, as it converts to L-Arginine and then nitric oxide.
Not only that L-Citrulline also helps to reduce the amount of lactic acid build-up you experience during your workouts, which can reduce the amount of fatigue you feel.
L-Citruline is abundant in watermelon, the word actually comes from the Latin for watermelon Citrulus from which it was first isolated.
I challenge you to eat 3 to 4 large slices of watermelon pre workout and see for yourself. I do this regularly and the pump you get is immense and lasts for hours.

By: Cesar H

Cesar H — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 15:14:25 +0000

HI Mark, how are you?

I follow you for years now.
I am in love with the HIT on THT 5.2 system.
Always tried to follow the 5day split system with some resistance to the HIT Cycle
but now I really enjoy HIT more than the Volume Cycle.

My question on that is: Would it be possible to have
a HIT cycle with one day hitting the upper body and the other Legs? So I could still have 5 or 6 days a week
of training… I really like going to the gym everyday, so it would make sense for me.

What are you thoughts on that?

Another issue is that I am seeking for a focus on Biceps, is there anything I could add on HIT fora that
or you think it is unnecessary?

Thanks a lot!!! Hope to hear from you soon!

Best,

Cesar, from Brazil.

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 15:10:44 +0000

@Matt. Yeah I’ve always made my own cocktails 🙂

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 13:53:43 +0000

Mark, you’re doing exactly the same as me. Buying in bulk and making my own PWO and other supplements. You can tweak them to suit your specifics requirements and goals.

I suggest you look up “pure bulk” on amazon as well. And I use “smart powders” as a vendor as well. Both have great products in bulk. The later is a website while the first mentioned can be purchased on amazon.

Matt

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:37:32 +0000

@Nathan. Yes you can try 300mg. I wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending any more than that in one sitting.
@Dani. There’s no good evidence for that. Just one poorly designed study. I won’t believe it until there’s better evidence. On paper, they shouldn’t “cancel each other out” at all. Anyway, take your caff pre-workout and creatine post-workout.
@Antonio. That’s great to hear!
@Shaun. A spoon of coffee wouldn’t give you 200mg of caffeine. Take whey, AAKG, and a 200mg caffeine pill pre, and take your creatine, whey and glutamine post-workout.
@Simon2. They also claim that creatine Ethyl Ester is better too but it’s actually much worse. See here
https://musclehack.com/creatine-facts-what-is-the-best-creatine/
So stick with regular AAKG
@Mik. No it won’t. You’d be better off with the caffeine pills though since 200mg of caffeine from 1 cup of coffee would be seriously strong.

By: brian

brian — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 19:48:40 +0000

Thanks for all the info,if you had sold all the bodybuilding tips,i am sure you would be rich by now.Also for the cheap home made NOxplode details,nice to have you for a friend

By: Sean

Sean — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 18:33:06 +0000

I’d also mention that l-tyrosine may be worth looking into in combination with caffeine and l-arginine; I’ve been taking it for other reasons, but noticed that it definitely improves my workout stamina and focus. Tossing a little in the homemade NO-xplode might be worth a shot for certain people.

By: Mik

Mik — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 14:41:39 +0000

Mark- I train after my half hour drive into town, then I start work, so the timing would be perfect. I’m wondering about what Antonio said however- will the combination of AAKG and drinking coffee freak me out to the point of needing a straight jacket, or will I be able to function properly? Thanks again…

By: Simon2

Simon2 — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:12:04 +0000

Hey Mark, have you encountered Arginine Ethyl Ester HCL? I’ve read reviews that claim it’s better than AAKG. Unfortunately I can’t find any peer reviewed studies proving the claims of any Arginine product, well, the AAKG is pretty cheap from myprotein so not a lot to lose really, Arginine Ethyl Ester HCL is more expensive £16.95 / 250g but if it works with an active dose of 2g as people say, this works out at under 14p a dose!

By: Shaun

Shaun — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 07:58:06 +0000

Hi Mark,

Thanks for this article! I’ve been looking into getting myself some N.O supplements since I’ve read about it and a friend of mine also raved about it.

Here in South Africa supplements are rather expensive when comparing to the rest of the world. In any case, this is a lot cheaper than buying any branded N.O.

I was wondering if it would be wise to mix a whey protein shake with a spoon of coffee and AAKG? I usually get home from work and have a protein shake with some glutamine before hitting the gym 20 minutes later.

By: Antonio Wright

Antonio Wright — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 07:31:22 +0000

@Nathan, I tried the combo today and the pump was amazing. I was using Jack3d for two weeks prior and I never experienced a pump like that.

By: krs

krs — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 01:03:01 +0000

Awesome Mark will give this a try.

By: Dani B

Dani B — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 22:52:48 +0000

Hey mark, thanks so much for your great efforts and highly informative articles. I have one question re the use of caffeine and creatine: I know caffeine is a great pre workout stimulant and that creatine certainly has the scientific backing for increased muscle volume, however these papers also suggest that caffeine antagonizes the creatine uptake!!!
Can you please help me ascertain the correct dozing and time spacing to ensure gains from both and revert the antagonist effects of each on another.
Thanks mark
dani

By: Nathan

Nathan — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 22:20:22 +0000

Mark-

I see you have identified the active ingredients from N.O. Xplode, but have you tried this cocktail? IF so, how did it compare to N.O. Xplode? Finally, if caffeine doesn’t affect me too much, can I up the dosage? (I’m 6’5″ and about 205 lbs.)

As always, good stuff here. Thanks again!

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 20:18:45 +0000

@Dale. I don’t see why not as long as it’s purely AAKG and contains at least 4g.
@Han. The Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition published a position statement on creatine in 2007. Yes it’s safe, read about it here…
https://musclehack.com/creatine-the-most-effective-ergogenic-nutritional-supplement/
Regarding long-term usage, the debate on this has never been settled. To be on the safe side, I recommend trainees cycle their creatine supplementation. 8-9 weeks on with 2-3 weeks off. The body does make the type of unwanted adaptations you mention above with other substances, so it makes sense to me that this may apply to creatine as well. So cycle your creatine.
@Mik. Yes you can. But the point is to take this pre-workout, unless you train when you get to work (nice job if you do 😉 ).