Welcome to the ultimate Six Star Explosion pre-workout review. Your one stop shop to everything you could possibly need to know about the Six Star Explosion pre-workout. Which ingredients are involved, how much of them are present and why exactly the manufacturers have included them in their pre-workout product?
The influence of nutritional supplements in helping to improve physical performance is growing rapidly, and pre-workout in particular is central to this trend.
Marketed as magical energy drinks which are capable of both stimulating the mind and body in preparation for training whilst also helping to increase your physical gains as a consequence of that training, it can be difficult to separate fact from sales pitch when it comes to pre-workout supplements.
Fortunately you’re not alone on your quest to sieve through the bullshit and find a product which actually does what it says it will and works best for you and your training requirements. That’s what we’re here for!
Ingredients in Six Star pre-workout
Now this wouldn’t be much of a product review without considering the key ingredients which make up Six Star pre-workout and whether they meet the optimum dosages as recommended by the scientific research. This six star pre workout review will reveal the truth.
Before we get into the specifics, there are two major things to note about this Pro Nutrition produced supplement when it comes to it’s ingredients.
Serving size confusion:
Firstly, the disparity between the values per serving listed on the official supplement label on the back of the tub and those plastered across the front of the main advertising label, which require two servings to achieve…
This is a cheeky little loophole exploited by supplement manufacturers to make it look like their product contains higher doses of key ingredients than it actually does. Very naughty!
Our analysis of the quantities of each ingredient will focus on the amount per serving and nothing else!
Proprietary blend:
And secondly the use of two, yes two PROPRIETARY BLENDS! Now, in fairness two of the most important ingredients in the product, beta alanine and creatine are not included in either of these proprietary blends, which means you know exactly how much of each of these you are getting per scoop.
Unfortunately, there are some other integral ingredients within them, including caffeine, citrulline and tyrosine, which means we are left guessing as to how much of them is in the product.
Beta alanine (1500 mg):
At 1500 mg or 1.5g per serving, the dose of beta alanine in Six Star Explosion pre-workout is quite frankly insulting. Most of the scientific research agrees that a daily intake of 4-6g for at least 2 weeks is an effective dose. This kind of dosage will see your all important muscle carnosine concentrations increase by 20-30% in 2 weeks and by 40-60% after 1 month.[1]
It is this carnosine within your muscles, which enhances your bodies ability to buffer lactic acid and fight fatigue when engaging in short duration anaerobic activity like repeat sprints.
Creatine (1500 mg):
Another laughable dosage of one of the most effective nutritional supplements on the market.
1500 mg is less than a third of the 5g per day suggested for meaningful physiological benefits in terms of strength and lean muscle mass, nevermind the initial week long loading phase of 20g per day required to saturate your muscle stores!
To add insult to injury, both beta alanine and creatine are marketed on the front of the Six Star Explosion Pre-workout as being included at doses of 3g. Not only is this complete bullshit, but it wouldn’t make a blind bit of difference to our assessment anyway as even 3g is still way below the optimum dose for both ingredients!
L-arginine (1100 mg):
Arginine is converted in the body into a chemical called nitric oxide, which causes vasodilation and increased blood flow.[2] Not only does this help you transport oxygen and other nutrients to working muscles but it also gives you one hell of a pump! Yes please!
Unfortunately for Explosion pre-workout by Six Star, the vast majority of arginine consumed orally is metabolised in the liver before it gets a chance to do any of the above, which means it’s inclusion, in any quantity, is totally pointless.[3]
Pre-Workout Explosion Blend (535 mg):
The two headline acts of this proprietary blend are undoubtedly caffeine and tyrosine. Included to stimulate you mentally prior to a tough training session and help to improve cognitive performance, they are both worthwhile ingredients.
It is, however, almost impossible for us to determine whether Six Star Explosion pre-workout contains these ingredients at the optimum dose, as a result of their inclusion in a proprietary blend. Given that the total blend of 5 ingredients weighs 535 mg and the scientific research into tyrosine seems to suggest a minimum dose of 500 mg to be effective, it seems very unlikely that this product contains an effective dose of tyrosine.[4]
As far as caffeine is concerned, it is possible (mathematically at least) for this product to contain our recommended 250 mg dose, but again, it is impossible for us to tell you that it definitely does. That’s one thing from this six star pre workout review you should understand.
Advanced pump complex (500 mg):
The only ingredient within this blend worth talking about is citrulline. It is included as both l-citrulline and citrulline malate, which are simply two slightly different formulations of the same amino acid.
Now, citrulline is rapidly becoming one of the go to pre-workout ingredients as a result of its pump inducing and fatigue delaying properties. It does this via its conversion into arginine, which we know all about from our discussion above. The difference is, because this arginine has been produced in the body as a opposed to ingested, it is far more effective at expanding our blood vessels and improving circulation.
Unfortunately for Six Star Explosion pre-workout, in order to be effective at producing these physiological changes, l-citrulline and citrulline malate must be dosed at 3-6g and 6-8g respectively.[5] Given the total blend weighs 500 mg, it’s safe to say that this product is guaranteed to fall short for both of these variants of citrulline![6]
Pros and cons of Six Star Explosion pre-workout
| Pros | Cons |
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Benefits
This wouldn’t be a complete six star pre workout review without a benefits section.
As you can see from the pros column in the table above, we’re really struggling to pick out a whole load of positives for this pre-workout supplement.
If the product contained ergogenically effective doses of the heavyweight ingredients it is made up of then the benefits of this pre-workout for your training goals would be far reaching. We’re talking about increased training capacity, reduced fatigue, strength and lean muscle mass gains and even aesthetic pumps.
Unfortunately, however, the ingredients which can help you to achieve all those things are simply not included at high enough doses to do so!
Pricing
At $19.99 per pot on the official Pro Nutrition website, Six Star Explosion pre-workout comes in at $0.66 per serving. This makes it very reasonably priced indeed and most definitely at the cheaper end of the pre-workout supplement market.
Summary:
Despite the initial promise of a product containing some of the most scientifically effective ingredients in the world of nutritional supplements our Six Star pre-workout review should leave the reader feeling slightly befuddled!
It is impossible for us to overlook the attempts of Pro Nutrition to market the contents of this product falsely as well as the inclusion of not one but two proprietary blends.
There is only one reason a manufacturer of nutritional supplement products is reluctant to tell you exactly how much of something is in their product and that’s because it isn’t an optimum dose. Don’t for one minute believe the marketing spiel that it’s about protecting their unique formulas from competitors.
Everyone knows which ingredients are most effective and at what doses. If they are included in products as part of proprietary blends, it’s for one reason and one reason only. To deceive YOU, the consumer!
FAQ
Is Six Star pre workout explosion safe?
In all likelihood yes. It is impossible to say for certain as some of the ingredients which could potentially be harmful at high doses are included in proprietary blends so their exact quantities are unknown.
Creatine and beta alanine are both included at doses well below their ergogenic optimum and therefore pose no health risks whatsoever. The limited weight of the proprietary blend containing citrulline also suggests that there is no risk of a harmful dose of this ingredient.
Caffeine is the only ingredient that could potentially have some negative side effects for some users, particularly those with a low tolerance to stimulants. Having said that, given that caffeine consumption up to 400 mg has been demonstrated to be safe, it seems very unlikely that the 535 mg blend containing caffeine in this product has an unsafe dose within it.
If you haven’t taken a pre-workout supplement before or you know you have low tolerance levels to stimulants such as caffeine, we would recommend starting with a half serving of this product.
How do you take a 6 Star pre workout explosion?
Mix one scoop with 6 oz of cold water and consume about 30 mins prior to your session. If you tolerate this dose with no negative side effects you can increase you consumption to 2 scoops with 12 oz of water.
Does Six Star pre workout have creatine?
Yes, 1.5 g per serving.
Can I drink pre workout without working out?
Yes you can. Many of the ingredients within pre-workout are included to help improve cognitive performance (such as tyrosine) and many others, like creatine and beta alanine should be consumed daily, irrespective of exercise, in order to achieve their desired results.
Having said that, if your pre-workout contains high levels of stimulants such as caffeine you are likely to have a lot of extra energy, which needs to be expended!
Should you eat with pre-workout?
Consuming pre-workout on an empty stomach is likely to increase the potency of any stimulant ingredients within the product, which can make you feel light headed and nauseous. We would always recommend eating in conjunction with your pre-workout supplement and ensuring you are adequately hydrated, in order to minimise any potential negative side effects.
This concludes our six star pre workout review. Please leave a comment below.
References
[1] Stellingwerff T, Anwander H, Egger A, Buehler T, Kreis R, Decombaz J, et al. Effect of two beta-alanine dosing protocols on muscle carnosine synthesis and washout. Amino Acids. 2012;42(6):2461–72. doi: 10.1007/s00726-011-1054-4 and Harris RC, Jones GA, Kim HJ, Kim CK, Price KA, Wise JA. Changes in muscle carnosine of subjects with 4 weeks of supplementation with a controlled relase formulation of beta-alanine (CarnoSyn), and for 6 weeks post (Abstract) FASEB J. 2009;23:599.4.
[2] https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-875/l-arginine
[3]https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/first-pass-effect
[4] https://www.bulkpowders.co.uk/the-core/l-tyrosine-benefits-dosage-side-effects/
[5]Bailey, S. J., Blackwell, J. R., Lord, T., Vanhatalo, A., Winyard, P. G., & Jones, A. M. (2015). L-citrulline supplementation improves O2 uptake kinetics and high-intensity exercise performance in humans. Journal of Applied Physiology, 119(4), 385-395.
[6]Pérez-Guisado, J., & Jakeman, P. M. (2010). Citrulline malate enhances athletic anaerobic performance and relieves muscle soreness. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 24(5), 1215-1222.
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