A little history: I have been using Optimum Nutrition as a major supplement provider for the past five years. I have consistently gone back to cycles of their Isolated Whey Protein (Chocolate) because it is affordable in bulk, mixes well with milk and water, and is one of the more natural proteins in its class. I also only use Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine Powder in cycles for the past four years. I have never had any issues with these two products, obviously.

 

As a result, when I found out that they recently released their own Pre-Workout, I was excited. I bought it immediately and said as soon as my MusclePharm Assault and 1MR are finished, I’ll start a cycle with it. Well I did just that and was immediately not impressed. I got the Raspberry-Lemonade, 30 servings, which has recommended use of 1 scoop for average training and 2 for intense. It’s a rule that you only try the half serving the first time around with a new supplement so I did just that.

It tasted awful! Really was one of the worst tasting pre-workouts ever, and I have tried nearly all of them (not every flavor of all of them). The weirdest part was that is was spicy. I have a tongue disorder that causes my tongue to be extremely sensitive and this burned my tongue worse than chili peppers. This was extremely painful and the sensation lasted for quite some time. Within three days of starting using this I ended up in the emergency room with what was diagnosed as gastritis. Looking back, I truly believe that this was the cause of the gastritis, which essentially ruined my last two months of 2012 and even carried into 2013. I believe if I did not buy this product, I would not have had my health issues that led to me missing work, Christmas, and weeks of working out.

Now, I have no issue with ON over the incident but as of tonight, despite having servings left, I will stop taking it to see if my stomach issues and digestive problems go away. If they don’t, maybe I’ll finish the load. If they do, I’ll give it away to someone who might not have as sensitive a stomach. I highly doubt any other supplement that I am taking is the cause since I have used them for the last five years with no issues.

As for its effectiveness, it is hard to measure but I never felt any sensation of extra blood or oxygen flowing through my veins or body during the cycle. No tingling in the lips or mouth. No extra pump in muscle groups and no noticeable decrease in my lactic acid build up.So unfortunately, ON, from a professional opinion, I have to give your Platinum Pre-Workout a 2/10. It is somewhat affordable and mixes well, but tastes awful and has little to no effect on a workout, either pre, during or post. The rating does not even include what I think it did to my health. No hard feelings on potentially ruining a ton of progress that I made and my two favorite months and holidays of the year.