What Are The 5 Best Pump Boosters – Buying Guide
What Are The 5 Best Pump Boosters – Buying Guide! In Part 1, we were introduced to the 5 Best pump products. In Part 2, we’ll dive into a detailed buying guide that covers everything you need to know. If you’re ready, let’s jump right in!
The 5 Best Pump Boosters – Buying Guide
What Are Pump Boosters?
One of the first things to clarify about a nitric oxide pump booster is that nitric oxide is not an ingredient. So what is it? Nitric oxide is a vital signaling molecule and gas produced naturally by the body that relaxes blood vessels. This in turn allows them to widen (vasodilation) to improve blood flow, oxygen, and nutrient delivery. To recap: there are no supplements that contain nitric oxide. What they contain are ingredients that stimulate the body’s natural production of nitric oxide.
What Is Nitric Oxide?
Nitric Oxide contains one atom of oxygen and one atom of nitrogen. It is synthesized from the amino acid arginine. An enzyme group called Nitric Oxide Synthase regulates this process. This enzyme breaks down arginine and converts it into nitric oxide.
It also converts citrulline to arginine. This, in turn, converts into nitric oxide. This is why arginine and citrulline are popular nitric oxide boosters. In fact, the first nitric oxide booster, NO2 by MRI Performance, consisted of l-arginine. The current NO2 Black, a powdered formula version, was a very strong contender for best overall. (1,2)
Nitric Oxide And The Pump
Nitric oxide boosters are among the most popular supplements currently available. As noted, it forces more blood into your muscles. This means you’ll get a good pump during your workout. Nitric oxide also increases the transport of nutrients and oxygen. If you’re working out, your muscles will recover faster and perform better.
The pump is thought by some to influence muscle growth. There’s a theory for this called Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy. This refers to an increase in the sarcoplasmic fluid around the muscle cell. The sarcoplasm swells in size beyond normal and the muscle will then be signaled to grow. (3)
What Are Cell Volumizers?
Cell volumizers are another type of pump booster. Unlike nitric oxide boosters, they increase muscle cell volume by pulling fluid into the muscles. Supplements that do this are known as osmolytes.
Creatine monohydrate was the first of this type of product, and after its introduction, it created the category and the supplement industry has never been the same. In addition, taurine, betaine, and glycerol are also cell volumizers. The best pump products, whether they are pre-workouts or specifically pump boosting formulas, contain both cell volumizers and N.O. boosters.
Benefits Of Pump Boosters
Here are the benefits of pump boosters.
Nitric Oxide Boosters
- Increased Blood Flow – As noted, this means more blood pushes into the working muscles. The improved circulation also supports cardiovascular health and sexual performance.
- Improved Delivery Of Nutrients And Oxygen – As noted, this is a major benefit of nitric oxide. This saturates the muscles in necessary nutrients, improving recovery. This also improves endurance.
- Removal Of Waste Products – More blood also removes the buildup of waste products. These can occur while training. This improves performance.
Cell Volumizers
- Pulls Water Into Your Muscles – This causes the muscles to swell in size. Compounds that do this are called osmolytes. An osmolyte is a molecule that acts as a water magnet. They play a major role in the fluid balance of the body. (4)
- Provides Extreme Hydration – You’re in a hyper-hydrated state as a result, for max effect, drink lots of water.
- Increases Endurance – Glycerol has the added benefit of dramatically extending endurance. Creatine does this by promoting ATP production.
- Increased Strength & Size – This is one of the main benefits of creatine. Betaine supports this benefit as well.
- Improved Cognition – Another recently discovered creatine benefit.
Ingredients You Should Look For
Here are the most common nitric oxide/cell volumizing ingredients.
L-Citrulline/L-Citrulline Malate
Citrulline is a proteinogenic amino acid that converts into arginine once it’s in your body. This compound absorbs better than arginine, making it more effective at stimulating nitric oxide production. Some products use citrulline malate, which is a blend of citrulline and malic acid. This is an ingredient involved in the production of ATP. There’s a lot of debate over this combo. Adding malic acid cuts the amount of pure citrulline in half but adds endurance benefits to the product. Yet it does nothing for nitric oxide production. If you want the benefits of nitric oxide, you want the strongest dose possible. That means no malic acid. Go with pure citrulline. Dosing should be at least 3g of pure citrulline. Some products, such as Gorilla Mind Gorilla Mode Nitric, go as high as 10g. (5)
S7™
This is a branded ingredient consisting of 7 herbal extracts. Included are green coffee bean extract, green tea extract, turmeric, tart cherry, blueberry, broccoli, and kale. These ingredients stimulate nitric oxide production. One advantage of S7 is that all that’s needed is a small dose. In fact, 50mg is a good starting point. Our runnerup, MRI NO2 Black, has a max dose of 200mg. Some products, such as Alpha Lion Superhuman Pump, use as little as 75mg. (6)
VASO6™
This is another patented ingredient. It comes from green tea and grape seed. It has a 50% conversion rate to nitric oxide. Like other nitric oxide boosters, this compound enhances blood flow. One of the biggest advantages of this ingredient is that it works quickly. (7)
VasoDrive-AP®
This ingredient is based on casein protein. It stimulates greater nitric oxide production by reducing vasoconstriction. This means it blocks the enzyme that can limit blood flow. Reduced blood flow means weak pumps and less nutrient delivery. This is a newer ingredient that you will find in some nitric oxide supplements. The best example of a product with this ingredient is Gorilla Mind Gorilla Nitric. (8)
Agmatine Sulfate
Here’s another compound that promotes the production of nitric oxide. This ingredient is a metabolite of arginine. Agmatine increases nitric oxide production and improves glycogen storage. In addition, it also supports cognitive function. It does this because it can function as a neurotransmitter. Cool stuff, right? (9)
Nitrosigine™
This is another patented ingredient and a combination of arginine and silicon. Like the other ingredients, this increases nitric oxide production. It’s fast acting (you will feel it within 30 minutes from the first time you use it) and long lasting and will stay active in your body for 6 hours! (10)
Arginine
Originally, regular l-arginine was the ingredient used in early nitric oxide boosters (think NO2 by MRI Performance). Since then, it has been available in many forms, such as arginine akg. More recently, it’s one of the two compounds that make up Nitrosigine(™). Also, it’s still available as standard l-arginine.
Creatine
As noted, creatine is the original cell volumizer. The preferred version is creatine monohydrate, and of course, this version has tons of research backing up its effectiveness. Not to mention, it does much more than promote cell volume. Most likely it’s in the Stack of every serious lifter (if it isn’t it should be).
Betaine
Betaine, also known as TMG or trimethylglycine, occurs naturally in beets. Technically, it’s the amino acid glycine with three methyl groups attached. It’s become a standard pre-workout ingredient but It is available as a stand-alone supplement. Betaine is an osmolyte, plus it is also often compared to creatine in terms of such benefits as increasing strength and power. (11)
Glycerol
Glycerol is a sugar alcohol derived from fats. It’s not to be confused with the amino acid Glycine, a non-essential proteinogenic amino acid. Glycerol does a couple of very impressive things. As noted earlier, it’s an osmolyte. Your pumps on this ingredient will be insane, especially when you drink a lot of water with it and stack it with a pre-workout that contains other osmolytes and nitric oxide boosters. In addition, glycerol dramatically improves hydration and endurance. As we have seen, there a few branded versions, such as HydroMax® 65% Glycerol Powder. (12)
Taurine
Taurine is a nonproteinogenic amino sulfonic acid, or an amino acid that is not involved in the creation of protein. It occurs naturally in the body and is found in our muscles, eyes, heart and brain. Taurine has cognitive benefits which is why you see it in many energy drinks. The average consumer has no idea what it is, so it often gets a bad rap from the mainstream press, who also has no clue what it is. Beyond its cognitive benefits, it’s in many pre-workouts for its osmotic properties. (13)
What To Consider When Looking For A Pump Booster
Label Disclosure And Dosing
Are the doses high enough to be effective? Is the label fully disclosed? These are two of the most important aspects of any pump booster, and for that matter any supplement. Always check these two factors first. A product may have good ingredients but if they’re in an under-dosed prop blend, the product is a waste of time. For example, our best overall, Gorilla Mind Gorilla Mode Nitric, provides citrulline in a dose of 10 grams. Now, compare that to the 500mg you will come across in some of the products you come across. That’s a major difference in potency and effectiveness!
What Are You Using It For?
Do you plan to add your chosen pump booster to a stim-based pre-workout? Or do you plan to use your chosen pump booster as your main pre-workout? It works well either way. As far as using it as your main Pre, it’s a great choice for those lifters that train late in the evening or who do not want caffeine.
How To Use A Pump Booster
Beginners should begin with one scoop if there’s the option of two serving sizes. More experienced users can take as directed. If you add it to a stim-based pre-workout, add 1 scoop and use as you normally would. Taking a stim-based Pre for the first time? Assess your tolerance by taking half the suggested dose, then once tolerance has been determined, move up to a full dose and add your pump booster.
General Tips
First of all, drink plenty of water when chasing a pump. Also, make sure you;re taking in 50% of your daily carbs in the hours around your workout. Carbs also pull water into your muscles which optimizes the cell volume effect.
Secondly, while you should always train using a core program of compound exercises and progressively heavier weights, add in some isolation exercises in the 12 rep range and keep rest between sets to about 30 seconds. This is the training approach that will maximize the pump.
Finally, don’t forget your other supplements, a pump booster is not necessarily a Cornerstone Supplement, but a protein powder, a pre-workout, and a multivitamin/mineral is. I would also add a standalone creatine product to that list.
Summary
In this 2-Part Series, What Are The 5 Best Pump Boosters, we have not only answered that question, we’ve seen a detailed Buying Guide that gives you everything you need to know. All that’s left to do now is stop by illpumpyouup.com and stock up!
References:
- nitric oxide (CHEBI:16480)
- Nitric Oxide Supplements — Research on Benefits, Side Effects, and Interactions | Examine.com
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285754036_The_Muscle_Pump_Potential_Mechanisms_and_Applications_for_Enhancing_Hypertrophic_Adaptations
- What does osmolyte mean? (definitions.net)
- Figueroa, A., Wong, A., Jaime, S. J., & Gonzales, J. U. (2017, January). Influence of L-citrulline and watermelon supplementation on vascular function and exercise performance. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27749691
- Nemzer BV;Centner C;Zdzieblik D;Fink B;Hunter JM;König D;. (n.d.). Oxidative Stress or Redox Signalling – New Insights Into the Effects of a Proprietary Multifunctional Botanical Dietary Supplement. Retrieved June 20, 2020, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29110555/
- Fitzpatrick DF, Fleming C, Bing B, Maggi DA, Malley MO. Isolation and Characterization of Endothelium – Dependent Vaso relaxing Compounds from Grape Seeds. J Agric Food Chem. 2000;204:6384-6390.
- https://www.maypro.com/products/vasodrive-ap#:~:text=VasoDrive%2DAP%20is%20supported%20by%20more%20than%2030,beverages%20and%20dietary%20supplements%20in%20the%20US.
- Haulică I, et al. Preliminary research on possible relationship of NO with agmatine at the vascular level. Rom J Physiol. (1999). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11068606
- https://nitrosigine.com/about/
- Craig S. A. (2004). Betaine in human nutrition. The American Journal of clinical nutrition, 80(3), 539–549. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/80.3.539
- Glycerol | C3H8O3 – PubChem (nih.gov)
- https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1024/taurine