I’ve been training for competition and the military for over 20 years now, so I’ve seen supplements come and go, watched brands make outlandish claims, and tried most of the major brand’s products. When I heard about a brand called Amino Co that was interested in Obstacle Course Racing (OCR), I figured I would check out some of their products. I picked up Perform (their pre-workout) and Heal (their post-workout/recovery product). Here are some thoughts on the pre-workout, Perform, and how it stacks up.
Ingredients:
Sometimes less is more and that is the case with Perform. Instead of a long list of ingredients, it is only a couple of items plus the active ingredients (their Performance Blend of amino acids, creatine, and caffeine). Amino Co doesn’t load down their product with fillers so every scoop has what you need to help maximize Performance.
Feeling:
You are not going to “feel” anything specific from the amino acids. The caffeine you will feel though. At 60mg, I actually love this product's dosing. Not too much, not too little, allowing me to adjust the number of scoops based on my activity. If 60mg of caffeine isn’t enough for you, just double or triple the dose. I like this better than products that contain 300mg of caffeine per dose.
Uses:
The big question: what should I use this for? What I like about Perform is its versatility. With only 60mg of caffeine, it is truly a pre-workout product as in you could use it for before a run, before a race, before obstacle training, or before strength training.
The 60mg is also great because it is like a cup of coffee. If you are sitting at your desk tired, a cup of Perform can help perk you up and get you moving. The amino acids and creatine also mean you are putting other great stuff in your body for muscle building.
Science?
Does the science support Amino Co? To put it simply, yes. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, which help build/maintain muscle. There are literally mountains of research that talk about the effectiveness of amino acids. Feel free to poke around their website to learn more about the effectiveness of amino acids. As you can see from the label each dose contains Leucine, Valine, and Isoleucine, which are the three Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAS) known for muscle building effects, plus other amino acids.
Flavor:
The only flavor I have tried so far is Blue Raspberry and it tastes great. That taste is so good, if it didn’t have caffeine in it, you would probably find me sipping on this throughout the day mixed with water. I’m looking forward to trying some of their other flavors.
Overall:
Amino Co brings a great product to the market that you can use to replace your current pre-workout, swap out your energy drink/coffee for the day or just add into your current lineup of products. Perform does what it says it does and helps you get the most of your body. It’s a great tasting product that in the right doses will help you achieve your goals whatever those might be from mass building to maintaining a lean physique to crushing a short OCR and can even be used to supplement your endurance fueling.
