Mar 23, 2020
Gorilla Mode Nitric Pre-Workout is the most potent and comprehensive stimulant free pre-workout on the market in ALL aspects.
All angles of saturating the muscle with blood and hydration have been addressed in this formula and are quite literally maxed out.
https://youtu.be/iFlmwQXBs6U
Gorilla Mode Nitric Supplement Facts
Per Full Daily Dose:
- L-Citrulline – 10,000 mg
- Creatine Monohydrate – 5000 mg
- Betaine Anhydrous – 4000 mg
- GlycerPump™ (65% Glycerol Powder) – 4000 mg
- Malic Acid – 3000 mg
- Agmatine Sulfate – 1500 mg
- Nitrosigine® (inositol-stabilized arginine silicate) – 1500 mg
- Sodium Nitrate – 1500 mg
- VasoDrive-AP® (isoleucyl-prolyl-proline (IPP) and valyl-prolyl-proline (VPP) isolated from hydrolyzed milk casein) – 254 mg
Gorilla Mode Nitric Vs. Other Pre-Workouts On The Market
This is the most maxed out stimulant free pre-workout formula on the market in all aspects.
It is also the most comprehensive formula that targets nitric oxide (NO), vasodilation and intracellular hyper-hydration from multiple angles, while maintaining top end dosages across all of those pathways.
We completely saturate the traditional Arginine–eNOS–nitric oxide (NO) pathway with a massive 10 gram dose of L-Citrulline, 1.5 grams of Nitrosigine and 1.5 grams of Agmatine Sulfate.
The often neglected nitrate–nitrite–nitric oxide (NO) pathway is also topped out with a 1500 mg dose of Sodium Nitrate.
A high level of intracellular hyper-hydration is achieved with 5 grams of Creatine Monohydrate, 4 grams of Glycerpump and 4 grams of Betaine Anhydrous.
We also addressed the enzyme angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) with VasoDrive-AP®, which acts as an ACE inhibitor and significantly increases vasodilation.
Finally, we have 3 grams of Malic Acid added in on top of the 10 grams of pure L-Citrulline to act as a Krebs cycle intermediary and counter lactic acid buildup during training.
Some of these pathways are so maxed out that we could have easily just chosen one of them and sold the product for $39.99 and still had one of the most potent pre-workouts in the industry.
Instead, I packed it all into one absurd product that clocks in with over 30 grams of efficacious active ingredients per full dose.
It was incredibly expensive to create, but I am very happy with how it turned out, and I am not exaggerating when I say that this pre-workout is absolutely unmatched.
Basically, I just included exactly what I would want to see in a stimulant free pre-workout, even at the obvious detriment of our margins.
This product is even more potent than Gorilla Mode when it comes to pure pump and performance.
The full daily dose is 2 scoops.
Even a half dose (1 scoop) is still far more potent than the majority of other pre-workouts out there at their max dosages.
This is another product I wanted to be head and shoulders, clear as day, superior to everything else in the industry.
Just like in my description of how Gorilla Mode stacks up to other products in this industry, we can actually back up why our product is better than the rest.
When (insert fitness influencer name here) launches their own supplement line, they will regurgitate the same story about how their products are effectively dosed, only use the highest quality ingredients, blah blah blah.
They don't even know what they're selling half the time, let alone what combinations of ingredients work synergistically, or how to dose a product properly.
They employ others to manufacture their products, or use a pre-made formula their manufacturer uses for every company where they just slap a different label on it and sell it for a huge margin.
At the end of the day, most fitness influencers have no idea what goes into making an effective product.
They don't know how their products work, they probably wouldn’t even use them if they didn’t sell them, they didn't formulate them, and they have to pay the overhead involved with having a team under them who is responsible for all of that.
As you’ve already experienced with Gorilla Mode and Gorilla Mind Nootropics, it is me formulating the products, and they work because I actually put in them what I would want in a product and buy myself if I didn’t have a company.
The same applies with Gorilla Mode Nitric.
If I didn’t have this product, for an effective stim-free pre-workout I would probably be mixing up 6000-10,000 mg of L-Citrulline for vasodilation (with 6000 mg being the bare minimum of pure L-Citrulline, not Citrulline Malate, and would be dependent on my budget at the time), a saturation dose of Creatine Monohydrate (5000 mg), 3000-4000 mg of Glycerpump to hyper-hydrate the muscle with water, and maybe a quarter teaspoon of Himalayan Pink Salt.
The fact that a significant amount of supplement companies will skimp out on Creatine Monohydrate and either not include it at all, or only include a subpar dosage, really sheds light on how scammy this industry can be.
That is the cheapest ingredient they could easily dose properly, and even that they won't shell out the money for in their formulas.
It’s not hard to put 5 grams of Creatine in a pre-workout, and it is actually pretty cheap to put in there.
The reason is, they want you to go buy their creatine product, and will intentionally manipulate their ingredient profile to be deficient in several areas to make you buy more stuff from them.
With my products, everything is turnkey.
You don’t need to go buy a separate Creatine product from us, you don’t need to stack extra stims on top of our stim-based products, you don’t need to go buy something else to get the max dose of a certain ingredient in any of our formulas, everything you need is in each product at an efficacious dosage.
Flavor And Mixability
The flavor we chose to start with for Nitric was Mango Peach as it is a more mainstream appealing flavor than Tiger's Blood.
Tiger's Blood and a fruit punch flavor will probably be next in the pipeline of flavor releases.
Mango Peach is easily a 9 or 10/10 flavor, even for the pickiest of tongues.
As there’s such a high concentration of ingredients in this formula we were really happy with how the flavor systems turned out.
We were expecting something this potent to be nearly impossible to avoid tasting like ass.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
It also mixes very well considering the concentration of L-Citrulline, GlycerPump, and all of the other ingredients in this product.
There is some grittiness, but that just comes with the territory with putting out a 35 gram serving size product with 10 grams of L-Citrulline and 4 grams of Glycerpump.
You will just have to use a bit more water than you would with your standard pre-workout because there are simply more active ingredients in this product that will require more liquid to mix well.
How To Dose Gorilla Mode Nitric
Mix 1-2 scoops of Gorilla Mode Nitric in 12-14 ounces of water and consume 30 minutes prior to training.
Vary the amount of water to achieve your desired flavor level.
First time users should begin use with 1/2-1 scoop or less to evaluate tolerance.
DO NOT EXCEED 2 SCOOPS IN ANY 24 HOUR PERIOD.
Gorilla Mode Nitric Ingredients Breakdown
L-Citrulline – 10,000 mg
L-Citrulline is the most effective supplement you can use to boost nitric oxide (NO) in the body.
Why Nitric Oxide (NO) Is Important
Nitric oxide (NO) is made naturally in our bodies and plays a significant role in cardiovascular health.
It dilates blood vessels (vasodilation), which lowers blood pressure and increases oxygen in the blood.
https://youtu.be/EoYhQIHmKoE
Nitric oxide (NO) acts as a messenger to signal blood vessels to dilate, or contract and relax.
Sufficient nitric oxide is needed to signal blood vessels to contract or relax to ensure blood is able to flow to and from the heart effectively.
Nitric oxide production decreases with age, consequently reducing the elasticity of the cardiovascular system, and impairing the body's ability to ensure sufficient amounts of oxygenated blood are reaching vital organs.
Eating enough nitrates and/or supplementing with nitric oxide precursors is very important to ensure that your cardiovascular system maintains optimized function as you get older.
In addition, maintaining optimal nitric oxide levels will make you more vascular, allow you to get a much better pump, increase muscle volume, enhance the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to working muscles, support recovery and improve overall physical performance.
Increased Muscular Endurance
Citrulline has also shown to significantly increase muscular endurance, with one study finding that compared to placebo, a single 8000 mg dose of Citrulline Malate increased the number of reps performed per set, on every set after set 2 [R].
The impact Citrulline had on performance increased the more sets were performed.
During the last set performed, the group that took Citrulline had a 52.92% increase in the number of reps they could perform relative to placebo.
It also decreased muscle soreness by 40% at 24 and 48 hours after the training session compared to placebo.
Effect On Body Composition
There isn’t much data on the direct effect Citrulline has on muscle growth and fat loss in humans.
However, a rodent model assessed the effect Citrulline had on body composition and found that 20 month old rats that were given a diet that included the human equivalent dose of 160 mg/kg per day for 12 weeks had 13% less body fat and 9% more lean body mass relative to the rats fed a standard diet without Citrulline supplementation [R].
Visceral fat mass was also reduced by 32%.
The mortality rate of the rats taking Citrulline was 0%, while the standard diet fed rats had a mortality rate of 20%.
L-Citrulline is one of the most promising supplements on the market and has significantly more upside above and beyond its increase in vascularity and pumps in the gym.
The Maximum Effective Dose Of L-Citrulline
Citrulline is found in watermelons.
You would need to eat 1.5 kg of watermelon every day to get 3 grams of L-Citrulline though, which is the minimum effective dose [R].
To get the maximum effective dose of L-Citrulline from your diet, you would need to eat 5.0 kg of watermelon per day to get 10 grams (10,000 mg) of L-Citrulline [R].
Obviously, nobody is going to eat that much watermelon, nor is it a good idea to begin with in my opinion when there are far better ways to allocate your macronutrient/micronutrient intake allotments.
This is why L-Citrulline supplementation could actually be worthwhile.
The Problem With Citrulline Malate In The Supplement Industry
While L-Citrulline is a great supplement to have in your daily regimen, there is a red flag around L-Citrulline supplementation that you need to know about.
I'm sure you've seen that some supplements have L-Citrulline in them, and some have Citrulline Malate.
Some even say "L-Citrulline Malate".
This is a cheap trick companies use to deceive customers.
Citrulline Malate is composed of 50% Malic Acid, unless the ratio states otherwise.
Authentic Citrulline Malate is produced by chemically bonding free-form L-Citrulline to DL-Malic Acid.
When L-Citrulline is chemically bonded to DL-Malic Acid, the end result is Citrulline Malate, which has unique properties.
But the problem with the Citrulline Malate in the supplement industry is that it doesn't have this chemical reaction.
It's just Citrulline mixed with malic acid in a big mixing vat in the manufacturing facility.
There is no chemical bond like there should be to create authentic Citrulline Malate.
It's just the two ingredients being mixed together in a cheap blend, and it's sold as "Citrulline Malate", or "L-Citrulline Malate".
The reality is that it's just Citrulline stirred up with malic acid.
While this isn't a huge deal in itself, the problem lies in the labeling practices companies use to artificially inflate the perceived potency of their product.
6-8 grams is seen as the max clinically proven efficacious dosage in the supplement industry in general.
At least, that's what companies will tell you in their marketing.
First of all, we already know that the actual maximum
efficacious dosage of L-Citrulline is 10 grams per day [R].
In addition, the main issue is that
the "L-Citrulline" in their product is actually as low as half of
the stated label claim.
As mentioned, Citrulline Malate is just a mixture of Citrulline and malic acid.
Somehow, companies are getting away with labeling their products with the chemically bonded form Citrulline Malate and claiming they have 6-8 grams per serving in their pre-workout, when they actually just have 3-4 grams of Citrulline and 3-4 grams of malic acid per serving.
Instead of labeling the following:
- L-Citrulline - 3 grams
- Malic Acid - 3 grams
These companies are labeling their products like this:
- Citrulline Malate - 6 grams
Or like this:
- L-Citrulline Malate - 6 grams
Making you think you are getting a high dose, when in reality you are getting the bare minimum efficacious dose per serving of 3 grams.
Sometimes, companies will tweak the ratio to be a bit more in favor of a higher Citrulline content relative to malic acid, but this is rarely higher than a 2:1 ratio.
So, if you see the following:
- Citrulline Malate (2:1) - 6 grams
That just means that the company has 4 grams of L-Citrulline and 2 grams of malic acid per serving.
This is the exact manufacturing process involved in producing
the L-Citrulline and "Citrulline Malate" you get in pre-workouts in
the supplement industry:
As you can see, the Citrulline Malate
manufacturing flowchart on the right literally just says,
"mix".
If this was authentic Citrulline Malate, you wouldn't need to mix L-Citrulline with malic acid, it would be chemically bonded together by the end of the manufacturing process.
You're not really getting what you're paying for, and most don't realize this is a tactic in the industry to get better margins and artificially inflate a products perceived efficacy.
Even if a pre-workout had what on paper appears to be a top end efficacious dose of 8 grams per serving, how much L-Citrulline are you actually getting out of that serving?
4-6 grams at most.
I have yet to see a pre-workout formula actually hit a top end L-Citrulline dosage, and of the ones that get close, they use Citrulline Malate to inflate their label.
In addition, even if you had the bonded version (which supplements don't), reacted Citrulline Malate will break apart into L-Citrulline and malic acid right away after its mixed in water.
It's all just a trick to artificially inflate a products perceived potency on a label, as each ingredient should be listed separately.
Most supplements have malic acid anyways in the "other ingredients" section, which is still an active ingredient that does have some potential performance benefits that you would get from the “Malate” portion of Citrulline Malate.
L-Citrulline and malic acid work via a different mechanism of action.
Citrulline bypasses the liver and gets converted to arginine, which increases NO levels in the body.
Malic acid is a Krebs cycle intermediary that counters lactic acid buildup.
How much do you need of each though?
With Citrulline, we know where the top end data lies.
Malic acid, we don't.
There is research on Citrulline and Citrulline Malate, but not much data on supplementing with malic acid to replenish depleted levels as a Krebs cycle intermediary.
I don't think we can make a generalized overview on how effective the malic acid component was in the Citrulline Malate research either because we can't determine if the results were derived from the malic acid, the L-Citrulline, or both.
Considering this, I included an additional 3000 mg of malic acid separately in the Gorilla Mode Nitric formula as an active ingredient in the main ingredients panel.
As mentioned, malic acid is most commonly used as a filler in supplements, and will be found in small amounts in many product "other ingredients" sections.
The only other time it is used is by companies artificially inflating their perceived L-Citrulline dosage via Citrulline Malate.
No companies are including a maxed out dose of pure L-Citrulline as well as malic acid separetely though.
It is always a subpar amount of each.
So, if there is some sort of performance enhancing benefit to having a high dose of malic acid, you are also getting it via Nitric on top of the maximum efficacious 10,000 mg dose of pure L-Citrulline.
At the end of the day, for vasodilation you should concern yourself with is how much pure L-Citrulline is in your pre-workout supplement.
I have yet to see a product with more than 6000 mg of PURE L-Citrulline.
I have only seen a handful of products with 6 grams of L-Citrulline, and another handful of products with 8 grams of Citrulline Malate (which only yields 4-5 grams of actual L-Citrulline, with the remainder as malic acid).
I put 10 grams of PURE L-Citrulline in Gorilla Mode Nitric, as well as 3 grams of malic acid separately, so you can get the full benefits of the max dosage of each ingredient and transparently see exactly what you are actually getting in the product.
Even if you decide to only use a half dose of this product you will still get 5000 mg of pure L-Citrulline, and the formula is still top notch even when cut in half.
Citrulline Vs Arginine
One of the most well-known pump ingredients is Arginine.
The problem with L-Arginine is that it is very ineffective at increasing Nitric Oxide synthesis.
Logically, you would assume that taking Arginine would be the most effective way to increase Arginine levels in the body.
However, this is not the case.
Oral L-Arginine is taken up and metabolized by the liver so much that it does not actually effectively increase Arginine levels, and it may even be unsafe to use because of how much excessive urea it yields [R].
L-Citrulline bypasses the liver and passes freely to the kidneys where it is metabolized to Arginine [R].
The most effective supplement that can be used to increase Arginine levels in the body to improve cardiovascular and metabolic health outcomes is L-Citrulline [R].
L-Citrulline supplementation has shown to lower blood pressure and provide atherogenic-endothelial protection [R].
When it comes to NO precursors that significantly improve pumps, nothing beats an efficacious dose of pure L-Citrulline.
Creatine Monohydrate – 5000 mg
Creatine is the best studied and most effective performance enhancing supplement outside of exogenous hormones and drugs.
Creatine’s Effect On Muscle Size And Strength
Supplementing with creatine has shown time and time again to significantly improve strength, power output and muscle size [R].
Creatine’s effect on strength is facilitated by increasing the body’s stores of phosphocreatine, which is then used during high intensity exercise to produce ATP [R, R].
Creatine’s effect on muscle size is facilitated by drawing water into the muscle via osmosis, consequently increasing body weight and muscle size.
In addition, with the increased strength creatine provides, heavier weights can be used in the gym which provide more stimulus for growth, consequently increasing muscle accrual in the long-term.
Creatine supplementation also appears to increase the number of myonuclei that satellite cells will donate to damaged muscle fibers, which increases the potential for growth of those fibers [R].
A typical omnivorous diet provides about 1 gram of creatine per day, which isn’t enough to get the benefits you would from supplementation, and also isn’t nearly enough to support health status and methylation in those with genetic polymorphisms.
Creatine’s Effect On Methylation And Health Status
About 1 gram of creatine is endogenously produced in the body naturally in young healthy adults [R].
Most of the human body's total creatine and phosphocreatine stores are found in skeletal muscle, while the remainder is distributed in the blood, brain, and other tissues [R].
While there are a host of processes in the body that rely on creatine to be carried out optimally (and are often completely neglected), one of the most notable functions of creatine is neurological support [R].
In addition, the endogenous synthesis of creatine relies on a process called methylation.
Arginine and Glycine are combined by an enzyme to form guanidinoacetate, which is then methylated into creatine.
The problem is that this process is dependent on a mechanism of action that is commonly inhibited in the general population via endogenous Arginine deficiency, Glycine deficiency, or MTHFR polymorphisms.
The MTHFR gene codes for an enzyme called methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase or MTHFR.
This enzyme is needed for the production of DNA and methylation pathways that are essential for all bodily functions.
Genetic variations in this gene results in reduced activity of the enzyme and has been associated with cardiovascular disease, neurological defects, some forms of cancer, and a myriad of other diseases and disorders [R, R].
Personally, I am homozygous for C677T of MTHFR, which results in a 80-90% decrease in my efficiency in processing folic acid.
The direct reflection of that in blood biomarkers can be high homocysteine and low B12 and folate levels.
I determined this via a simple 23andMe genetics test.
Upwards of 45% of your body’s methylation demands are used to synthesize creatine.
For someone with a MTHFR polymorphism, you can put a significant amount of stress on your methylation pathway and deplete far more methyl groups than you should be just to create the 1 gram per day that you endogenously synthesize.
We lose up to 2-3 grams of creatine per day because it converts to creatinine and is then passed out of the body via urine.
As you can see, adequate replenishment of creatine is probably not being accomplished if you aren’t consistently eating a fair bit of meat or fish.
And for those with impaired methylation pathways, supplementing with exogenous creatine is likely the only way creatine replenishment can be achieved.
One study found that supplementing with 5 grams of creatine per day lowered plasma homocysteine levels by almost 50% in the subject who is homozygous for C677T of MTHFR [R].
Creatine supplementation can significantly lower the body’s demands for methylation and prevent the depletion of methyl groups.
This is why I personally supplement with 5 grams of creatine per day.
Do You Need To Cycle Off Of Creatine?
No, you do not need to cycle off of creatine.
Your body does not get used to it, and long-term use has shown to be safe in healthy adults [R].
Betaine Anhydrous – 4000 mg
Betaine, also called Trimethylglycine, acts as a methyl donor and an osmolyte in the body.
Earlier in the creatine breakdown, I briefly outlined the importance of having a sufficient amount of methyl donors available for methylation processes in the body, including the endogenous synthesis of creatine.
For some individuals (depending on PEMT gene variations) Betaine can substitute for folate and B12 in the regeneration of methionine and can be choline sparing via this mechanism.
It can also provide additional needed methyl donors when over-depletion occurs in genetically predisposed individuals that do not supplement with creatine, or have other deficiencies.
As an osmolyte, Betaine helps balance fluid levels inside and outside of cells.
The main reason I included Betaine in this formula is for its ability to induce intracellular hyper-hydration.
By improving hydration status in cells, Betaine increases the pump you get in the gym, and can help prevent dehydration during exercise.
Research has also shown that Betaine supplementation may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, as well as improve digestion and liver function [R, R, R, R].
In a performance enhancing context, Betaine supplementation has also shown to increase power, endurance, muscle growth and fat loss [R, R, R].
How significant will this effect on body composition be in practical application?
Negligible in my honest opinion, but the enhanced pump made this ingredient worthwhile to add into the formula.
GlycerPump™ (65% Glycerol Powder) – 4000 mg
Glycerol significantly enhances pumps and performance by hyper-hydrating the muscle with water.
Glycerol’s Effect On Hydration, Pumps And Endurance
If you drink a lot of water with nothing else in hopes of hyper-hydrating your muscles, the fall in osmolarity in your body stimulates the kidneys to remove most of the excess water within an hour.
If you add glycerol to the water, this prevents the drop in osmolarity and can extend the hyper-hydration of your muscles by up to four hours.
By adding Glycerol to your pre-workout, you can hold upwards of an extra liter of water via this hyper-hydrating effect.
Hydration is one of the most critical factors when it comes to performance.
Aside from massive pumps, Glycerol use has shown to increase endurance by as much as 24%, as well as improve aerobic and anaerobic power and performance [R, R].
Only a 2% loss in fluids can result in as much as a 20% decrease in exercise performance.
GlycerPump™ Vs Other Forms Of Glycerol
We chose the trademarked GlycerPump because it doesn’t clump up nearly as much as other forms of Glycerol powder and it’s more stable.
Glycerol is normally a liquid at standard temperature and pressure, and many supplement companies have attempted to create a powder form of Glycerol that is stable.
Glycerol products get clumpy, have horrible viscosity and have a short shelf life.
Because of this, most companies avoid this ingredient entirely, as it can cause severe clumping within just a couple months of being manufactured.
Regular glycerol containing products only yield as low as 10% glycerol, which makes them ineffective, and higher yielding glycerol products can be unstable within complex formulas like ours and result in a clumpy product, or complete product failure.
GlycerPump™ is created using unique spray drying technology, yielding a stable powder form of glycerol standardized to 65%.
It is MUCH better than other alternatives and won't result in the powder turning into a rock.
Keep in mind, while it is manageable, this is not a clump-free product, and there’s nothing I could do about that if I wanted to include the high concentration of ingredients that I did in Gorilla Mode Nitric.
Store Gorilla Mode Nitric in a cool dry place, and if it clumps, that’s just what comes with the territory with a product dosed like this.
If it clumps, just get out a knife or spoon and chop it up, and it will still mix fine once it hits the water in your cup.
Agmatine Sulfate – 1500 mg
Agmatine has shown to induce NO production via the same processes as arginine, but does it far more effectively [R].
This results in even bigger pumps in the gym and improved overall performance.
Agmatine has also shown to be neuroprotective against excitotoxicity and stroke, and also has anti-anxiety and anti-depressant effects that may enhance state of well-being and mood elevation with supplementation.
Agmatine has also shown to manipulate pain receptors, which may result in an increased pain tolerance during intense training.
Agmatine is a very misunderstood compound and is believed by some to antagonize other vasodilators.
Agmatine works in a more selective way than other vasodilators, as it only increases one of the three Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) isoforms.
It also decreases the other two NOS isoforms, which is where the hypothesis about it being vasoconstricting was raised as a legitimate concern.
The three NOS isoforms include iNOS, nNOS and eNOS.
They each play their own role in certain tissues to regulate vasodilation.
- iNOS (inducible) produces high concentrations of NO via an immune system response to kill harmful bacteria. In excess, iNOS can be inflammatory.
- nNOS (neuronal) regulates neurological health and facilitates communication in the brain across neurons. In excess, nNOS can inhibit the growth and repair of neurons.
- eNOS (endothelial) facilitates vasodilation in the lining of blood vessels to improve blood flow.
eNOS is the main isoform that most are familiar with that increases blood flow and lowers blood pressure.
It is also the main isoform that facilitates massive pumps in the gym.
While NO is great for the gym and vascular health, it can be inflammatory in excess.
NO production by eNOS has shown to play a protective role in cerebral ischemia by maintaining vascular permeability, whereas NO derived from nNOS and iNOS is neurotoxic and can enhance the neuronal damage occurring in ischemia [R].
This is where the selective activity of Agmatine shines, as data suggests that Agmatine's mechanism of action is facilitated by inhibiting iNOS and nNOS and increasing eNOS [R, R].
Agmatine has shown to selectively increase eNOS levels while simultaneously decreasing iNOS and MMP-9 protein expression [R, R].
Anecdotally, Agmatine does not seem to inhibit any of the positive effects of L-Citrulline or other vasodilators.
On the contrary, it seems to complement other "pump" compounds very effectively.
On paper, Agmatine sounds like the perfect ancillary compound to add to a pre-workout as it increases expression of the NOS isoform we want, while simultaneously inhibiting the isoforms that can be more inflammatory in excess.
Nitrosigine® (inositol-stabilized arginine silicate) – 1500 mg
Nitrosigine got some hype behind it when independent researchers from the University of Arkansas presented data suggesting that 1500 mg of Nitrosigine was almost as effective as 8000 mg of Citrulline Malate 2:1 (5333.33 mg L-Citrulline and 2666.66 mg Malic Acid) at increasing flow mediated dilation (FMD) [R].
FMD refers to dilation of an artery when blood flow increases in that artery.
Because the primary cause of FMD is release of nitric oxide by endothelial cells, we can use FMD as a proxy for NO levels.
To circumvent the lackluster efficacy of plain oral Arginine, Nutrition 21 (the developers of Nitrosigine) created a complex of bonded arginine and silicon.
The inositol acts as a stabilizer and increases the bioavailability of the complex, consequently resulting in a potent NO boosting compound.
Remember that the main issue with Arginine is poor bioavailability.
The inositol stabilizer helps circumvent that issue [R].
Unlike plain Arginine, Inositol-stabilized Arginine silicate (Nitrosigine) has shown to kick in within 15 minutes and elevate blood Arginine levels for up to six hours after ingestion [R, R].
Nitrosigine has some impressive data reinforcing its efficacy, and it is purported to be much more effective milligram for milligram than other common vasodilators at increasing NO levels.
On top of the increase in vasodilation and pumps, the developers claim that after a single dose Nitrosigine can increase mental acuity and focus by 33% within 15 minutes, with a compounding effect over time.
In addition, they claim that Nitrosigine supports enhanced recovery by reducing markers of muscle damage [R].
Nitrosigine Vs. L-Citrulline Vs. Agmatine Sulfate In Vitro
An in vitro study was designed by Nutrition 21 to compare the cellular production of NO of several sports nutrition ingredients.
These ingredients included Nitrosigine, L-Arginine, L-Arginine AKG, L-Citrulline, Citrulline Malate and Agmatine Sulfate.
Nitrosigine was dosed at a concentration of 1.0 g/L.
Cell culture concentrations of the other compounds were dosed relative to a 1500 mg dose of Nitrosigine using the following doses:
- L-Arginine - 1500 mg
- L-Arginine AKG - 4000 mg
- L-Citrulline - 3000 mg
- L-Citrulline Malate - 3000 mg
- Agmatine Sulfate - 1000 mg
As NO is unstable and rapidly converts to nitrites or nitrates, nitrite levels were measured as a proxy for NO production.
At the doses used in this study, Nitrosigine significantly increased NO production over each of the five other compounds tested.
There was a greater than 5X increase in NO production with Nitrosigine compared to the other tested vasodilators.
In addition, of the compounds tested, only Nitrosigine significantly increased NO production versus control.
While this looks very impressive for Nitrosigine, you have to consider that this is an in vitro study conducted by Nutrition 21 themselves.
The results basically indicate that every single clinically proven vasodilator that we know works is useless as it couldn't increase NO production above control, meanwhile Nitrosigine somehow cranked it through the roof over 5x higher than the rest.
While the results are certainly interesting, I would take this data with a grain of salt.
Nitrosigine Vs. Citrulline Malate - Vasodilation Study On Young Adults
Unlike the in vitro study comparing Nitrosigine to Citrulline Malate, another study in 2019 was apparently conducted independently from the company without their knowledge whatsoever [R].
This study was conducted on young, healthy, physically active adults, and provides more acceptable parameters for us to take seriously when it comes to evaluating Nitrosigine's efficacy in humans relative to a decent dose of the most widely used vasodilator in the industry, Citrulline Malate (assuming that the study was actually unbiased as is implied) [R].
16 healthy young men and 8 healthy young women participated in the study.
Each subject either received 1500 mg of Nitrosigine, 8000 mg of Citrulline Malate 2:1, or dextrose placebo.
Keep in mind, this is Citrulline Malate 2:1, so the subjects are only actually getting 5333.33 mg of L-Citrulline.
The study was randomized, double-blind, within-subjects design where participants reported for three trials, each preceded by a 7-day washout period.
Baseline flow mediated dilation (FMD) measurement was obtained for each visit, followed by consumption of one clinical dose Citrulline Malate (8 grams), Nitrosigine (1.5 grams), or dextrose placebo (8 g).
Following a 60-min digestion period, FMD was repeated.
Supplementation order was randomized controlling for potential order effects.
Basically, the subjects would show up, get their FMD evaluated, take one of the three options, and then get their FMD checked again to see how well the random compound they ingested increased their NO production.
They would then take a week off, and come back and repeat, where they would then receive one of the remaining two compounds, with the same measurement process.
This would be followed by another week off, and then a third visit where the subjects would receive whatever the third ingredient was that they hadn't yet tried, and the same measurement process was conducted.
Nobody knew what they were ingesting during each trip, but by the end of the experiment every single subject had tried each ingredient, and their vasodilation response was evaluated for comparisons.
Expectedly, Citrulline Malate and Nitrosigine yielded a greater improvement in FMD response than placebo.
Citrulline Malate increased FMD by 34%.
Nitrosigine increased FMD by 31%.
Placebo decreased FMD by 2%.
Allometric scaling of the FMD values was required afterwards to adjust the results to account for the body size of males relative to females.
After allometric scaling of the FMD values, Citrulline Malate was shown to increase FMD by 25%, Nitrosigine increased FMD by 23%, and placebo increased FMD by 0.6%.
Clearly Citrulline Malate isn't as useless as the Nutrition 21 funded in vitro data would lead you to believe.
The results from this study suggest that the clinically efficacious 1500 mg dose of Nitrosigine is almost equally effective to 5333.33 mg of L-Citrulline mixed with 2666.66 mg of Malic Acid.
Clearly Nitrosigine has a lot of promise as a pre-workout ingredient, which is why I included it in our formula alongside the massive dosages of other potent vasodilators we already have.
Every single effective vasodilator we felt was worthwhile is in here at topped out dosages.
While it would be nice if there was data we could refer to evaluating if there is a synergy between Nitrosigine and Citrulline, or Nitrosigine and Agmatine, regardless if the end result is 1+1 = 2 or if it's 1+1 = 3, my goal was to make sure this formula was air tight and ensure you are getting the maximum possible performance enhancing benefit from each and every ingredient.
Sodium Nitrate – 1500 mg
Sodium is one of the most critical and overlooked components of a diet designed to optimize exercise performance.
But, keep in mind, you’re not going to get enough sodium in a pre-workout without it tasting terrible.
Other companies will put a tiny dose of sodium in their product and then claim you will get all of the benefits of it.
Personally, I just toss and wash a quarter teaspoon of a high quality salt 30 minutes pre-workout with Gorilla Mode or Gorilla Mode Nitric, and I take another quarter teaspoon with my post-workout drink.
The reason I included sodium nitrate in Gorilla Mode Nitric is not for the sodium, it is for the nitrates.
The nitrate–nitrite–nitric oxide (NO) pathway is a series of oxygen-independent and NO synthase–independent single-electron transfer reactions that ultimately facilitate vasodilation.
The traditional Arginine–eNOS–nitric oxide (NO) pathway is what most NO precursors focus on.
The nitrate–nitrite–nitric oxide (NO) pathway often goes completely neglected though, and is another pathway we can leverage to amplify NO levels to an even greater level.
Nitrates found in food can be converted into nitrites in the body, and then reduced to NO via nitrite reductase [R].
Several studies have shown that nitrate supplementation can increase plasma nitrite concentrations, and consequently Nitric Oxide, which then enhances pumps, endurance, and all of the other benefits we use NO precursors for [R].
Nitrate Dosage - Sodium Nitrate Vs. Beet Root Powder Pre-Workouts
Beet root is a very popular ingredient that has started to get a lot of attention over the past few years.
The reason why beet root works is because it is a densely concentrated source of nitrates.
However, despite it being densely concentrated relative to other foods, beet root still only contains 1-2 percent of nitrates per gram of raw material.
This would require you to ingest an absurdly high amount of beet root to get the same amount of nitrates that you can get from the 1500 mg of sodium nitrate in Gorilla Mode Nitric.
To put it in perspective, your standard beet root powder pre-workout supplement has around 4.3 grams of Beet root juice powder in it.
The amount of nitrates in that 4.3 grams is about 43 mg.
That means that you would need to chug the entire tub at one time to get the same amount of nitrate as you would get out of a 1500 mg dose of sodium nitrate.
There is no feasible way to get a high dose of nitrates from beet root powder without ingesting massive quantities far higher than what you would get in a dietary supplement.
By weight, sodium nitrate is the most highly concentrated source of nitrates among any dietary ingredient.
Nitrates comprise 73 percent of the total weight of sodium nitrate [R].
The optimal dosage of nitrate supplementation appears to be between 6.4-12.8 mg/kg [R].
That equates to the following dosage protocols:
- 440-870 mg for a 150 lb person
- 580-1,160 mg for a 200 lb person
- 730-1,450 mg for a 250 lb person
For every gram of sodium nitrate, 730 mg is from nitrate.
The 1.5 grams of sodium nitrate in Gorilla Mode Nitric yields 1095 mg of nitrate.
There are other nitrate based supplements in the industry like Arginine Nitrate, Creatine Nitrate, Betaine Nitrate that operate via this same nitrate–nitrite–nitric oxide (NO) pathway, however, none of them have as high of a nitrate composition gram for gram as Sodium Nitrate does.
VasoDrive-AP® (isoleucyl-prolyl-proline (IPP) and valyl-prolyl-proline (VPP) isolated from hydrolyzed milk casein) – 254 mg
VasoDrive-AP consists of 2 lactotripeptides: isoleucyl-prolyl-proline (IPP) and valyl-prolyl-proline (VPP) which are clinically proven to inhibit Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and significantly increases vasodilation.
Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) controls blood pressure by regulating the volume of fluids in the body.
ACE facilitates this process by converting the hormone angiotensin I to the active vasoconstrictor angiotensin II.
Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors) inhibit ACE, consequently reducing angiotensin II production.
Reducing angiotensin II results in the dilation of blood vessels and a reduction of blood pressure.
Bradykinin is also a vasodilator in the body that is degraded by ACE.
Clinical data suggests that individuals who genetically have lower levels of ACE respond better to training and are at an advantage in endurance sporting events [R, R].
The more blood flow you have, presumably the more oxygen and nutrient carrying capacity you will have during exercise.
VasoDrive-AP has shown in 30 clinical studies to date a potent effect on vasodilation and blood pressure reduction via this mechanism completely independent from the traditional Arginine–eNOS–nitric oxide (NO) pathway [R].
Ingredients I Didn’t Include In The Formula And Why
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is a very potent antioxidant and plays a crucial role in lowering blood pressure and regulating health blood flow.
Supplementing a Vitamin C deficient diet can be very beneficial, except when you're dosing it pre-workout.
Vitamin C is inexpensive and has tons of clinical data to back its efficacy, so it is often thrown in pre-workouts.
The problem with this is that using Vitamin C pre-workout can blunt the hormetic response to the workout itself and hinder your results [R].
The point of working out is to damage the muscle, which then results in the body signaling repair processes to start that will help you recover and ultimately get bigger and stronger to adapt to the workload.
If you manually decrease that hormetic response to exercise by ingesting Vitamin C pre-workout, you will reduce the damage done and ultimately prevent your body from stimulating as much growth.
Personally, I don't take any vitamins, anti inflammatories, or powerful antioxidants for several hours before or after my workout to be safe.
Antioxidants And Vitamins
As mentioned, one of the worst things you can do is take antioxidants before your workout.
The stress and damage induced by weightlifting or exercise is needed to facilitate muscular recovery and progress.
The reactive oxygen species and inflammation produced during intense training assists with that process, and is also why drugs like Ibuprofen can inhibit muscle growth so severely.
The inflammatory response to training is what we want in order to recover, and by inhibiting that with antioxidants, vitamins or anti-inflammatory drugs, you prevent your body from breaking down and recovering the way it needs to in order to grow [R, R].
A pre-workout formula with a bunch of vitamins and antioxidants in it is more likely to hinder your gains than help.
Potassium
I advise reaching your recommended daily intake of 4,700 mg through diet rather than through supplementation.
It is not legal to sell Potassium in high amounts, and you will usually find that supplements have no more than 100 mg or so per serving because of this.
For this same reason, supplementation isn't cost effective, and pre-workouts with potassium in them are including it solely to claim the benefits of potassium all the while knowing the dose in their product is next to useless.
The amount of potassium in pre-workout supplements does next to nothing for you when it comes to helping you hit the RDA.
S7™
S7™ is a blend of green coffee bean extract, green tea extract, turmeric extract, tart cherry, blueberry, broccoli and kale that has gotten some hype in pre-workouts recently.
I was considering including it in our formula until I saw that the blend was comprised entirely of potent antioxidants and anti-inflammatories.
Turmeric is one of the most potent anti-inflammatory spices known to man, which is why it also shows such therapeutic promise via supplementation.
However, the last thing you want to use pre-workout is a potent anti-inflammatory compound.
Inflammation is what we are striving for during a workout, and using anything that significantly impairs this inflammatory response to training is something that should not be used pre-workout, and should be saved for taking far away from the peri-workout window.
Beta Alanine
Beta Alanine is the ingredient that makes your skin itchy and has you sitting there scratching your face between sets.
I assume it is included in pre-workouts because you can blatantly feel something when you take it, so people associate feeling something with the product being potent.
Personally, I can’t stand the itchy skin effect it has, and it can be bad enough that it ruins a pre-workout just based on that.
In addition, it doesn’t have more than a negligible effect on performance at best.
Acute sporadic bumps in Beta Alanine will do next to nothing if you are only getting your Beta Alanine dosage from your pre workout supplement a few times per week.
If you were to take it correctly, dosing it multiple times per day, for weeks on end, at a high enough dosage, the impact on performance is notable, although still fairly insignificant at the end of the day.
“The median effect of β-alanine supplementation is a 2.85% (-0.37 to 10.49%) improvement in the outcome of an exercise measure, when a median total of 179 g of β-alanine is supplemented” [R].
179 grams (an amount nobody would end up getting in) for a 2.85% improvement in performance, and a ton of itchiness…
“Although some laboratory-based studies show an ergogenic effect with beta-alanine supplementation, there is a lack of field-based research in training and competition settings.”
“There was an unclear effect (0.4%; ± 0.8%, mean, ± 90% confidence limits) of beta-alanine on competition performance compared to placebo with no meaningful changes in blood chemistry. While there was a transient improvement on training performance after 4 weeks with beta-alanine (-1.3%; ± 1.0%), there was an unclear effect at ten weeks (-0.2%; ± 1.5%) and no meaningful changes in blood chemistry. Beta-alanine supplementation appears to have minimal effect on swimming performance in non-laboratory controlled real-world training and competition settings” [R].
Leucine
Taking Leucine post-workout promotes muscle growth.
However, taking Leucine in your pre-workout has shown to diminish muscular performance via the inhibition of glycogen to glucose conversion within muscle cells and insulin signaling.
On top of that, Leucine can prevent the uptake of Tyrosine into the brain, consequently inhibiting dopamine production, which is the opposite of what we are trying to accomplish pre-workout.
Should You Ever Cycle Off Of Gorilla Mode Nitric?
Despite Nitric being stimulant free, I would still advise cycling your use of Gorilla Mode Nitric every once in a while.
In general, I advise cycling your use of any supplement that isn't being used daily to replace a dietary deficiency.
Interfering with balancing mechanisms in the body chronically long-term is almost always going to build up to some unintended negative side effect, and redlining your Nitric Oxide levels and vasodilation on a daily basis for long uninterrupted spans of time will probably be no different.
How often you cycle it is ultimately up to your discretion as there is no tolerance build up with the ingredients in Nitric, and some of them actually have accumulative benefits.
Personally, I use pre-workouts 4 days per week because I workout 4 times per week.
Every month or two I will also take a full week off of everything except for my daily health supplements.
How To Combine Gorilla Mode Nitric With Gorilla Mind Rush
Gorilla Mode Nitric has no stimulants in it, so if you want the most potent combination of performance, energy, focus and drive pre-workout you can combine Nitric with Gorilla Mind Rush.
Dose each product as you would normally dose them on their own, as there is no overlap between the two formulas.
How To Combine Gorilla Mode Nitric With Gorilla Mode
Gorilla Mode can be combined with Gorilla Mode Nitric to achieve a more middle road level of stimulants but with the maxed out vasodilation and hyper-hydration.
The instance in which mixing the two would make the most sense is if you don't want to use a high dose of Gorilla Mode because the stimulant dosages are higher than you prefer or can tolerate, but still want to max out the benefits of the ingredients included for pump and performance.
For example, if 2 scoops of Gorilla Mode contains too high of a dose of stimulants for you, you could use 1 scoop of Gorilla Mode with 1 scoop of Gorilla Mode Nitric.
Or, a 1/2 scoop of Gorilla Mode with 1.5 scoops of Gorilla Mode Nitric.
Alternatively, if you are using Nitric and want a little bump of stimulants but are too sensitive to the stimulant complex in Gorilla Mind Rush, then you might want to add a bit of Gorilla Mode to your Nitric dose as the blend of stimulants in Mode is a notch less aggressive than the stimulants in Rush.
Mix and match at your own discretion based on your own stimulant tolerance and exactly what you are looking to get out of your pre-workout.
Personally, I love combining Rush and Nitric pre-workout.
Sometimes I will use Mode with Nitric instead though as the Kanna and N-Phenethyl Dimethylamine Citrate hits differently than the stimulants in Rush.
It all depends on what I'm training, how well rested I am, and the effects I am shooting for.
Conclusion - What To Expect From Gorilla Mode Nitric
In general, you can expect a massive increase in nitric oxide (NO) levels, vasodilation, intracellular hydration and as significant of a boost in muscle strength and endurance as you can get from a legal non-hormonal pre-workout.
This product is maxed out from all angles.
The traditional Arginine–eNOS–nitric oxide (NO) pathway is completely saturated with an unheard of dose of L-Citrulline, as well as topped out doses of Nitrosigine and Agmatine Sulfate for good measure.
Over a gram of nitrates also ensures that the nitrate–nitrite–nitric oxide (NO) pathway is taken care of.
Intracellular hyper-hydration is best-in-class too with a huge dose of Creatine Monohydrate, Glycerpump and Betaine Anhydrous to volumize the muscle and support performance and pumps.
Inhibiting the enzyme angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) with a clinical dose of VasoDrive-AP® also checks off another pathway to push the boundaries on supraphysiological levels of vasodilation.
Finally, a high dose of Malic Acid was included for good measure to act as a Krebs cycle intermediary and support greater levels of muscular endurance.
Try Gorilla Mode Nitric for yourself here and let me know what you think.