Assault pre-workout is a cornerstone for Muscle Pharm and it represents a staple on the market. How could we review pre-workout supplements and not cover MusclePharm Assault? It’d be ridiculous.
So, today, we’re taking you through what we experienced with this product, what the science says, and how we rate it overall.
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First Impressions
The actual product was an interesting one: it compares well with others on the field (with close effects to C4, for example) and was generally pretty good. We like the ingredient list for its focus on solid, proven benefits, and the actual experience defines it as a good supplement.
As with some of the other popular pre-workouts on the market, this product is an all-purpose pre-workout. It’s designed to support a wide variety of exercise styles and goals with ingredients like:
- Creatine for strength
- Beta-alanine for endurance
- Betaine for nitric oxide
- ALCAR for improving endurance, strength, and focus (read our ALCAR buying guide)
We’re not sure that MusclePharm Assault stands out as a pre-workout supplement, but it has definitely produced some great workouts and has a great mental/performance high through training and beyond.
With increased exposure to the ingredients, MP Assault presents itself as a quality, all-purpose pre-workout supplement. A great choice for the fitness, strength, and health enthusiast.
The key feature here so far is the batch testing. It’s an athlete-friendly supplement and ensures that anyone training for health or wellness is getting exactly what it says on the container. It’s a little short on features, but there’s nothing wrong with a product doing the basics well.
Informed sport is fantastic, and this is the first merit of this product that needs mentioning. For me, as an individual with intentions to compete, it’s great to see a 3rd party, batch-tested product that doesn’t have banned substances. This might not be for everyone, but integrity is always good.
MP Assault Ingredients
The per-scoop caffeine for this product is more than we’ve seen with others. C4, for example, is only around 150mg per scoop while Assault is 200mg (199.8) – meaning that you can probably get a great response from a single scoop.
The creatine levels are effective, with minimum effective intake being around 2.5g per day and a single scoop offering up 3g. This isn’t specifically for pre-workouts, but it does support overall strength, endurance, and performance, so it’s good to get it in regularly with your pre-workout.
Combining creatine, glycine, and electrolytes will support hyperhydration, however. This is great for keeping you healthy and combatting fatigue while you train and it’s a great feeling for long, gruelling workouts!
Lastly, for the big benefits, ALCAR is a great compound. It’s a form of Carnitine that is incredibly effective, providing a variety of benefits. It supports mental performance, combats fatigue, and has some effective metabolic benefits for oxidation and energy release. A perfect complimentary ingredient for a pre-workout!
One of the things that we noticed about this product that we don’t love is that it relies solely on betaine for its nitric oxide effects. This is a good compound, but it doesn’t produce the same beneficial effects associated with Citrulline or even Arginine as AAKG.
This means that, for the pump and the repeated bout/endurance benefits, it’s probably not as good as some alternatives. This is pretty noticeable when using the product, too.
My Experience
The overall feeling of taking this product is far milder than you might expect from the increased caffeine content per-scoop. The wakefulness sis clear and effective, but the lack of nitric oxide boosters is clear in the sensation and longevity of the feeling of improved performance.
There’s definitely a strong waking effect to MP Assault and I’ve really enjoyed using it, though it does feel milder than expected.
Beta-alanine tingles are effective and they’re comparable to other products, which feel milder with this product. This is a good thing – especially if you’re not familiar with the feeling, and it’ll be a little less intimidating!
MP Assault Taste
The green apple flavor is fantastic. I’m a sucker for apple-flavored drinks in the first place, but the green apple flavor is perfect for the slightly-tangy sensation I want with a pre-workout supplement – the taste is totally right for the experience.
Congruence between taste and experience is cool. There’s a kick to it, and it’s a pleasant one!
Mixability
Mixability is good at 1 scoop per 500ml, though anything over 1 scoop is a bit chalky but that’s the result of over-powdering your pre-workout. I was asking for it, really.
The texture for this product is smooth and blend really well with a simple shake. Solubility is good: somewhere in the middle of the pack for all the pre-workouts we’ve tried.
The Final Verdict
Overall, this is a pretty good product. Despite the increased caffeine, it’s not as intense as products like C4, but it makes up for this with the batch-tested, informed sport certification.
This is the real center of the issue: if you’re very concerned by the content of your pre-workout, it’s fair to rely on MusclePharm Assault, since there’s a peace of mind. However, this does come at the cost of the additional nitric oxide boosters and experience, which are both gentler with MP Assault.
For a reliable, guaranteed-clean product, MP Assault is a good all-rounder. We think it’s a good product, but within the market, it doesn’t do very much to stand out. The reputation of MusclePharm and the reliable effectiveness is both its strongest selling point and biggest weakness!
This product does what it says, and it’s got a certification to show it – it’s just not very ambitious!
Musclepharm Assault Pre Workout
Pros
- Informed sport certification to show batch-testing and no banned substances
- High caffeine content with effective complimentary compounds like ALCAR
- Good brand-reputation and clear integrity with production
- Good all-rounder with comprehensive support for different training styles/goals
Cons
- Caffeine content doesn’t scale with focus very well in this product, making it a little gentler than other products
- The choice of nitric oxide booster is relatively poor – we’d much rather see citrulline or even AAKG for boosting pumps and endurance
Last update on 2025-01-16 UTC -5 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API - Details
