Today’s Gym Vixen pre workout review comes to you courtesy of one of our readers, Kasia. Kasia wrote in asking if I had ever heard of this new company- which I had not. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly these new companies crop up! After doing a little bit of research on Gym Vixen, decided that their new Sexy Charged pre workout would be the perfect product to do a complete BPW review on. As with all my reviews, I’ll give you the complete run-down on this supplement. Starting with flavor and taste, moving into my performance grade, and then finishing up with a packaging review and final score. Special thanks again to Kasia for giving me the lead on Gym Vixen!
Today’s Gym Vixen Sexy Charged review marks the beginning of BPW 2015 season. Hard to believe this is going to be our THIRD installation of the official BPW top ten pre workouts for women 2015. Time flies when you’re having fun I guess. After taking a quick glance at the supplement facts panel on the Sexy Charged pre workout, I knew this product might be in the running for the BPW top ten. How does this product perform? Let’s talk about it.
Sexy Charged Taste Review: 9.4
Before I get into the meat of the review, which is of course the performance grade, let’s start with a flavor profile analysis. After all, who wants a pre workout if it doesn’t taste good? Exactly. Nobody. Sexy Charged comes in three flavors. Looking back now, I wish I had ordered all three so that I could tell you what the best flavor is. Because the one that I tried, mango, was BOMB. I took two scoops of Sexy Charged in about 12 ounces of ice cold water. I used the empty glass bottle that I had from Project Juice (the best) so my pre workout looked nice and hipster. LOL. Anyways. I took a cocktail spoon and swirled the powder around until it dissolved evenly into the water. The powder mixes really well which is good to see. Sometimes you’ll get something super clumpy and end up choking down the mixture. Not the case with Sexy Charged. My first sip was epic. The flavors hit me with a myriad of tropical goodness that was totally unexpected but delightful. I knew right then and there that Gym Vixen might just be as good tasting as Assault or Ignite. The mango flavor was surprisingly authentic tasting to me. What I mean is that even though this is an artificially flavored product, the notes were very natural and real tasting. It really tastes like real mango to me. The amount of sweetness was just right for me too. If you end up getting this product – you’re going to have to use two scoops. I’ve tried since with just the one scoop, and the flavor just isn’t as good. There’s another reason why you should use two, but more on that later. So the product tastes spectacular- but how about the effects? Does Sexy Charged work?
Sexy Charged Pre Workout Performance Review: 8.8
Sexy Charged worked for me. If you’re looking for the sparknotes- that’s it right there. The product absolutely enhanced me workout, and for that reason it gets hight marks in terms of performance. I took Sexy Charged before quite honestly one of the most physically challenging and mentally exhausting workouts that I do. It was my olympic lifting day where I try and work on moving as much weight as possible. It’s also the day when the boys stare at me like ‘WTF is this girl doing hogging the olympic platform’ and then shut their mouths when they see me doing full on hang cleans with decent amount of weight. LOL. So another reason why I took two scoops is because I knew I had a serious challenge ahead of me with the workout- which called for 8 working sets of hang cleans in a pyramid scheme: 2 sets of 12 with 60% 1RM weight, progressing to 2 rep max sets. It’s a battle.
During my warm-up I started to feel Sexy Charged start to set in and do its thing. The caffeine took over my mind and commanded my body to prepare for the intense movements to come. I started getting a good sweat in halfway through my warmup- where I do some plyometric style activity to get the muscles activated. The sweating intensified as I got into my initial sets of cleans. The energy and focus were super helpful as I focused on the many different things I needed to do with my body to get that weight up. Shoulders over the bar. Long neck. Good stretch. Explode with the hips! Get under the weight quick. Stand up tall. Repeat.
My middle sets went down without a fight. I was really in the zone today with Sexy Charged providing the fuel that I needed. I was dripping sweat by the time the 2 rep max sets came around. After destroying the first set, I ended up adding like 5% weight to the bar and proceeded to crush the last set. I couldn’t have been happier as I did my shoulder dumbbell and ab circuit to end my workout. Sexy Charged provided the perfect amount of energy, endurance, and drive for me to get it done in the gym. So the product works great. What’s in here that makes it so effective?
Sexy Charged Formula and Ingredient Grade: 8.6
At first glance, Sexy Charged is a relatively basic pre workout formula. On second glance it is too. And also on third. But here’s the thing. Nothing jumps out at you that makes you shake your head and go- ‘nah, that’s not right’. NOTHING. There is no proprietary blend. We know exactly how much of each ingredient is in this product. There’s also no dangerous or harmful stimulants. Another plus. Also no creatine. Another plus. Is there anything in this formula that is going to revolutionize the pre workout game? No. But it’s a good, solid formula that gets the job done. Here are the highlights from my perspective:
- L-Citrulline: Citrulline has really grown on me over the last twelve months. I used to think that this classic ‘pump’ ingredient didn’t do much for me. But I think what it does is really open up your blood flow pathways to get more oxygen-rich blood into the muscles. I’ve found that my endurance is much better when supplementing with citrulline.
- Agmatine: Agmatine is another of those ‘pump’ ingredients. It doesn’t do quite as much as citrulline in my opinion, but it’s another popular ingredient.
- AMP Citrate: AMP has become a popular energy ingredient over the last few years because it exhibits some of the same effects of the now banned 1,3 DMAA. Of course the effects are not as pronounced, but I think AMP improves focus tremendously. I think it’s a brilliant ingredient in this pre workout.
- Caffeine, Tyrosine, Theanine: I’m lumping these three together because they comprise the ‘energy’ engine of this formula. The caffeine is nicely dosed at 250 mg per 2 scoops, and the theanine does a great job mitigating the feeling so that there aren’t an jitters.
If there is one thing that I could improve about this formula, it would be to make a one scoop dosage the quantity of the two scoop dosage. At just 3.2 grams total for one scoop- it’s just not enough material for the product to be effective. They clearly designed the product to be taken in two scoop dosages, but wanted to bring the cost per serving down low. Thus the tiny serving size, and seemingly high 50 servings per container. Not a huge deal, just mildly deceptive.
Sexy Charged Packaging Grade: 7.0
And now time for some good old-fashioned packaging design fun. And by fun I mean torture. With a name like Gym Vixen, my expectations were incredibly low for this branding and packaging. They really could not have made it any more stereo-typical. The name Gym Vixen first of all, is the worst name since the hilarious ‘Chick Pump’. I’m really starting to think that the supplement companies all use the same exact designer when they roll out pre workout supplements for women because they legit all look the same. Sexy Charged Advanced Pre Workout is black and pink, has a cheesy disco sparkle pattern thing going on in the background, and has a stock image silhouette of a prostitute along one side. It’s literally atrocious.
Gym Vixen Sexy Charged Pre Workout Final Score: 9.0
Packaging aside- this is a terrific pre workout. As a matter of fact I’m still using this one because the taste is so dang good, and the workouts have been even better. At $50 a pop- you’re paying a premium price since it’s effectively a 2-scoop serving (or $2/serving). But if you’re like me, and don’t mind paying for a strong product that actually works, I highly recommend Gym Vixen Supplements Sexy Charged Pre Workout.
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