FJ's Verdict:

Product Name: Zizazz Explosive Workout Mix
Company: Zizazz
MSRP: $39.84 (Box of 16 Individual sticks)
Availability: Medium (Online And Some Stores)

If you remember a while back, I reviewed Zizazz’s Energy Mix and liked it quite a lot. It mixed really well, tasted awesome, and packed the energy punch that you might actually need from time to time. What’s more, those pixie-stick like packets were SUPER convenient to take with you allowing you to just pour the powder on your tongue if there is no water around. It was not the BEST implementation since it was so concentrated but it wasn’t a bad try.

So today, I have another product from them, only this time it’s a specially formulated workout mix. Yes, I still don’t know how to pronounce their name but who cares. Let’s see if Zizazz can continue to impress…

Product Claims:

Loaded with Creatine, Arginine, and L-Glutamine PLUS Vitamins and Premium Ingredients: Vitamins B3, B5, B6, B12, C, E, ginseng, green tea & rhodiola rosea.
Convenience – Easy to take anywhere with no refrigeration required.

First Impressions:

Uh.. I think that was the shortest product description EVER. But hey, they’re straight to the point and don’t bother with the bullshit fancy talk. I’m cool with that. The presentation was almost identical to the previous Zizazz energy mix product. The box has a glossy finish to it, and it can be opened in a convenience style or you can opt for the re-closeable tab option. The only difference is the actual design on the box. I think the Energy Mix had a more attractive design, this was too bland with all that gray. All the flavours inside are divided into their own little compartments so getting to them is smooth as gravy.

The flavours in this variety pack include (from top): Mixed Berry, Lemon Lime, Grape & Orange.

While the looks are all fine and dandy, we all know what REALLY makes or breaks a supplement product… the ingredients yo! Let’s dig in.

To be honest there isn’t much to it. It’s almost the same mixture as their previous energy mixture accept they threw in 2.5g of creatine, 1.5g Glutamine and 1.5 Arginine on top. Other than that you still get 200mg caffeine per serving along with Ginseng extract, Green tea extract, Rhodiola rosea extract. Let’s divide this shit into pros and cons:

Pro Ingredients:

• Creatine (Though I would have liked to see more than a measly 2.5g at $2.49 per serving)
• Glutamine (Again, good call but 1.5g is too small an amount. Better than nothing I guess)
• Caffeine (200mg? Fuck yeah. That shit will wake you up and kick your ass, count on it)
• Ginseng Extract (Promotes well being and might help by reducing fatigue)
• Green Tea Extract (Looks promising at increasing your metabolism… but it’s not magic, so be aware of that)

Con Ingredients:

• Arginine (Everyone knows my stand on arginine, specially when companies use it in their stupid “pump” products. IT WILL NOT PUMP YOU UP. Studies have proven it. However what’s interesting is that Zizazz were smart and didn’t market it as a “pump” ingredient. Rather they say it’s to enhance immune function, detox the liver, release of insulin and GH. Hmm… my opinion is that these claims are inconclusive but even if they WERE some what true, at 1.5g? You might as well forget about it. The dose is too insignificant so the claims don’t even matter)
• Sucralose (Again I would have rather seen Stevia but whatever, it’s better than aspartame. Way better. So far the research has shown sucralose to be safe but I’m not sure if those can be trusted since that’s what they said about aspartame. Remember? Those fuckers. I firmly believe aspartame is a carcinogen. As for sucralose, only time will tell)

Real World Results:

So, how did it fair in comparison to it’s close and less expensive sibling? Uh… good and very bad. This thing pissed me off, mainly because there are aspects of it that are really good, then there are aspects of it that are REALLY bad. Let’s start with…

The Bad:

It’s taste – HOLY JESUS SAVE ME. Listen up supplement manufacturers, I can understand replacing sugar with a sweetener to make it appealing to the low carb crowd but what the fuck Zizazz?! How much did you put in here? I don’t think they realize that sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sugar, because if they did, they wouldn’t have put such an absurd amount in their product.

I mean honestly, this thing tastes SO sweet I couldn’t really tell the difference between the flavours. My taste buds were in a world of confusion. All you taste is a rush of sweetness that gives you a headache. It’s so sweet it actually hurts! I had to double the amount of water and squeeze lemon juice in there (half a lemon’s worth) to make it drinkable since a review is a review, and I had to troop it out. But no one else in their right mind would…

The Good:

… and that’s too bad because now we come to it’s effectiveness. Although the amount creatine and glutamine in the mixture aren’t anything to get all excited about, the product itself works surprisingly well as an energy agent. You can definitely feel the kick and better yet, I didn’t notice a crash. How crazy is that?

I told my buddy Steven (used to do Olympic wrestling) to give it a go. After gagging on the sweetness, he too was impressed with the performance.

It also mixes just as well as Zizazz’s Energy mixture I reviewed. Throw in in a glass, swirl around the spoon a few times and viola! No chunks, shards, clumps or floaty crap to report.

Conclusion:

So the taste is over-bearing but the energy it delivers is good without making you jittery (this can change if you’re sensitive to caffeine though so be careful). It also tapers off  nicely instead of letting you crash like a ton of bricks.

But then, at $2.49 per serving, I don’t see why you’d buy this… specially since Zizazz’s Energy Mix is pretty much the same shit at a much lower cost ($1.99/serving).

I believe you’re much better off taking the original Zizazz product and mixing it with some REAL creatine such as a scoop of the good ol’ monohydrate, which you can buy for REAL cheap these days. You can even stack it with Purple-K.

Honestly, this workout mix feels like a very and rushed effort on Zizazz’s part, and that’s disappointing. If they want to make a REAL workout mix, they need to fix the taste, change the ingredients around a bit (beta-alanine anyone?) and use significant dosages so that it will actually have an impact on workout performance.

Back to the drawing board you go Zizazz…

- FitJerk