This week, we take a moment to review Blonyx’s HMB+ Creatine.
Item: Blonyx HMB+ Creatine
Price: $60 USD a tub
Manufacturer: Blonyx
Purchase: www.Blonyx.com
This week I’m reviewing Blonyx’s HMB+ Creatine. Blonyx is a supplement company based in Vancouver, Canada that was founded in 2010. Over the past few years the brand has been marketing a variety of products to the CrossFit community.
Prior to finding CrossFit, I was like many young men and followed a standard bodybuilding regime. Looking back, there are times I laugh when I think about the type of training I was doing. I remember my days were scheduled around my body parts: Monday legs, Tuesday back, Wednesday chest… umm you get the idea 🙂
So besides consuming copious amounts of protein and protein powders, I pretty much took every supplement under the sun. From vitamins, fish oils, L-Carnitine, BCAAs, glutamine, creatine, tribulus, HMB to some uncommon things like Ma Huang, Chromium, Hydroxycitric Acid and Forskolin. Basically, if there was a product I was told could help my training and make me look like the Incredible Hulk, you can bet at some time or another I took it.
While some of those supplements worked, most of the time the gains were so miniscule I would only use the products once before moving on to the next. Yet one of the supplements that I came back to time and time again was creatine. Every time I took creatine I always got great results.
When I say “great results,” I’ll admit I do not take a scientific approach. I don’t go out and plot charts of my max bench press, squats or deadlifts, I simply go on how I feel. I.e Do I feel stronger, faster, more explosive or recover a little better? I will say I do measure my weight, because without going into the science, creatine draws water into your muscles so putting on a few extra pounds usually happens.
So when Blonyx sent me a few bottles of HMB+ Creatine to test, I was excited to give it a go. Since switching to the Paleo diet a few years back, it had been awhile since I’d taken creatine, so I was interested to see the effects it would have on my body, if any.
I should mention I was also given a one month supply of Blonyx HMB Sport to test, which I took a few months prior to testing the creatine. Although I hate to say it, but after consuming the entire contents of the bottle as directed, I did not notice any benefit.
There was nothing good or bad about the Blonyx HMB Sport, it was just that I didn’t notice any effects whatsoever. Although that does come with a disclaimer. I’ve taken HMB several times in the past and have never noticed any benefits from it taking it, regardless of the brand. So when I received it I made it clear I was not the person to review that supplement.
With that being said let’s get to the creatine review.
The Good
Use: After using the HMB+ Creatine for over a month I’m happy to state, I did get good results from it. I noticed I was a little stronger while lifting weights and had a bit more in the tank while undertaking a variety of CrossFit metcons. I also compete in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and while I was on the mats wrestling other competitors, I noticed my overall strength and speed increased. Could this have been a placebo effect? Yes, that is always a possibility, but as I mentioned at the outset, I’ve taken enough supplements in my time to know when I’m getting results or not.
No Additives: What I like most about the product is the fact there are no artificial colors, or chemicals added to the product. Rowan Minnion, Blonyx’s founder notes his products are so pure they are almost Paleo. As he says, “all Blonyx supplements, HMB+ Creatine ingredients are consistent with the Paleo diet ethos as they’re all from foods that would normally exist in a hunter-gatherer diet. It is highly likely that meat eating cavemen living amongst the grapefruit trees were the fittest around.”
Bloating: The one thing most people notice when taking creatine is bloating. As I mentioned above, creatine draws water into your muscles, so it is not the fact you feel bloated, you just notice your muscles look like they have taken on more water. Despite the fact my weight went from 77-kgs to 77.8-kgs over the month, I did not feel or look bloated much to my surprise – a result I was very happy with.
It works: what can I say. After testing this for the month I was pleased with the results.
The Bad
Smell/Taste: The first thing you notice when you open a tub is the smell. In short, it just does not smell very good. This in effect also translates to taste. One of biggest complaints about the product is that it simply does not taste great. Blonyx does note when they were in the development stage of the product, they were given the option to put ingredients into it to change that. Although considering they wanted to keep it as free of any unnecessary additives, they choose not to add sweeteners, aromas, or additional chemicals, hence the tradeoff.
Load Period: As I noted above, I’ve taken plenty of creatine in the past and all of them have a load period. When I say “load period,” that mean it takes anywhere from a few days, to weeks before you notice any effects, depending on the brand. Blonyx HMB+ Creatine is a powder, and unlike other creatines I’ve taken, I found it was a good 3-weeks till I noticed any effects. Each tub weighs 240-grams and is supposed to be a 30-day supply, and by the time I noticed results, I was just about out of the product.
Price: A 240-gram tub of Blonyx HMB+ Creatine costs $60 and there are plenty of cheaper alternatives on the market. To some, this may be a little pricey for creatine, although for a product that is free of additives or any unnecessary chemicals it may be well worth the cost.
Conclusion
There are so many companies making supplements today and unfortunately in the quest to drive revenue, some of them put questionable ingredients into them.
Yet with Blonyx supplements you can rest assured you are getting one of the most natural and chemical free creatine’s on the market today.
Sure it takes longer to load, is not as cheap as many of its competitors but it is a small price to pay knowing you are not putting any unwanted or “questionable” chemicals or additives into your body.
Like I mentioned above, I took the Blonyx’s HMB Sport and failed to get a result. However there is no question in my mind their HMB+ Creatine worked, and worked well for me.
I put on some extra weight (some water, some muscle), felt stronger and was a little more explosive. Meaning overall, I was happy with the product.
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