The Grim Reaper gets a complete do-over with Cobra Labs’ The Ripper. I don’t know about you but that bottle isn’t something I’d keep in a dark place. It gives me the creeps, bro!
The Ripper is designed to burn fat, curb hunger, boost energy and increase performance, much like other fat burners. What makes them different is how they promote the shit out of their product. With taglines like providing “electrifying energy” or making you “plug into lightning”, you know they got the marketing game good.
Will this scary-looking fat burner zap the jiggles away or is it just a scary can filled with a frighteningly ineffective formula?
Let’s find out…
Table of Contents
About The Ripper
The Ripper is the latest fat burner to come out of Cobra Labs. It has plenty of cool claims but the best one has to be that whole “electric energy” and “lighting plug” thing. I haven’t seen that before. Too bad we don’t score on marketing and hype. Formula notes:
- One big-ass prop blend: We get five grams of powdered ingredients and we don’t know how much we get per scoop.
- Great Ingredients: The good news is that it actually contains proven burners and others that support weight loss goals.
- PWO-Burner Twist: This fat burner seems to also function as a PWO but do we want a PWO-burner hybrid?
COBRA LABS The Ripper Supplement Facts |
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Serving Size: 1 scoop (5 g) Servings Per Container: 30 |
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Ingredients | Amount Per Serving |
Vitamin C | 45 mg (75% DV) |
Vitamin B12 | 25 mcg (418% DV) |
Pantothenic Acid | 4 mg (42% DV) |
Chromium (As Chromium Picolinate) | 100 mcg (83% DV) |
Extreme Muscle Fuel | 2055 mg |
Carnosyn® Beta-Alanine, Guarana Extract, Raspberry Ketones, Caffeine (200 mg) | |
Ripper Shred Matrix | 1106 mg |
Taurine, Acetyl L-Carnitine HCl, Green Coffee Extract, Green Tea Extract, Cinnamon Bark Extract, Olive Leaf Extract (40% Oleuropein) | |
Other Ingredients: Citric Acid, Malic Acid, Calcium Silicate, Silicon Dioxide, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Beet Juice (Color), Sucralose, Acesulfame Potassium (Ace-K). | |
Directions. Begin drinking (1) serving (1 scoop) mixed with 6-8 ounces (180-250 ml) of cold water on an empty stomach 15-30 minutes before breakfast for the first two (2) days to assess tolerance. An additional scoop may be taken 5-6 hours later or as directed by a qualified healthcare practitioner. For best results, use for 60 days in combination with diet and exercise. Do not exceed 2 servings in a 24 hour period. |
A scary-looking bottle won’t cover up The Ripper’s identity-crisis.
The Ripper has a formula that’s somewhat lacking in the one area it’s supposed to be good at: burning fat. We think the reason is because it tried to be a PWO at the same time. We like the ingredient choices but the formula structure tells us it’s not as electrifying as the ads wants us to believe. Let’s check out the ingredients in this formula:
- Carnosyn™ Beta Alanine: Premium ingredient known for performance benefits. We like this ingredient in a PWO but we’re not sure we want to feel face tingles when what we really want to feel is fat burning.
- Guarana Extract: Alternative caffeine source, known for its slow-release benefit that lets you have sustainable energy throughout the day minus the crash. It’s good for fat burning but we feel like The Ripper has too much of this and less of the essential ingredients.
- Raspberry Ketones: Popular and trendy but not exactly as proven as our best 5 fat burners.
- Caffeine: One of the most familiar face in the supplement industry. Great energy source and a good fat burner. Dosage is pretty good too specially when combined with Guarana’s slow-release energy attack. Love it or hate it, it’s here to stay.
- Taurine: It’s more of a performance enhancer akin to a pump ingredient. Needs more dose, bro.
- Acetyl L-Carnitine: The more bioavailable form of L-carnitine, and it’s believed – but not entirely proven – to accelerate fat burning efforts. It works by funneling fatty acids into our cells which are then burned for cellular energy.
- Green Coffee Extract: We like this fat burner but we prefer it standardized for CGA. GCBE is also another caffeine source.
- Green Tea Extract: Our favorite fat burner takes a backseat near the bottom rung of the fat burning ladder. It’s also not standardized for EGCG, the active compound we want in tea not just for fat burning but for a whole roster of benefits.
- Cinnamon Bark Extract: Good for diabetics since it works on your insulin sensitivity which should help you lose weight and improve your health in the long term.
- Olive Leaf Extract: Potent at 40% Oleuropein, this small ingredient is a thyroid booster known to enhance your fat burning hormones. Works best with the likes of Synephrine and Orange Daylily
Formula Analysis
Looks like Jack The Ripper has a case of Jekyll and Hyde syndrome.
The Ripper tells us Beta Alanine is the driving force in their fat burner. This is a headscratcher, because Beta Alanine is mainly used in PWOs and just doesn’t belong in a fat burner. Even Taurine gets a better dosage than our favorite burners. Adding confusion to the mix, Cobra Labs indicated this product can also be used as a PWO. Again, we get the angle but what are they promoting now? The formula feels so unfocused.
Yes, we get the angle of “more lifts, more fat loss” but we want a fat burner to focus on, well, burning fat. If the dosage for our burners go towards non-burners, we ask questions.
Moving on, we like that The Ripper seems to base its fat burning power from caffeine. Caffeine is caffeine, Guarana Extract has caffeine, Green Coffee Bean has caffeine, even Green Tea has caffeine. What we’re saying is we don’t see the whole “no jitters or caffeine crash” promised on their website.
As for everything else, Raspberry Ketones is a good choice but we prefer to sub its dosage with Green Coffee Bean or Green Tea. Cinnamon is good and all but not something we look forward to in a fat burner. Olive Leaf Extract is a great addition but we’re not sure if The Ripper can take full advantage of its hormone-controlling effects.
And the elephant in the room: What’s the dosage, bro? It’s a big ass prop blend and based on how it looks, it appears to lean more on being a preworkout than a fat burner. That ain’t right, bro. Just look at Beta-Alanine and Taurine. These two are dosage hogs as they need more than a full gram to function the way they should. No wonder my burners didn’t get much attention.
It’s also bad we didn’t get the standardized forms of Green Coffee and Green Tea since it would have somehow counterbalanced the whole dosage problem.
The Ripper Benefits
The Ripper can give you a decent source of energy along with an equally sized thermo and by thermo we mean you’ll be sweating. Not drenched but you’ll feel it trickling down your shirt for sure.
Who Takes It?
They target stim junkies first, weight loss addicts second. With 200 mg of caffeine (equivalent to 2 cups of coffee) and a complement of other stimulants, you shouldn’t take this product unless you are prepared for it.
Any Side Effects?
They promised no jitters but who are we kidding here, bro? The Ripper has all sorts of caffeine sources. No matter how tough your system is, there’s still a chance you’ll get jitters, crashing, and maybe even stomach aches. We recommend those who have caffeine sensitivities to entero somewhere elso.
Also, high levels of Beta alanine can also cause uncomfortable tingling of the skin, especially in the face; however, this sensation is harmless and nothing to worry about.
The Ripper Summary
Pros
- Functional. Good research means good ingredients.
- Good Energy. Caffeine and Thermo power, bro.
- Flavor. Many choices and people say they’re good.
Cons
- Jekyll and Hyde. Hybrids are okay but you gotta step up the dose, bro.
- Appetite control? Dosage and form of GCBE is poor.
- Other ingredients. Powders need flavors that’s why we hate them.
- Gimmicky shtick. Electric Energy and Lightning Plugs. ‘Nuff said.
- Expensive. We’ve seen better value from similar products.
Pricing & Buying Info
This product cannot be purchased directly from the manufacturer’s website, but is available online on websites such as bodybuilding.com and Amazon.
- 1 bottle (1 month): $35.99
- Available online and in retail stores
Final Word on The Ripper
When it comes to The Ripper, Cobra Labs talks the talk but becomes paralytic when asked to walk the walk. They unleashed the hypebeast to market this product instead of good, solid science. It’s a hybrid so we give it a good score on being a PWO but not so much as a fat burner.
We recommend passing up on The Ripper and going for something else more solid and would actually electrify you.
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