Want to get shredded, sliced and diced? If you’re an athlete you know there’s a lot that goes into cutting phases. EVLUTION Nutrition knows, too. That’s why they designed the Pre-Workout “Shred Engine” known as ENGN SHRED.
A potent powder supplement featuring unique blends for fat-burning, brainpower, energy and more, ENGN SHRED is billed as “the next evolution of the pre-workout supplements.” Let’s find out if this is true in our ENGN SHRED review.
Table of Contents
About Evlution Nutrition’s EVL ENGN Shred
ENGN Shred is an “evolved” Pre-Workout by EVL, an industry leader in sports nutrition. In addition to enhancing muscle performance like other pre-workouts, ENGN Shred is designed to help stave off fatigue, sharpen focus, promote mood and more. Formula features:
- Energizing fat burners. ENGN Shred places a strong emphasis on fat burning with ingredients that boost workout intensity and energy.
- Mind to Muscle. Supplies several top-rated nootropic brain boosters intended to help with concentration and focus during training
- Creatine-Free. Designed without creatine, for people who can’t deal with the bloats or who get their creatine from another source.
EVL ENGN SHRED Review – Supplement Facts |
||
Serving Size 1 scoop (7.7g) | ||
Servings Per Container30 | ||
Amount Per Serving | Dosage/DV | |
Niacin (as niacinamide) | 35 mg | 175% |
Vitamin B6 (as pyridoxine HCl) | 2 mg | 100% |
Folic Acid | 800 mcg | 200% |
Vitamin B12 (as cyanocobalamin) | 25 mcg | 417% |
ENGN® Mind-to-Muscle Matrix | 2,016 mg | |
Betaine Anhydrous, Choline Bitartrate, L-Tyrosine, Agmatine Sulfate (as AGmass™), Alpha-Glycerylphosphorylcholine, Hyperzia serrata extract (std. min. 1% Huperzine A) (club moss) | ||
CarnoSyn® Beta-Alanine | 1,600mg | |
ENGN SHRED MATRIX | ||
Conjugated Linoleic Acid Powder (std. min. 60% CLA) | 500 mg | † |
L-Carnitine L-Tartrate | 500 mg | † |
Coleus extract (as Coleus forskohli) (root) | 100 mg | † |
Red Pepper Fruit Extract (Capsimax®) | 25 mg | † |
Yohimbe extract (as Pausinystalia yohimbe) (bark) | 40 mg | † |
ENGN ENERGIZERS | 260mg | † |
Natural Caffeine (from Coffee Bean), Green Tea Extract (standardized for EGCG) (leaf) | ||
Other Ingredients: Citric Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Silica, Sucralose, FD&C Blue #1 | ||
Directions: As a dietary supplement, take 1 scoop with 8 oz (236 mL) of cold water 15-30 minutes before training. To avoid sleeplessness, do not take within 4 hours of sleep. |
Evlution Nutrition ENGN Shred is an advanced pre-workout supplement that shreds with mind-body intensity.
First off, we have to point out how skillfully EVL leverages the Power of the Scoop in ENGN Shred. With more total dosage to play with, they max out 3 separate blends that effectively boost training performance in a number of different ways.
The formula starts with Niacin, vitamin B12 and vitamin B6, a neat mini-B-vitamin stack that will give you some of the most basic essentials for converting foods into energy and promoting protein synthesis. Great, but let’s get to the exciting stuff: Those sexy blends behind EVL Engn’s revolutionary pre-workout claims.
ENGN® Mind-to-Muscle Matrix Prop Blend, 2016 mg
Betaine Anhydrous: Found in sugar beets, betaine is helpful for digestive efficiency, helping you to metabolize macronutrients in a way that optimizes the conversion of foods into energy. A little strange for a “mind” blend, but EVL has our attention.
Choline Bitartrate: Meh, a choline source, but not as good as the Alpha GPC below. Basically it is a brain health nutrient that helps with some neurotransmitters linked to focus and concentration.
L-Tyrosine: tyrosine is one of our favorite nootropics overall. As a brain-booster, it is most effective for keeping the brain sharp and clear during stressful activities and multitasking. So in essence, L-Tyrosine is a brain booster that really kicks in when you are under stress. Intense training counts as stress, so this is a great ingredient for a pre-workout formula like ENGN Shred.
AGmass™ Agmantine Sulfate: Related to L arginine, this interesting product is rarely used but may have potential in pre-workout applications. It is believed to work by blocking the enzymes that break down nitric oxide. Therefore, in theory it would work in concert with the nitric oxide booster to keep levels elevated, thereby boosting blood flow to muscles and giving you some awesome pumps. Keep in mind that research is early on this one. And while AGmass is a brand, there is not much information available on it.
Alpha Glycerylphosphorylcholine: Also known as Alpha GPC, this nootropic brain booster supplies some complementary support to the Huperzine A that follows, acting as a choline donor that is used to synthesize acetylcholine brain chemical. It may help focus a little bit, but these choline donors are more typically associated with memory benefits in older adults who are experiencing cognitive decline.
Huperzine A (from Huperzia serrata club moss, standardized to 1% Huperzine-A): This nootropic made from Chinese club moss helps to support healthy acetylcholine levels in the brain. It is also a brain circulation booster. In this blend, Hup-A is used as a nootropic for concentration and focus, which may help you achieve greater mental intensity while working out.
Beta Alanine (as CarnoSyn®), 1600 mg
This amino acid boosts carnosine levels by up to 80% within muscle. Carnosine then boosts circulation to muscles, supercharges fast-twitch muscle fibers, and helps to buffer muscles against lactic acid to improve muscle endurance, enhance physical performance and help you push one rep beyond. This review gives props for beta alanine. It is one of the best pre workout nutrients you can take.
ENGN Shred Matrix
CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), 500 mg: This fat burner was trendy in 2017. Its popularity will continue in 2018. However, it’s research-backed benefits for body composition have been known for a long time. CLA is believed to work by helping the body to burn through fat stores more efficiently during intense exercise. It also has some benefits for promoting lean muscle mass.
L-Carnitine L-Tartrate, 500 mg: Carnitine is a classic performance enhancer to use while lifting weights or doing any kind of intense training. On the one hand, it helps you to burn more calories by intensifying your physical exertion capability. But it also is needed to shuttle fat into cells’ mitochondria where they are burned for fuel. Therefore, carnitine seems to enhance your fat loss efforts on a couple of important levels.
Coleus Extract, 100 mg: This sexy herbal extract is so sexy that EVL can’t even say what it does. Coleus forskohlii supplies forskolin, an active ingredient that – like l-carnitine – helps to promote muscle development while encouraging fat loss. Forskolin works on a different pathway than carnitine, however – instead, it seems to optimize the endocrine system, working on hormones and neurotransmitters to create a peak fat-burning body state that is just right for ENGN Shred.
Capsimax®, 25 mg: If you have been reading any of our other fat burner supplement reviews, then you already know: we love cayenne pepper or fat loss. Supplying active compounds collectively called capsaicin, cayenne pepper is considered a thermogenic supplement that helps to increase calories burned by raising body temperature.
- Capsimax® is the good stuff: Standardized to supply exact levels of capsaicinoids and featuring unique technology that eliminates the “burning stomach” side effects that would occur if you took plain cayenne powder supplements.
Yohimbe Extract, 40 mg: An exotic, yet classic, fat burner that supplies “sensory” benefits that have become popular in pre-workout supplements; this is a combination of stimulating an energizing benefit that combine with its natural fat-burning bioactivities to promote intense workouts that crank through more calories.
ENGN Energizers, 260 mg
Caffeine: You know it, you love it. So does Evlution Nutrition. Caffeine’s diverse array of “benefits” for fat burning, alertness, and sensory stimulation are always a welcome addition to a pre-workout stack.
Green Tea Extract (standardized for EGCG): Of course, green tea will add even more caffeine to this little Energizer blend. Plus, it is standardized for EGCG, which means you will get green tea’s active ingredient that makes it one of the best fat burners of all time. Green tea will also supply some L-Theanine to help mellow out caffeine’s jittery edges; however, we’re doubtful there’s enough theanine in this blend to make much of a difference.
Formula Analysis
This formula advertised as being the evolution of pre-workouts. Does it live up to the hype in this ENGN Shred review?
For the most part, ENGN is exactly as advertised: An intense pre-workout powder that delivers the classic performance-enhancing effects of other pre-workout supplement augmented with super stimulation, brainpower-boosting nootropics and more.
The more part of the equation are thermogenic nutrients that work together with the physical performance enhancing effects to optimize fat loss results in a few different ways.
Since it is a powder, there is a little leeway in dosage – they can fit a lot into each serving. And that’s exactly what they do: Cram lots of nutrition into 3 blends. Let’s summarize what the ENGN Shred blends do:
- ENGN® Mind-to-Muscle Matrix: mostly brain-boosting nootropics that help with focus, concentration, and stress resistance; also a couple of sports nutrient for energy metabolism and muscle pumps.
- ENGN SHRED MATRIX: a five and one fat burner blends where each one is better than the next, highlighted by Capsimax cayenne and Coleus Extract.
- ENGN ENERGIZERS: nothing revolutionary here, just a nice blend of caffeine in green tea to combine alertness benefits with fat burner bioactivities.
In addition to the blends, you get another classic sports nutrient for pre-workout purposes in beta alanine along with some B vitamins for basic metabolic support.
This pre-workout formulation is chock-full of workout-intensifying goodness.
We have to give ENGN Shred props in this review. EVL talks a lot of trash in their marketing copy about EVL ENGN Shred is the next evolution of pre-workouts, and then they back it up with a formula that pretty much validates what they are saying. These proprietary blends are each superbly designed to promote a superhuman mind-body state. It all adds up to better workout performance and more pounds lost.
The one ingredient that ENGN Shred breaks out is beta alanine as carnosine. This is one of the most important and fundamental pre-workout nutrients, and it is nice to see ENGN break it out as its own dosage — which is impressive enough to bring results.
The Energizer blend is the least sexy in this engine, but you can’t go wrong with caffeine and green tea. The green tea is standardized to supply fat-burning EGCG, but not standardized for nootropic L-Theanine.
We note a couple of especially good branded ingredients in the EVL ENGN Shred formula:
- Capsimax®: the best version of one of our favorite natural fat burners, cayenne pepper. Capsimax is standardized to 10% capsaicinoids and is made with patented micro-bead technology that delays release until further along in the digestive tract. This doesn’t affect absorption, but does eliminate the burning side effects that you would otherwise experience if the cayenne were absorbed in your stomach.
- CarnoSyn®: Another top-shelf premium brand of beta alanine that has been around for awhile and is known for its quality.
Ultimately, what we have with EVL ENGN Shred a great array of performance enhancers, brain boosters, fat burners and stimulants all rolled into one product. We have also got some signs of good supplement quality, as well as smart ingredient choices are optimized with premium branded forms that will help them to work better in some way.
EVL ENGN Shred Benefits
Not everybody likes to complicate their pre-workout formulas. Some people just want to keep their pre-workouts pure, intended to boost performance during training. However, there is certainly room for evolution in this category. EVL does it best to reinvent the pre-workout with ENGN Shred, and executes well – delivering a single scoop of both supplement that works for energy, focus, power, endurance, fat burning, and more.
Who Takes It?
EVL makes no bones about it: ENGN Shred is an ATHLETE’s pre-workout supplement. What kind of athlete? Doesn’t matter. Bodybuilders will likely be the biggest fans and consumers of this stack, but any endurance athletes would benefit from it as well.
Any Side Effects?
Sure there are!
Naw… as with many other stimulant-driven pre-workout supplements and complicated sports nutrition formulas, EVL ENGN comes with a comprehensive side effects panel.
We appreciate the transparency, however. It is better to show all possible side effects with products as intense as this. It reflects a responsible manufacturer who gives a damn about your safety.
In any case, just remember that EVL ENGN Shred is intense by design. I mean, come on — it’s got stimulants ranging from caffeine and green tea to exotic yohimbe root.
Be safe, take care with it, and if you are really smart, consult with your doctor before taking this supplement.
EVL ENGN Shred Review Summary
Pros
- All-around performance enhancer. You get maximum energy, focus, pumps, endurance and thermogenic support all packed into one scoop.
- Capsimax®. Premium branded cayenne pepper fat burner shows they mean business about the “shred” part of this equation.
- Ambitious formulation. It’s at least a 3-in-1 stack, but doesn’t water down any benefits; this is an advantage of a powder-based scoop serving size. Big dosages!
- Smart choices. Big doses only count if the ingredients work, and ENGN Shred supplies some of the strongest research-backed pre-workouts, nootropics and fat burners at once.
- Om nom. Flavor variety! ENGN Shred flavor options include cherry limeade, blue razz, furious grape and fruit punch
Cons
- No creatine. Of course, that is no mistake. EVL ENGN Shred is creatine free by design, but we would always prefer to be using creatine since it is one of the best pre-workouts of all time.
- Unclean label. It takes a lot of artificial flavors and colors to make that Furious Grape flavor EVL ENGN Shred. That goes for the other flavors, too.
- Hidden dosages. This is puzzling but ENGN Shred shares most of its full dosages, while hiding the rest under proprietary blends. What are you hiding, EVL? WHAT ARE YOU HIDING???
Pricing & Where to Buy
- $29.99 for 30 servings
- Available at bodybuilding dot com, amazon, Amazon, the EVL website, and a few other online retailers
- EVL is an accessible brand, so there are lot of outlets to shop around in… meaning you might be able to find some deals and good prices for ENGN Shred
Final Word on EVL ENGN Shred
In this EVL ENGN Shred review, we discuss how this ambitious pre-workout supplement delivers on its bold claims of “evolving” the pre-workout category. With one scoop, it delivers a broad range of benefits that are ideal for bodybuilders and athletes who want explosive performance across the board during cutting phases.
EVL ENGN Shred misses out on creatine goodness, and not everybody is a fan of powder pre-workout supplements. However, there is no denying the smart formulation strategies that combine to create this next-generation-style pre-workout supplement. It is a good choice for advanced athletes everywhere who want a multi-purpose pre-workout stack. We conclude this review with an enthusiastic thumbs-up for the ENGN SHRED.
[yasr_overall_rating]
Leave a Reply