Too baaaad
Here at Testosterone Resource we divide most of our time reviews wise between natural fat burners and T boosters. We’re always looking for ways to improve efficiency though, so jumped at the chance to review a supplement claiming to do both at the same time.
Arguably any successful T booster is a fat burner in its own right, thanks to testosterone’s ability to build muscle mass in place of excess weight.
That didn’t stop Cellucor trying to go the extra mile however. P6 Ripped contains some of the usual suspects you’d expect, but also ingredients more common to fat burners. It claims to:
There are quite a few different products in Cellucor’s P6 range and while they’re not perfect, they usually have enough good points to suggest with a few tweaks they could be a good investment.
One such tweak we’d love to see is an end to their use of proprietary blends. Meaning : stop giving us a list of names and overall volumes, individual doses are important.
All we’re told here is the T and performance blend is 950mg and the energy and thermo mix is 319mg.
Sounds promising, but we’ll dig into the real details after the scores
Cellucor P6 is a supplement of two halves in more ways than one. The proprietary blends mean there are problems judging the quality of both, but we’d give the edge to the fat burning side. Elements are missing from that, but at least it’s made up of 3 proven choices.
Compare that to a T boosting blend, which has vitamin D3, but not enough of it, and no other core test stimulators. Sure there’s fenugreek and nettle root which clear the way for testosterone, but where are the ZMA and D-Aspartic Acid to help create it? Some of the less convincing picks – like ovine placenta and white button mushroom – could’ve made way.
One thing Cellucor are never shy of doing is asking for the big bucks. Believe it or not $70 isn’t the most expensive we’ve seen them go, but it’s still a lot. P6 Ripped isn’t awful but it’s not premium price worthy and if you don’t end up suitably ripped you may feel ripped off.
First and most importantly we can say that P6 Ripped is safe to take. It’s made in cGMP sanctioned locations meaning it has to meet a certain standard of quality. But that’s really only half the battle when it comes to trust and this supplement falters a little in other areas.
The proprietary blends keeping us out the loop on dosages are needless. If you can tell us how much of some things are in the formula, why not all? It just plants a a suspicion in our minds that we might be being short changed. Which isn’t acceptale considering customers are already being asked to shell out a very high price.
There’s nothing like the kind of in-depth personal user testimonials we like to see before deciding on a booster. It’s retail reviews or nothing. Unfortunately, often they’re not much better than nothing, with just a short paragraph and near untraceable user name.
That said it does have a strong 4 star rating on Amazon and was nearly sold out at the time of writing. We’re not saying some of these customers don’t genuinely rate it, just that there’s enough detail missing to take rave reviews with a pinch of salt.
Based in Texas, Cellucor have been the supplement business for nearly 20 years. They’re an extremely high profile, popular company with products to aid just about every aspect of health and fitness. In that time there have been no major scandals or scams, so rest easy on that score.
They might get a little over excited when it comes to pricing and we may take issue with how they put some of their products together, but as a business model you can’t fault success.
P6 Ripped might seem like it’s putting in a double shift, taking on your hormones and excess weight, but in terms of dosages, it’s more of a part timer.
Why? Well because you only take 2 servings of 2 capsules a day. One in the morning and then in the afternoon. That will only keep what benefits there are in P6 Ripped going so long.
It might be because of the caffeine, to stop it interfering with sleep. Yet other brands manage to balance their formula to have the optimum 3 or 4 servings a day. Including caffeine, with no issues. This ensures it keeps working and doesn’t clock off early.
Judging by this formula, there’s nothing here that jumps out straight away as a possible problem, though to be fair if we don’t have all the info on dosages it’s tough to rule issues out 100%.
If you’re particularly sensitive to stimulants then caffeine might cause all the hallmarks of too many coffees. Racing heart, insomnia, dizziness, nausea and headaches etc.
P6 Ripped is available from Amazon.com at $70 for a 1 month supply
D3 is great for T provided you have enough of it. We get it naturally from the sun and it can cause male hormone levels to spike which is why supplementing is great when sunbathing is not an option.
To see positive changes you need to be taking on about 3500IUs minimum, but unfortunately we’ve only got 1666IUs here. Right idea, poor delivery.
Ashwagandha is an adaptogen meaning it can help your body adjust to exercise, allowing you to keep going for longer. It also has T boosting qualities at extremely high levels of around 5g, which we don’t have here.
We can’t even be sure we’ve got the modest 300mg it takes to shore up stamina.
Yup, exactly what it says. You don’t see a lot of T boosters asking you to ingest ovine placenta. Or fat burners for that matter. That’s more Japanese game show territory. So why’s it here?
Well one study in 1980 found it could boost luteinizing hormone, which is a building block of testosterone. Not a lot of evidence beyond that. Let’s face it, a lot of things that seemed like a great idea in the 80s seem terrible now.
Fenugreek is a pretty worthwhile addition to any T booster, as it can help with 3 things.
Firstly, it’s an aphrodisiac capable of putting you more in the mood for love. On top of that it simulates androgens needed for T production. Finally, it balances blood sugars helping regulate insulin and stop it interfering with hormonal output. Shame that again we don’t know what we’re getting.
Better known as white button mushroom, some studies suggest this helps to lower estrogen production clearing the way for testosterone. The evidence is not as robust as with some alternative choices for that.
It may sound unpleasant but in T boosting terms stinging nettle has a lot to offer. The beta sitosterol in it can help lower your SHBG count, a protein which takes a percentage of overall T out of action. More free T means better performance but since we don’t know the dose here, no promises.
Caffeine is an integral part of any effective fat burner. This is because it speeds up metabolism and sustains energy to guard against crashes owing to lower calorie intake.
The only thing you have to be wary of is having too much and despite blends elsewhere, we are told that caffeine content is 125mg. That shouldn’t be anything to worry about. If anything it could maybe stand to be a little stronger.
So in a way this is the perfect ingredient for P6 Ripped as it’s been shown to both reduce fat and raise T. However, it needs at least 250mg.
While we don’t have an exact dose, we do know there’s 319mg in this blend, 125mg of which is caffeine with another ingredient to come. So it’s unlikely you’re getting enough.
Provided you’re getting enough, cayenne pepper is great as it promotes thermogenesis. This is the process of your body naturally heating up, which melts away more calories in the process, then burning more as your system works to cool back down. It’s just the question mark over the amount that’s a problem.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17615999
For a supplement trying to everything P6 is missing quite a lot on both sides of the fence.
Zinc, magnesium and D-Aspartic Acid would bolster the T boosting side of things and vitamin B6 is a better bet for limiting estogen.
In the other blend green tea and green coffee bean would give much needed kick to its fat burning credentials.
To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln,
Okay so I don’t have Abe’s way with words. But what I’m saying is P6 Ripped tries to do both and doesn’t quite nail either.
It’s not terrible, it just stretches itself too thin and for the high price it’s asking it’s not worth it.
