The Arnold Series
Usually when I hear a celebrity is launching a supplement range it fills me with dread. Typically, these are overpriced, under-dosed products aimed at those who know little or fall victim to the mass marketing machine. However, there are two key reasons why this product range by Arnold caught my eye. Firstly, it’s Arnold a man who has never endorsed his own supplements before and the kind of man, I imagine, would not put his name to something sub-par; not to mention his undying love for bodybuilding. Second the manufacturer. This was developed and manufactured with MusclePharm, a relatively new brand which is making waves in the supplement industry with solid formulations of good quality across a wide number of product lines. However, it did occur to me that the Arnold series may just be MusclePharm products relabelled with an extra cost incurred for using the Arnold Series imagery; on this front I was wrong. The Arnold range has taken some of the ‘old faithful’ sports supplements and given them a new twist. Evidence of this can be seen in the Arnold Iron Cre 3. This is a creatine nitrate, getting the best of creatine with the added benefits of nitrate, increasing water solubility and the addition of products that volumise cells increasing absorption of the creatine and allowing nutrients to enter the muscle, encouraging muscle recovery and growth alongside the performance gains associated with creatine. Iron Pump is the pre-workout formula, containing a moderate level of stimulants but ingredients that cause muscle splitting pumps such as L-Arginine Nitrate a potent NO booster and Agmatine Sulfate that inhibits NO reducing enzymes. For more details on these check out this piece on NO boosters here. Iron dream is one of my favourite Arnold series products, containing that well known sleep and recovery aid ZMA in the right doses to send you off into a deep and recovery fuelled sleep. Alongside this, it contains a thorough blend of amino acids alongside herbal extracts that optimise hormone production to aid in the recovery and growth process. Iron Pack is the Arnold series multivitamin, but unlike normal multivitamin it is formulated with larger amounts of vitamins and minerals that are important for muscle growth, immune function, energy production and muscle recovery and growth. Iron Cuts is the Arnold series weight loss and metabolism boosting product, this is unique as it not only contains ingredients found in fat burners, it again adds in key extra ingredients that help maintain lean muscle tissue by firstly supporting hormones responsible for muscle growth and secondly reducing hormones that cause muscle breakdown and metabolic stress. Iron Whey and Iron mass provide you with top quality protein sources with high levels of protein to improve recovery and in the case of Iron mass add extra calories from good sources or carbohydrate to help build lean muscle. As an entire range I would be happy to recommend any of these products to meet the goals these products set out to achieve, if in doubt about what products to use, you really can’t go wrong with choosing any of the Arnold Series range of Products. Paul Rimmer (BSc, MSc).