Has anyone experienced gains while using BioTest Surge that are above and beyond what they experienced using their previous post-workout meal? All other things being equal, is Surge worth it?
As good as any recovery I’ve ever had. Not better than, but as good as. I didn’t get profoundly fired up like Tim described, but the recovery was comfortable…And that’s just fine, since I can get the effect in half the calories as I used to use with 100 grams of dextrose and 50 grams of protein.
I posted something like this a while back but it got dumped during the forum change.
Since many have been on surge for some time now, please give us feedback as to your progress. I want to know how you feel on it and please specify exactly what you see happening. I want to know if you are fuller (due to glycogen synthesis), if you have grown (due to glycogen and protein sythesis), if you have better recovery after training (i.e. less soreness) and if you would recommend it to a friend.
Also I would like to know, for those who are dieting and using it, whether you are seeing better retention of muscle. I know that I have been dieting for 3+ weeks now and I have lost less weight than normal but about the same amount of fat. I think that it has helped with both retention of muscle mass and glycogen stores. I dont feel flat at all on my diet (and I usually do).
Both positive and negative comments are welcome and appreciated.
So far so good - I work out 5 days a week (and have for a long time - and can handle it fine) and have used Surge 4 days out of 5. I do recover better and have more energy after workouts. I’ve used it since it was released (gone through 2.25 cans so far). Previously I used a homemade hydrosylate then before that a whey protein hydrosylate + ultra fuel - neither solution was as good as surge. Between 1 & 10 for recover I’d give it a 7 (which is generous from me)
Mr. Berardi, is it cool to use Surge on a keto diet? Some people theorize that immediately after a workout, the high-GI carbs are shuttled directly to muscle, and won’t interfere with the ketogenic nature of the diet. Since surge has a relatively-low 40-50 carbs compared to the usual 100 grams of dextrose in a typical PWO drink, would Surge be an option for me?
I am in the middel of stack number 3 (andro/nandro- tribex - meth 7) to which I just added Surge. Last 3 lifting days
I do not get the same effects that Tim reports and I have fasted all night because I work out at 5:30 am. I do notice that my recovery is very good with minimal soreness, and I typically have quite a bit of soreness.
Because I have so many variables: Massive Eating, Stack #3, Surge and New Lifting Program I can not say my sucess is the Surge. What I can say is that over the past 5 weeks I have added 12lbs of muscle and dropped 1% BF and that is certainly becasue of this forum and Bio Test Products.
Keep up the good work!!!
JD
my only improvement that i can see is that i did 230 12 times… then the other day i did it 14 times… thats pretty good… this stuff goes fast doesnt it?
I’ve had some mild hair re-growth! lol
It’s good stuff, but I really wanna know how much does it kick ass over a regular hydro plus dextrose combo. That is, besides the taste, cause Surge rocks, and when you do it yourself, tastes fuckin horrible!
Gotta agree with JD. I tried a can of Surge with my stack of Andro/Nandro and Methoxy, and experienced great gains. Without even eating any more (although I was very consistent with getting my one-hour-after-Surge meal in), I gained a couple of pounds, and it wasn’t fat! Strength was also incredibly up. Of course, with all the other stuff thrown in, who knows how much (if any) the Surge contributed? But I like it enough to have bought another five cans and I’m going to take it during my off-cycle time for the next month and see what happens. I do have to say, though, that it’s expensive and goes very very quickly. I know that amino compounds are expensive to produce, but even if Surge proves to be the be all and end all of post-workout nutrition this is going to limit sales. I usually don’t really worry about what a supplement costs (within reason); I figure the health and looks benefits are worth it. But in this case…
I think surge has a place in dieting as long as it’s ingested immediately after training. Some believe that it wont kick you out of ketogenesis because of it’s rapid uptake. However, even if it does, this will be short lived and the loss of ketogenic mode for a few hours is well worth the recovery promoted by the drink. Im dieting right now and have been doing only 2 protein and carb meals per day…1 surge after training and 1 meal of carbs and protein 2 hours later. The rest are protein and fat. It’s the best diet Ive been on for retention of mass. I still feel crappy as dieting always does that to me but my body is doing well.
As far as the “feeling”, Ive said it a dozen times if Ive said it once…the feeling doesnt indicate efficacy. In fact you probably dont want that feeling for too long as prolonged and profound hypoglycemia can cause a rebound effect in the catbolic hormones and you will be worse off. If taken in the am after fasting in the night, subjects crash hard with clincal hypoglycemia about 45-60 minutes after taking the drink. We’re talking about 20-30mg/dl. After training, this doesnt occur though so if taken after training you are safe. I think Tim’s point is that if you go moderately hypoglycemic after training, the drink works as it’s supposed to. But this certainly wont happen in everyone.
Akicita
I’ve been using surge while on a keto diet. The only carbs I get are from surge and the weekend. After 2 weeks my bodyfat is down 2% with no loss of weight monday morning.
I am also wondering the same thing as Akicita. Would it be ok to use Surge on a keto diet? I am starting FF next week and wondering if Surge would throw off ketosis completely and contradict the FF diet.
I’ve noticed less soreness since I started using Surge three weeks ago. Also, the next day I feel good and am full of energy. Of course, when I go back to the gym, I tend not to be as full of energy because I’m only using the Surge on weight training days (Mon, Wed, Fri). So I tend to feel great on Tues, Thurs and Sat, but those are my mountain biking days. By the time I hit the weights again, I’m not as refreshed. If Surge was more affordable, I’d use it after every workout. I’m also following a 5x5 program and have steadily increased my strength nearly every week on all exercises. The first week that I used Surge, I got that dizzy/blackout feeling that Tim described. Recently, I haven’t noticed it affecting me as much. But a few hours after my workout, I feel fine and don’t become as sore or as tired.
At first I was skeptical because I didn’t pass out, and I hated the taste. Over the last three weeks I have changed my mind. I used it for two weeks before going on fat fast for a week.
While I was on Surge there was no muscle soreness and everytime I went to the gym I was pushing more iron, I only noticed that Surge was the difference when I went on Fat fast w/out Surge and my muscle would be sore for 3-4 days. Plus now I am addicted to the taste. In my opinion it is the most effective supplement I have tried, now only if it was a bit cheaper.
20-30 mg/dl reading of blood sugar is extremely low. I’m a type 1 diabetic and at 30 can function. Any less than that and it’s near pass out time. John, I’d love to see the readings of your subjects’ blood sugar responses. I have a very hard time believing that their sugar dropped that low without adding exogenous insulin.
My progress seems to be identical to everyone else’s. I’m stronger every time I go into the gym, I’m not really tired after workouts, and soreness is next to nothing and I’ve done things to guarantee soreness(like dino and olympic lifting) but I notice no soreness. I also have the same complaint as everyone else: price(but that’s it). John, I’ve got a question. This summer I’m going to be following this regimen: on MWF I’ll have a sprinting session with a wieght session several hours later and on Tuesday and Thursday I’ll have a ketebell workout that will last 30-45 min. If I can’t afford to use surge for all of these workouts then which workouts should I use it? Thanks.
Ditto to everything everyone else- improved recovery, less soreness, etc. I tried some of my friend’s homemade version and threw up. So to me, the cost is fine. They actually made it taste pretty good, sort of like angel food cake. Not as good as Grow! but it’ll work. Try freezing it a little and eating it with a spoon. Just make it up before you train. Good stuff!
Hey Jasd, yep, those numbers are correct. I will be posting tables and graphs within the next few t-mag issues to show what happens. It is interesting…at time 0 the glucose is at fasted levels, at 15 its the same, at 30 its a bit lower, at 60 its downright clinical, and at 90 its still clinical and 120 its back to baseline. On the other hand, insulin skyrockets and increases about 1200% or so. This is about the same increase seen with a couple IU of exogenous insulin (if you can believe it). Who needs insulin injections? Bring on the Surge!
kevin, use the surge after the most glycogen depleting workout (which should be the wt training session for most people). Unless the sprint workout is composed of 400m sprints, you will probably be using only (or predominantly) the atp-pc system (with 100m sprints) and therefore a good supplement for post-training in this case would be some ribose c and/or powerdrive. As far as the kettleball workout, Im not sure what that’s composed of so I cant comment. Go read my appetite column from two issues ago and I talk about recovery and what the needs of different athletes are.