My Review of the Pre-Workout Formula N.O. Xplode


N.O. Xplode from BSN is designed to increase mental focus and provide a boost of energy to help you push harder during your workouts. Tons of people swear by the results and others say it hasn’t helped at all or that they’ve suffered side-effects that deem it unusable.

I’ve never used a product like N.O. Xplode before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The label says to start out with a minimum dose of 1 scoop and depending on tolerance, you can move up to 2-3 scoops. The BSN website doesn’t state how much caffeine N.O. Xplode has, but one source I found online claims that a serving has 100 mg.

I have a very low tolerance to caffeine and sometimes get anxiety from it, so I started with 1 scoop. I took it right when I woke up, about 30 min. before getting to the gym. I’m not sure when it kicked in, but I definitely had more energy than usual. I noticed higher focus levels as well.

There were a few side effects. I had a small amount of anxiety, but nothing too bad and I kept feeling the urge to pee. It wasn’t too bad, but somewhat uncomfortable while at the gym.

After that, all was well until about around 11am, about 6 hours after taking it. I guess I crashed from the caffeine, because I got a ridiculous headache that lasted until I went to sleep that night.

The next day I took a half scoop instead of a full scoop. This was much better for me. I still got a good boost of energy and focus, and this time didn’t suffer a headache. It wasn’t as big as an energy boost as the day before, but it still worked.

The third day I took a half scoop and felt no change at all. In fact I felt miserable the entire day. I think maybe I wasn’t giving my body enough rest and there really wasn’t anything that the N.O. Xplode could do for me.

I increased it to a full scoop the next day and noticed an energy boost again. I did have a slight headache for the first few hours of the day, but no other side-effects.

I continued taking one full scoop each day after that with no side-effects whatsoever. Fast-forward to 8 days after my first use and the stuff was working great. I’ve been using it for about two months now and it gives me no problems whatsoever and I feel great at the gym. It gives me tons of energy and every morning I can’t wait to start working out. I’m not sure if it’s a placebo effect, but I also seem to get some great pumps during my workout too.

At first I was worried that I would continue having side-effects of using N.O. Xplode, but I kept using it in hopes that my body would adjust, and sure enough it did. I’m glad that I decided to keep going because now I really like it.

N.O. Explode is one of the few supplements that I was worried about taking. It’s super-strong and has a lot of ingredients that I don’t know much about. You can’t even shake it up or else it’ll build pressure like a soda would. Kinda weird I think.

Despite the minor problems early on, I’d definitely recommend N.O. Xplode, at least with my experience with it so far. Oh and further research shows that it’s vegan too, so I don’t have to seek out an alternative pre-workout formula now that I’m switching to plant-based nutrition. Sweet!