Pro’s
- Good dosage of Caffeine
- Beta-Alanine can enhance endurance
Con’s
- Beta-Alanine causes paresthesia (see side effects section for more info)
- Missing key pre-workout ingredients
- Yohimbe known for causing harmful side effects
- Contains ineffective ingredients
- Not good value for money
See Your Best Options In Our
– Top 3 Pre-Workout Supplements Page –
About The Product
Shatter SX-7 Black Onyx is a pre-workout supplement made by MuscleTech, released in 2017. It comes in a choice of 4 different flavors – Blue Raspberry, Cherry Limeade Twist, Fruit Punch Explosion and Icy Rocket Freeze.
For a price of $66.99 on bodybuilding.com and $65.95 on GNC.com; Shatter SX-7 Black Onyx is more expensive than our highest rated pre-workouts on the market, so w’re expecting big things from MuscleTech.
As you know, this is a very reputable company, so we always take notice when they create new supplements – so we took a look at whether this pre-workout lives up to MuscleTech’s reputation.
For a price of $66.99 on bodybuilding.com and $65.95 on GNC.com; Shatter SX-7 Black Onyx is more expensive than our highest rated pre-workouts on the market, so w’re expecting big things from MuscleTech.
Anyway, before we analyze the ingredients inside Shatter SX-7 Black Onyx, we’ll tell you about the company behind it (for those new to supplements).
Who are MuscleTech?
As we mentioned above, MuscleTech are one of the biggest companies in the supplements industry. But we weren’t impressed by their website; we couldn’t find an ‘about us’ page, so we went to their wikipedia page instead (not a good sign).
Basically, MuscleTech is owned by a bigger company caled Iovate Health Sciences Inc, who are based in Canada. MuscleTech were introduced to the market in 1996, which makes them one of the oldest of the supplement companies too.
This is why we’re expecting big things with their pre-workout released in 2017 – Shatter SX-7 Black Onyx. So let’s see what’s inside in the section below.
Shatter SX-7 Black Onyx Ingredients Explained
Shatter SX-7 Black Onyx contains 7 ingredients overall, which is a great amount to have (we don’t like supplements containing over 10 ingredients, as they’re usually overdosed.
For this reason, we expect MuscleTech to have gone for the ‘quality over quantity’ approach – so we’re hoping to see great ingredients on their nutrient profile.
However, at first glance, we’re not too impressed; Shatter SX-7 Black Onyx contains Yohimbe, which is known for causing numerous side effects in supplements.
Anyway, we’ll analyze each ingredient inside for you – so you can see exactly how effective this pre-workout really is.
Here’s Everything You Need To Know:
Beta-Alanine
This is one of the most controversial ingredients in the supplements industry.
Why? Answer: Beta-Alanine has shown to enhance your muscular endurance, but it also causes a side effect called paresthesia.
What’s paresthesia? Well, it’s a tingling and itching sensation on the skin of your face and body.
Personally, we find this distracting while we’re trying to lift weights in the gym. So we avoid Beta-Alanine as a result.
However, we’ll never completely criticize a pre-workout for containing Beta-Alanine, as we’re aware that others don’t mind putting up with this paresthesia.
For this reason, you’ll see that we’ve listed Beta-Alanine in both the pro’s and con’s (but we always try to avoid pre-workouts containing this ingredient).
Peak ATP
This is a patented form of Adenosine 5-Triphosphate Disodium. Not much is known about this ingredient, but it’s believed to improve your strength and reduce fatigue when orally supplemented.
However, not many studies have proven this to work. For this reason, we prefer to consume Creatine Monohydrate (as it’s shown to improve ATP synthesis after oral supplementation).
Caffeine Anhydrous
If you’re wondering ‘anhydrous’ means, it’s simply dehydrated Caffeine so it can be made into a powder and added into supplements.
Caffeine is the safest and most effective stimulant you can find in supplements, and is proven to boost your strength, endurance, focus and energy levels (which are all key benefits to improve your gym session).
For this reason, we consider Caffeine as a key pre-workout ingredient.
But there’s one thing you need to look out for – the dosage. Simply put, high dosages of Caffeine (over 200mg per serving) can cause jitters and energy crashes.
MuscleTech has done a great job here by adding a 200mg dosage of Caffeine – so you should be safe from side effects here. For general reference, we advise you to only consume pre-workouts that contain under 200mg Caffeine per serving (to avoid side effects).
Myristica Fragrans Extract
Mystica Fragrans Extract is an evergreen tree found in Indonesia. But don’t let this fancy name fool you; this ingredient is more commonly known as Nutmeg (the same spice used to make food taste better).
We’re not sure why MuscleTech has added this into Shatter SX-7 Black Onyx; no studies have proven that it’s capable of improving your gym session – making Nutmeg an ineffective ingredient here.
This is a great example of how companies try to make ineffective ingredients sound better by listing them under their ‘fancy’ names.
Skullcap Extract
Skullcap is a member of the mint (plant) family and has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for decades.
What does it do? Answer: Skullcap is believed to improve your general health and lifespan (but these aren’t advantages that’ll improve your performance in the gym).
For this reason, Skullcap Extract is another ineffective ingredient inside Shatter SX-7 Black Onyx. The only positive here, is that it hasn’t been added into a proprietary blend.
Yohimbe Extract
We mentioned from the start of this review, that Yohimbe can cause numerous harmful side effects. As a result, it’s definitely the worst ingredient inside Shatter SX-7 Black Onyx.
Simply put, Yohimbe is a derivative of Yohimbine (which has been banned in the UK & Canada (among other countries) after causing harmful side effects such as nausea, anxiety and headaches.
Not only that; Yohimbe’s main benefit is promoting fat loss. As this isn’t a key reason why you’d take pre-workouts, it’s not necessary in a pre-workout anyway – if you’re wanting to burn fat, then a fat burner supplement is what you want.
For this reason, we recommend avoiding any supplement containing Yohimbe.
Satsuma Orange Concentrate
In case you’re wondering, this is the same fruit you can eat – tasty, but not really any useful when trying to improve your gym session.
Satsuma Oranges can provide good amounts of vitamins, which is great for improving your general health. However, it’s definitely not a key pre-workout ingredient in Shatter SX-7 Black Onyx.
See Your Best Options In Our
– Top 3 Pre-Workouts Page –
Side Effects
There are 2 ingredients inside Shatter SX-7 Black Onyx that can cause side effects – Beta-Alanine and Yohimbe.
We’ll give you a quick summary; Beta-Alanine can cause paresthesia, which is a tingling and itching sensation on the skin of your face and body. While Yohimbe can cause numerous harmful side effects that we’ll list below.
Anyway, just to repeat our warning – we recommend avoiding any supplement containing Yohimbe, to stay safe and avoid wasting your money on pre-workouts that’ll only ruin your gym session.
Here’s the potential side effects from taking Shatter SX-7 Black Onyx:
- Paresthesia (Beta-Alanine)
- Nausea (Yohimbe)
- Anxiety (Yohimbe)
- High Blood Pressure (Yohimbe)
- Headache (Yohimbe)
Shatter SX-7 Black Onyx Review Conclusion
As you can see from the list of side effects, we chose to avoid Shatter SX-7 Black Onyx. In fact, we stay away from any supplement containing Yohimbe (or Synephrine), and we recommend you to do the same.
Why? Answer: Because we don’t see the point in spending money on a pre-workout that can put you at risk of side effects. You want to improve your performance in the gym, instead of being forced to go home after suffering from nausea and headaches…
In our experience, pre-workouts that only contain 100% natural ingredients are the best on the market (as they’re usually side effects free and still offer key benefits needed). Unfortunately, Shatter SX-7 Black Onyx can’t compete with the highest rated pre-workouts, due to missing numerous key ingredients (such as Creatine Monohydrate and Citrulline Malate), and putting you at risk of numerous side effects.
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Here’s the best natural pre-workouts on the market for:
- Energy Boosts
- Enhanced Strength & Endurance
- Increased Focus
- Skin-Splitting Muscle Pumps
