Gym ProductReview

Method

How we rate

Published in full, because a rating you cannot audit is just an opinion with a number attached.

A weighting per shelf, not one formula

A protein bar, a pre-workout and an electrolyte mix are not comparable on the same axes, so they are not scored on the same axes. Every ranking carries a weighting chosen for its category (the protein shelves and energy drinks share one), all of them below, and each produces a score out of ten. An electrolyte powder has no dose-integrity component at all, because auditing a hydration mix against clinical-dose thresholds written for 15-active formulas would measure nothing; a hair-support product leans hardest on dose integrity, because that is the axis its shelf actually differs on.

Protein PowdersWeightBasis
Value40%Cost per gram of protein, ranked against the category
Formula35%Protein per calorie, sugar alcohol load, spiking signals
Consensus25%Buyer rating shown on the brand’s own product page (read from the page, or from the review service that draws its stars; source-linked), minimum 25 reviews, re-read within the last 30 days, count, source and capture date printed on every product page
Protein BarsWeightBasis
Value40%Cost per gram of protein, ranked against the category
Formula35%Protein per calorie, sugar alcohol load, spiking signals
Consensus25%Buyer rating shown on the brand’s own product page (read from the page, or from the review service that draws its stars; source-linked), minimum 25 reviews, re-read within the last 30 days, count, source and capture date printed on every product page
Protein SnacksWeightBasis
Value40%Cost per gram of protein, ranked against the category
Formula35%Protein per calorie, sugar alcohol load, spiking signals
Consensus25%Buyer rating shown on the brand’s own product page (read from the page, or from the review service that draws its stars; source-linked), minimum 25 reviews, re-read within the last 30 days, count, source and capture date printed on every product page
Pre-WorkoutsWeightBasis
Dose integrity45%Share of key actives meeting clinical thresholds, minus a blend penalty
Value30%Cost per fully dosed serving, ranked against the category
Consensus25%Buyer rating shown on the brand’s own product page (read from the page, or from the review service that draws its stars; source-linked), minimum 25 reviews, re-read within the last 30 days, count, source and capture date printed on every product page
Energy DrinksWeightBasis
Value40%Cost per can, ranked against the category
Formula35%Sugar load, calorie load, and whether the panel discloses its caffeine content
Consensus25%Buyer rating shown on the brand’s own product page (read from the page, or from the review service that draws its stars; source-linked), minimum 25 reviews, re-read within the last 30 days, count, source and capture date printed on every product page
CreatineWeightBasis
Value45%Cost per gram of creatine, ranked against the category — not per gram of everything else in the tub, so a creatine sold with HMB or betaine answers on the creatine you are actually buying
Dose integrity20%Share of key actives meeting clinical thresholds, minus a blend penalty
Label disclosure20%Share of the actives the label puts a number against. An amount hidden in a proprietary blend, or simply not stated, scores zero here rather than counting as missing data — non-disclosure is a fact about a label, not an absence of one
Consensus15%Buyer rating shown on the brand’s own product page (read from the page, or from the review service that draws its stars; source-linked), minimum 25 reviews, re-read within the last 30 days, count, source and capture date printed on every product page
Skin SupportWeightBasis
Label disclosure35%Share of the actives the label puts a number against. An amount hidden in a proprietary blend, or simply not stated, scores zero here rather than counting as missing data — non-disclosure is a fact about a label, not an absence of one
Value30%Cost per gram of the labelled active, ranked against the category
Dose integrity20%Share of key actives meeting clinical thresholds, minus a blend penalty
Consensus15%Buyer rating shown on the brand’s own product page (read from the page, or from the review service that draws its stars; source-linked), minimum 25 reviews, re-read within the last 30 days, count, source and capture date printed on every product page
Body Composition SupportWeightBasis
Dose integrity40%Share of key actives meeting clinical thresholds, minus a blend penalty
Value30%Cost per fully dosed serving, ranked against the category
Label disclosure15%Share of the actives the label puts a number against. An amount hidden in a proprietary blend, or simply not stated, scores zero here rather than counting as missing data — non-disclosure is a fact about a label, not an absence of one
Consensus15%Buyer rating shown on the brand’s own product page (read from the page, or from the review service that draws its stars; source-linked), minimum 25 reviews, re-read within the last 30 days, count, source and capture date printed on every product page
Health SupportWeightBasis
Dose integrity45%Share of key actives meeting clinical thresholds, minus a blend penalty
Value30%Cost per fully dosed serving, ranked against the category
Label disclosure10%Share of the actives the label puts a number against. An amount hidden in a proprietary blend, or simply not stated, scores zero here rather than counting as missing data — non-disclosure is a fact about a label, not an absence of one
Consensus15%Buyer rating shown on the brand’s own product page (read from the page, or from the review service that draws its stars; source-linked), minimum 25 reviews, re-read within the last 30 days, count, source and capture date printed on every product page
ElectrolytesWeightBasis
Value40%Cost per gram of sodium, ranked against the category — sodium is the one electrolyte a Nutrition Facts panel must quantify, so it is the only like-for-like denominator
Label disclosure25%Share of the actives the label puts a number against. An amount hidden in a proprietary blend, or simply not stated, scores zero here rather than counting as missing data — non-disclosure is a fact about a label, not an absence of one
Formula20%Sugar load and calorie load per serving, read from the panel
Consensus15%Buyer rating shown on the brand’s own product page (read from the page, or from the review service that draws its stars; source-linked), minimum 25 reviews, re-read within the last 30 days, count, source and capture date printed on every product page
BCAA & EAAWeightBasis
Value40%Cost per gram of essential amino acids, ranked against the category — counting the nine essential aminos and nothing else, so a tub padded with glutamine, taurine or coconut water answers on the aminos you are actually buying. The BCAAs are three of the nine, so a BCAA and a full EAA formula are priced on the same denominator
Dose integrity25%Share of key actives meeting clinical thresholds, minus a blend penalty
Label disclosure20%Share of the actives the label puts a number against. An amount hidden in a proprietary blend, or simply not stated, scores zero here rather than counting as missing data — non-disclosure is a fact about a label, not an absence of one
Consensus15%Buyer rating shown on the brand’s own product page (read from the page, or from the review service that draws its stars; source-linked), minimum 25 reviews, re-read within the last 30 days, count, source and capture date printed on every product page

A missing component is never scored as zero. Where a component cannot be computed — no verified price, no machine-readable buyer rating, a formula too sparse to audit — its weight is redistributed across the components that exist rather than counted against the product. A product we know little about stays distinguishable from a product we know is bad, and the page says which.

Fully scored products rank first. Redistributing a missing component’s weight keeps a score honest on its own page, but it means the product was never measured on that axis — a product with no verified price has not been compared on price at all. So every ranking lists products scored on every component first, then those scored on at least 60% of the weighting, then the rest. Within each group, the higher composite ranks higher. Every row prints how much of the weighting its score covers.

Below that, no score is printed at all. Redistribution has a limit. A health-support product measurable only on label disclosure — a tenth of that category’s weighting — was published as a 10.00, because the arithmetic handed one component the entire score. It ranked where it belonged, near the bottom, while printing the largest number on the page. “We could not measure this” is not the same statement as “this is perfect”, so where too little of the weighting could be computed the number is withheld and the coverage is shown in its place. The ranking order does not change; the figure simply is not published, for the same reason a dose or a price is not published when the label does not support it.

A ranking needs enough published scores. A category is published only once at least 15 of its products carry a published score (8 for hair support, where fewer scoreable products exist to be bought). Products whose score is withheld do not count toward that, because a ranking is only as large as the scores it prints. Not published today: hair support (0 of 8).

A dose threshold never comes from people with a diagnosed condition. Where the only published dose for an active was studied in people with a medical condition, it is not a threshold for anyone else, so the active is recognised and named on the product page but not scored. That applies today to 8 actives: Huperzine A, Niacinamide, Minoxidil, Biotin, Psyllium Husk, Silymarin (Milk Thistle), Saw Palmetto, Ketoconazole.

Cost per gram of protein

Price divided by the total protein in the package. Nothing more sophisticated, and that is the point — it is the number value comes down to, and a shelf price does not show it.

A 12-count box at $24.99 with 21 g of protein per bar holds 252 g of protein, which is $0.099 per gram. Rankings are percentile-based within a category, so a product is measured against its actual competition rather than an arbitrary threshold.

Where a product is sold in several sizes, its value is the lowest cost per unit among the sizes on sale up to 5 kg (11 lb). Larger bags — some powders are sold in 20 and 25 kg bags — are wholesale quantities: the product page lists them, marked as not used in the value score.

Where a package size cannot be determined with confidence, the result is left empty rather than estimated. An empty cell is honest; a plausible wrong number is not.

Clinical dose thresholds

Each active is measured against the dose used in published research, not against a marketing claim. The thresholds and their sources:

IngredientClinical doseSource
Alpha-GPC250 mgMarcus et al., J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2017;14:39 (PMID 29042830) — 250 mg and 500 mg daily in 48 healthy college-aged men; the threshold uses the lower dose (peer-reviewed trial)
Ashwagandha (KSM-66)600 mgWankhede et al., J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2015;12:43 — 300 mg twice daily (600 mg/day) (peer-reviewed trial)
Beta-Alanine4 gTrexler et al., ISSN Position Stand 2015, J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2015;12:30 (PMID 26175657) — 4-6 g/day; the threshold uses the low end, 4 g (position stand)
Betaine Anhydrous2.5 gCholewa et al., J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2013 — 2.5 g/day (peer-reviewed trial)
Caffeine200 mgGuest et al., ISSN Position Stand 2021, J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2021;18:1 (PMID 33388079) — 3-6 mg/kg; the threshold is the low end, 3 mg/kg, for a 67 kg adult: 200 mg (position stand)
Choline Bitartrate2 gNaber, Hommel & Colzato, Sci Rep 2015;5:13188 — trial dosing 2 g (peer-reviewed trial)
Citrulline Malate 2:18 gPerez-Guisado & Jakeman, J Strength Cond Res 2010 — 8 g citrulline malate (peer-reviewed trial)
Collagen Peptides (audited on Skin Support only)2.5 gProksch et al., Skin Pharmacol Physiol 2014;27:47-55 — randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial dosing 2.5 g and 5.0 g/day for 8 weeks (peer-reviewed trial)
Creatine HCl5 gLondono-Velasquez et al., J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2025 (ISSN Conference abstract, not yet full peer review) — 5 g/day, matched head-to-head against creatine monohydrate at the same dose in elite team-sport athletes (conference abstract, not yet peer reviewed)
Creatine Monohydrate5 gKreider et al., ISSN Position Stand 2017 — 3-5 g/day maintenance (position stand)
Digestive Enzyme Blend150 mgVuppala, Majeed et al., Sports Nutr Ther 2016;1:113 (doi 10.4172/2473-6449.1000113) — randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial, 20 healthy men, 50 mg DigeZyme three times daily (150 mg/day) for 3 days (peer-reviewed trial)
EGCG (Epigallocatechin Gallate)400 mgRoberts et al., J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2015;12:1 (PMID 25650043) — 571 mg/day decaffeinated green tea extract providing 400 mg/day EGCG, 4 weeks, recreationally active healthy men (peer-reviewed trial)
EPA + DHA (combined)250 mgEFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies, EFSA Journal 2010;8(3):1461 — adequate intake 250 mg/day EPA+DHA for healthy adults; FAO/WHO 2010, Fats and fatty acids in human nutrition (FAO Food and Nutrition Paper 91) — 0.250 g/day EPA+DHA for adults (guideline)
HMB3 gWilson et al., J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2013 (ISSN Position Stand) — 3 g/day beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (position stand)
L-Carnitine (audited on Body Composition Support only)2 gKoozehchian et al., J Exerc Nutrition Biochem 2018;22:7-19 (PMID 30661327) — 2 g/day L-carnitine for 9 weeks in 23 healthy men (peer-reviewed trial)
L-Carnitine L-Tartrate2.931 gVolek et al., Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2002;282:E474-482 (PMID 11788381) — 2 g/day L-carnitine, given as L-carnitine L-tartrate, in 10 resistance-trained men (peer-reviewed trial)
L-Citrulline6 gBailey et al., J Appl Physiol 2015 — trial dosing 6 g/day (peer-reviewed trial)
L-Leucine (audited on BCAA & EAA only)3 gJäger et al., ISSN Position Stand 2017 (J Int Soc Sports Nutr 14:20) — acute doses should contain 700-3000 mg leucine alongside a balanced array of the essential amino acids (position stand)
L-Theanine100 mgGiesbrecht et al., Nutr Neurosci 2010 — 97 mg paired with caffeine (peer-reviewed trial)
L-Tyrosine2 gColzato et al., Front Behav Neurosci 2013;7:200 (PMID 24379768) — a single 2.0 g oral dose in healthy adults (peer-reviewed trial)
N-Acetylcysteine1.2 gLeelarungrayub et al., Oxid Med Cell Longev 2011 (PMID 21904641) and Slattery et al., Med Sci Sports Exerc 2014 (PMID 24576857) — 1,200 mg/day in healthy adults; Fernández-Lázaro et al., Nutrients 2023 (PMID 37299425), systematic review: 1,200 mg/day the most common oral dose (peer-reviewed trial)
Nitrosigine1.5 gRood-Ojalvo et al., J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2015;12(Suppl 1):P14 (ISSN Conference abstract, not yet full peer review) — 1,500 mg/day inositol-stabilized arginine silicate (conference abstract, not yet peer reviewed)
Retinol0.3 mgZasada et al., Skin Pharmacol Physiol 2020;33:102-116 (PMID 32428912) — clinically controlled comparison of 0.3% and 0.5% retinol serums (peer-reviewed trial)
Rhodiola Rosea200 mgKoozehchian et al., Nutrients 2025;17(23):3736 — 200 mg/day, low end of the two doses tested (200 vs 1,500 mg) in resistance-trained adults (peer-reviewed trial)
Taurine1 gBalshaw et al., Amino Acids 2013;44:555-561 (PMID 22855206) — a single 1,000 mg dose in trained male middle-distance runners, randomised double-blind crossover; one of three healthy-adult trials at 1 g in the Waldron et al. Sports Med 2018 meta-analysis (doses 1-6 g) (peer-reviewed trial)
Theacrine200 mgTaylor et al., J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2016;13:2 — 200 mg/day, low end of the two doses tested over 7 days (peer-reviewed trial)
Vitamin C (L-Ascorbic Acid, topical)20 mgPinnell et al., Dermatol Surg 2001;27:137-142 — percutaneous absorption of topical L-ascorbic acid; absorption was maximal at 20% (peer-reviewed trial)
Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol)600 mgInstitute of Medicine, Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D (2011) — RDA 600 IU/day for ages 1-70, 800 IU/day for 71 and older (guideline)

Some thresholds only hold for one kind of product, and are only applied there. 3 of the 28 above are scoped that way, marked in the table. Leucine’s range is stated for an acute protein dose alongside a balanced array of the essential amino acids, so it is audited on the amino shelf and not against a pre-workout that happens to contain leucine. Collagen’s is a skin-elasticity endpoint, so it is not used to judge the sixteen protein bars that list collagen as a protein source. Citing a trial at a product it was not measured on would be a wrong number wearing a citation.

An active can be recognised without being scored. Where the research establishes no threshold, or where a label states a raw material without the standardised fraction the threshold is written in, the ingredient is named on the product page and left out of the dose average — rather than being scored zero for containing something nobody has a number for, or credited at a weight that is not the active. These 29 are recognised and never scored:

IngredientWhy it is not scored
Acetyl-L-Carnitinethe 2,000 mg dose-response applies to free L-carnitine, and this is a different material
Biotinno established dose outside diagnosed deficiency
Cod Liver Oil (EPA/DHA not declared)research doses combined EPA+DHA, and this row declares neither
Curcuminthe dose trials used depends on the formulation, so one milligram figure would not mean the same thing twice
Glucomannanthe reference amount and the trials behind it are in overweight or obese adults, so it is not a threshold for anyone else
Green Tea Extract (EGCG fraction not declared)the threshold is EGCG content, and this row declares no EGCG figure
Huperzine Athe published dose comes from studies in people with a diagnosed condition, so it is not a threshold for anyone else
Hyaluronic Acidno concentration-response is established, and molecular weight is not disclosed
Ketoconazolethe published dose comes from studies in people with a diagnosed condition, so it is not a threshold for anyone else
Konjac Root (glucomannan fraction not declared)the threshold is glucomannan, and this row states the root material without declaring how much of it is glucomannan
L-Histidineno per-amino threshold established for supplementation
L-Isoleucineno per-amino threshold established for supplementation
L-Lysineno per-amino threshold established for supplementation
L-Methionineno per-amino threshold established for supplementation
L-Phenylalanineno per-amino threshold established for supplementation
L-Threonineno per-amino threshold established for supplementation
L-Tryptophanno per-amino threshold established for supplementation
L-Valineno per-amino threshold established for supplementation
Magnesiumreplacement need is individual
Milk Thistle Extract (silymarin fraction not declared)research doses silymarin content, and this row declares no silymarin figure
Minoxidilthe published dose comes from studies in people with a diagnosed condition, so it is not a threshold for anyone else
Niacinamidethe published dose comes from studies in people with a diagnosed condition, so it is not a threshold for anyone else
Potassiumreplacement need is individual
Psyllium Huskthe published dose comes from studies in people with a diagnosed condition, so it is not a threshold for anyone else
Pumpkin Seed Oilno dose-ranging trial establishes a threshold
Saw Palmettothe published dose comes from studies in people with a diagnosed condition, so it is not a threshold for anyone else
Saw Palmetto (powder, or material not declared)the trials dosed a standardised lipophilic extract, and this row is not declared to be one
Silymarin (Milk Thistle)the published dose comes from studies in people with a diagnosed condition, so it is not a threshold for anyone else
Sodiumreplacement need is individual

Citrulline malate and free L-citrulline are tracked separately. They are not interchangeable, and treating them as one misstates the delivered dose — which would undermine the whole exercise.

Exceeding a clinical dose does not raise a score. Meeting it is the bar; megadosing is not a virtue we reward.

Proprietary blends

An ingredient inside a proprietary blend has no disclosed dose, so it is scored as undosed rather than assumed adequate, and the product carries a fixed penalty on top. Disclosure is the one thing on a label a brand fully controls: in every category scored on dose, a hidden amount earns nothing for dose integrity, and nothing for label disclosure where that is scored too.

Spiking signals

Where free-form aminos appear high in an ingredient list, the page names what was observed and why it matters, and links the panel. It is a flagged signal with its evidence, never an accusation of fraud. Where the ingredient order cannot be established reliably, no signal is raised and the page says the check was not run — rather than reporting a clean bill of health it did not earn.

Rules we do not break

Every published number traces to a captured source. A product page renders only after its panel has been read and stored, so a rating can always be checked against the label it came from.

A panel is captured one of two ways, and every product page names which. Most are read from the label image by two independent readers, and nothing publishes unless both recorded the same value — where they disagree, even on one ingredient, the product is held back rather than published with a number we are unsure of. A minority come from brands that publish their panel as machine-readable data on their own product page, which is parsed directly; there is no second reading to disagree with, because there is no image being interpreted. Each product page says how its panel was read, and how many readings agreed, under Provenance, so the distinction is never hidden behind an average.

No rating, review count, or score is ever invented. Where evidence is thin the page says insufficient data, which is always an acceptable answer here. Star ratings are never fabricated to decorate a listing.

A reformulation silently invalidates an audit. When one comes to light — through a correction or a re-read — the product is re-read from scratch before anything about it is republished. Every price and buyer rating prints the date it was captured, so its age is never hidden, and a label image the brand has since taken down is linked from an archived copy or marked as removed.

Commission does not buy a rating. Some links earn us a commission and those pages say so. No brand can pay for a score, raise one, or remove one, and products are rated the same whether or not there is money attached.

Method changes

Changes to how products are scored, newest first. A changed threshold or rule can move a product’s score with no change to its label or price. Dose figures below are the threshold before and after each change; the table of clinical dose thresholds above shows every one in use today.

· Dose thresholds checked against the population and figures of their cited sources

Every scored threshold was checked against its source. A threshold must come from research in healthy adults, and its figure must be one the source states. Where a source pooled trials in people with diagnosed conditions it was replaced; where the figure did not match the source it was corrected; one threshold with no healthy-adult source is no longer scored.

IngredientBeforeAfterWhy
L-Carnitine2 g2 gSame figure, new source: a trial in healthy men. The previous source was a meta-analysis that pooled trials in people with diagnosed conditions.
EGCG (Epigallocatechin Gallate)300 mg400 mgNow from a trial in healthy, recreationally active men. The previous source was a meta-analysis that pooled trials in people with diagnosed conditions.
L-Tyrosine1 g2 gNow from a trial in healthy adults. The previous source was a review that mixed clinical and healthy populations.
Glucomannan3 gnot scoredNo longer scored: the reference amount and the trials behind it are in overweight adults, not a general healthy-adult population.
Beta-Alanine3.2 g4 gThe cited position stand states 4-6 g a day; the threshold now uses its low end.
Alpha-GPC300 mg250 mgNow cites a trial that dosed 250 mg and 500 mg daily in healthy men, and uses the lower dose. The previous figure was not a dose its cited trial used.
L-Carnitine L-Tartrate2 g2.931 gThe cited trial gave 2 g of L-carnitine as the tartrate salt. Labels state the salt weight, which is 68.23% L-carnitine, so the threshold is now the salt weight that carries 2 g.
Caffeine200 mg200 mgSame figure; its derivation is now stated: the low end of the position stand's 3-6 mg/kg, for a 67 kg adult.

· N-acetylcysteine and EPA + DHA scored again, from healthy-adult sources

Both had been unscored since 2026-10-04, when their earlier thresholds were withdrawn. Each now has a threshold from research in healthy adults: N-acetylcysteine from trials in healthy exercising adults, EPA + DHA from the EFSA and FAO/WHO adequate intake for healthy adults. With these scored, the health support ranking began publishing.

IngredientBeforeAfter
N-Acetylcysteinenot scored1.2 g
EPA + DHA (combined)not scored250 mg

· Buyer ratings read from the review service a brand's page uses

Some brand product pages do not include their star rating in the page itself; it is drawn in the browser by a review service. For those stores the rating is now read from the same service the page uses, so the figure scored is the one shown on the brand's own page. A store is added only after its figures are checked against the page as displayed.

· Buyer ratings older than 30 days are no longer scored

A rating is kept when a page stops showing one, so some products were being scored on figures more than a month old. A rating not re-read within 30 days now drops out of the score. The product page still shows it, with the date it was last read and a note that it is not scored.

· Packages over 5 kg are left out of value pricing

Value took the lowest unit price across every size on sale, which for some powders was a 20 or 25 kg wholesale bag. Sizes over 5 kg (11 lb) are now listed on the product page but not used in the value score.

· Thresholds from studies in people with a diagnosed condition withdrawn

A dose studied only in people with a diagnosed condition is not a threshold for anyone else. The thresholds below came from such studies, so these ingredients are now named on product pages and left out of the dose average.

IngredientBeforeAfter
EPA + DHA (combined)1 gnot scored
Huperzine A0.4 mgnot scored
Ketoconazole1%not scored
Minoxidil2%not scored
N-Acetylcysteine1.2 gnot scored
Niacinamide4%not scored
Psyllium Husk7 gnot scored
Saw Palmetto320 mgnot scored
Silymarin (Milk Thistle)420 mgnot scored

· Amazon prices and star ratings are no longer used

Amazon's Associates policy allows its prices to be shown, and its star ratings to be used, only on terms the ones held here did not meet: they had been read from listings in a browser, not obtained through Amazon's API. Amazon links remain. Prices come only from brand storefronts, and buyer ratings only from brands' own product pages.