THE Amino Boost: Myprotein Joins PricePlow with a Well-Crafted Energy Amino

An action-packed “energy amino” supplement with tons of EAAs, tons of versatility, and an amazing price point?! That’s why it’s THE Amino Boost from Myprotein.

Myprotein is here on PricePlow, and they do a whole lot more than just protein!

As the sports nutrition industry has grown, so has PricePlow. We take feedback seriously, and lately we’ve been told “You guys need to cover more international brands!” While we’re an American company in a very US-centric industry, fact is, there’s a ton of other brands out there. And one of them brings us the best of both worlds: a European brand that’s been bringing their ultra high quality supplements to the shores of America.

PricePlow Nation, Meet Myprotein

PricePlow Nation, meet Myprotein. They don’t just have an Amino Boost supplement, they have THE Amino Boost.

That company is Myprotein, a company founded in 2004 and has been Europe’s #1 nutritional supplement manufacturer. They operate in over 70 countries, driving innovation and ambition world-wide. And finally, we’re getting a chance to see why they’re so good at what they do.

Run by The Hut Group, Myprotein has become an overseas household brand for all things protein powder related. Many lifters that recognize the famous Impact Whey even over staples like Gold Standard in some parts of the world. However, the brand provides much more product variety than most realize.

Myprotein’s The Amino Boost is a perfect example. We’ll tell you why below, but first, let’s kick things off by showing off the stellar prices through PricePlow:

Intro to The Amino Boost

THE Amino Boost brings a ton of EAAs, but also some conditionals like citrulline, arginine, glutamine, and of course 100mg caffeine! But don’t miss the 200mg L-Theanine!

While the food and fitness markets are largely the Wild West of capitalism, there are a few general commandments that always hold true. The Amino Boost plays to the law that there will always be a market for high-quality boost drinks. It only makes sense for a massive company like Myprotein to jump on board – but do it their way – with amino acids.

The Amino Boost is ambitious, as it combines three different product archetypes. It can be used as a “mild” pre workout — perhaps for evening sessions where you want some caffeine but not too much. It can be used as a “nitrogen balance boosting” amino acid supplement for an afternoon pick-me-up. And it can even be used as an intra-workout supplement during training, although isn’t fully marketed for that. Where we love it most is with affordability and versatility. In the realm of “energy aminos”, it’s a jack of all trades.

Myprotein is also very intelligent with the marketing of this product. The Amino Boost comes in over five flavors and maintains an “end-all-be-all’ image. This is brilliant marketing, as there is a good chance that people on a diet will spring for a BCAA for flavor alone and stumble upon this product. Hey, some amino acids and caffeine with nearly any flavor you can think of is an incredible soda replacement, especially between meals!

THE Amino Boost Ingredients

• The BCAAs (Leucine, Isoleucine, Valine) – 1.5g:750mg:750mg

  

  THE ingredients, straight from Mike’s beloved Gummy Fish flavor tub. Quite a nice profile, especially at the prices we’re seeing!

  Given that these amino acids are most effective as a trio, it only makes sense to cover their usability as a group. Leucine, isoleucine, and valine are amino acids that all possess a branched sidechain, hence the name. They are essential amino acids — meaning that humans must consume them through diet and lack a de-novo mechanism for making them. They are famous in the supplement industry due to their role in igniting protein metabolism.

  While the benefits of these amino acids for athletic performance have become somewhat controversial, there is evidence suggesting that BCAA consumption may help lifters recover from volume-intensive gym sessions.^[1-2] While there is some evidence showing that BCAA supplementation may push the body towards fat burning, they are calorie-genic, so count them as protein if you’re really tracking!^[3-4]

  BCAAs are mostly researched as a 2:1:1 ratio of leucine:isoleucine:valine. Ratios outside of the 2:1:1 aren’t as well studied, but Myprotein stuck to the research. Dose wise, Myprotein is delivering the effective minimum here in terms of BCAAs.

• L-Arginine and Citrulline (500mg each)

  Yes, another pairing, but we promise that it makes sense. Citrulline and arginine are precursors to endogenous nitric oxide production, a potent vasodilator that is essential for the management of systemic blood pressure and vascular functionality. But we don’t care about that — we like it’s inclusion for the sick pumps that vasodilation can provide us in the gym.^[5-7] The inclusion of citrulline and arginine gives the body more nitric oxide building blocks — which means more pumps. Those with high blood pressure may also enjoy a subtle decrease in their systolic readings.^[2]

  While these aren’t clinical doses for significant nitric oxide gains, they are what we call “continuation effect” doses — if you drink this after your pre workout, you’re going to enable product a bit longer, and a bit stronger. They’re in as a booster, and while citrulline has replaced arginine in pre workouts, we do enjoy seeing them paired together.

• Taurine (500mg)

  

  Taurine’s Benefits (endurance-wise) can be seen after a single use!

  Taurine is the PricePlow underdog. We really love this stuff and we love to tell everyone why. Taurine is shown to be one of the most powerful endurance enhancing products that cardiovascular athletes can use.^[8] It’s benefits work right after taking it, the lowest dose is as effective as the highest dose, it is safe, and there is little to no evidence of tolerance formation. If you want to learn more, check out our mega-post here.

• L-Tyrosine (500mg)

  L-Tyrosine is another “substrate boosting” ingredient. This amino acid is required for the body to make neurotransmitters called catecholamines. The catecholamines are the mediators of our body’s stress response. While this sounds bad, we actually want some stress response during exercise in order to maximize our performance.^[9] Beyond its ergogenic benefits, L-tyrosine may make caffeine work more efficiently as caffeine encourages the body to release catecholamines.^[10]

• Micronized L-Glutamine (1g)

  

  Amongst these primary amino acids, the essential amino acids are in red. Leucine, Valine, and Isoleucine are the three Branched-Chain Amino Acids.

  Glutamine is often overhyped but cheap and helpful for flavoring. We don’t need to bore our long-time readers with all the ways that glutamine has fallen from industry-favor — we just want to point out that it isn’t hurting your wallet by inclusion alone.

  Unlike the BCAAs, glutamine is a conditionally essential amino acid — the body needs it from diet occasionally but has plenty most of the time. Where that changes could be recovery time. Glutamine becomes essential during high-stress exercise, so supplementing glutamine will at least keep you from hitting peak-fatigue early in your training session.^[11] Given its cheap cost and sweet taste, we are happy to have it inside.

• L-Methionine (200mg)

  This amino has become infamous around PricePlow. Few ingredients taste or smell as bad as methionine, which leads to under-dosing by competitors. Yet, it’s useful, so we do want it, and we want the flavor properly masked. Professional companies like Myprotein make that happen.

  Methionine is a potent antioxidant that the body uses in times of stress. It can also be converted to L-taurine or L-cysteine — two amino acids that are required for optimal exercise response.^[12] Since weight-training is a high stress state, it doesn’t hurt to have more antioxidant ammo in the chamber. It is also rarely included in so-called “full spectrum amino” products, so it’s a great inclusion.

  Those who fast frequently, or train fasted, may also enjoy it, since methionine is sometimes a rate-limiting amino that we “run out of” first. This is why we harp on getting some in whenever possible.

• Caffeine (100mg)

  

  Myprotein’s Gabby Male (@GabbyMale) couldn’t have asked for a better company to work with. This label shows why they’re in over 70 countries!

  Possibly the reason why we’re here in the first place — for the energy — caffeine is the ingredient in The Amino Boost that you’ll feel the most. It’s also likely the most effective ingredient in terms of exercise performance^[13-15] depending on the total dose you get around training. We don’t need to tell you that caffeine will wake you up, as you’re probably slamming some coffee as you read this.

  The dose here is reasonable and on par with other energy amino drinks at 100mg. Enough for a nice “dust up” if you’re needing energy in the afternoon or want some for an evening session that won’t completely ruin your sleep. Also note that the caffeine is coming from natural sources here.

• L-Theanine (200mg)

  L-theanine and caffeine wrote the book on supplement synergy. L-theanine is here to smooth out the “bad parts” of caffeine — you’ll feel less jittery, less anxious, and likely more focused.^[16] This combo is so potent that it is one of the most recommended nootropic stacks on the internet. While caffeine is often the heavier dosed ingredient in the typical 2:1 combo, Myprotein is giving you more L-theanine per scoop. It’s obvious that they want The Amino Boost to be a feel-good stim and we’re here for it!

• The “Others”: L-Lysine (200mg), L-Threonine (200mg), L-Histidine (200mg)

  

  Especially when paired with caffeine like we have here, L-Theanine increases attention and reduces reaction time — especially in stressed individuals!

  This section is dedicated to the “other” amino acids included in The Amino Boost. While these individual amino acids are not particularly ergogenic on their own, they are GREAT to have as a combo! L-Lysine is a component of carnitine and also plays an essential role in muscle protein synthesis and recovery, processes athletes need to maintain.^[17] L-threonine plays a similar role to L-lysine and helps get the protein synthesis party started.^[18]

  L-Histidine is an amino acid required for the production of carnosine — a protein required for fat metabolism to go smoothly.^[19] The inclusion of histidine also lets us remind you that beta alanine also helps with carnosine production, so check the rest of your stack and see if you’re getting a solid 3.2g/day to work with the histidine here!

  No tryptophan: the debate ensues

  The only “complaint” we have is a debatable one. The Amino Boost is the absence of L-tryptophan. L-tryptophan is a precursor of serotonin and is sometimes a “subtle” mood boosters. At the same time, people freak out seeing it on a workout supplement label because they think it’s going to put them to sleep. We don’t think that’s going to happen in the face of caffeine and training, but we also understand why Myprotein wouldn’t want to include it.

  Long story short, The Amino Boost does have the essential amino acids for muscle gains, but it is not a “full-spectrum” EAA because tryptophan is missing. We see both sides, and usually don’t “feel” it in a supplement like this anyway.

Flavors and Inactives

In our THE Amino Boost Review, you’ll see how much we love Gummy Fish and Peach Rings especially!!

While reviewing every flavor of this product would be a snore, you can leave this review knowing that your tastebuds will probably like at least one offering. For our comrades fighting the war against health-deleterious ingredients, some flavors do contain artificial coloring, flavoring, and soy.

One thing we’ll need to note during reviews is that this powder is fluffy! But it mixes quite well because of that, and is likely to stay very shelf-stable when the competition will end up in clumps.

Conclusion

When we started covering Myprotein, you probably imagined a protein powder. Well almost, but not exactly. As you’ll see over time, this brand can do it all, from protein to functional foods to energy. And here we get a really solid mix of everything.

Myprotein is here on PricePlow, and they do a whole lot more than just protein!

The Amino Boost is a super-solid, and great-tasting foray into the “energy aminos” category. Gone are the days of awful proprietary blends fronted by glutamine and taurine. While we do have those ingredients, we don’t have to hide behind them here, so kudos to Myprotein for putting out a quality EAA-based energy amino.

Thanks to Myprotein’s reach, The Amino Boost can be found almost anywhere, it gets the job done for energy and keeping your bloodstream enriched with aminos, and it “improves the wheel” but doesn’t reinvent it.

If you find yourself wanting both a snack and some caffeine during the next 3PM lull, perhaps its time to get an EAA-based beverage with caffeine like The Amino Boost instead of some nasty energy drink without the added benefits.