For the last few months I’ve been using energy and fitness supplements from MTN OPS, who make high quality performance and recovery supplements for athletes, with a focus on hunters, anglers and outdoorsmen. Reading the information on their website shows that they are dedicated to supporting conservation and the preservation of public lands, and that they back up the contents of their supplements with peer-reviewed research, which is available to read on their website under the product pages.
Like so many of you, i love my morning coffee to wake me up. I occasionally have another coffee or a sugar-free energy drink to perk me up when my energy levels slump in the afternoon. Ive also tried various brands of fitness supplements in the past with some success. Ive also had some bad experiences with certain brands of pre-workout which made me jittery, anxious, or in one case actually caused me to have chest pains after using it two days (ask me if you want to know).
My experience with MTN OPS products has been excellent, the quality of the ingredients and blends providing exactly what they boast and nothing more, no adverse side effects or overaggressive caffeinated jitters. The Ignite, Pre-workout and Slumber being my personal favorites which you can read more about below.
HOT IGNITE: energy and focus blend
The Ignite products are intended to provide long lasting alertness, energy and mental focus, which i found them to do very well. This version is designed too be served hot, and i substituted it for my morning coffee for months with great results. I found the flavors to be delicious and the mental focus and alertness boost was greater then i usually get from coffee alone. Additionally, this awake-inducing go juice lasted the better part of a day and gave me no jitters whatsoever, and i never felt strung out, or crashed after drinking it. The scientific basis behind the ingredients can be found on their website, I’m not a fitness or health guru so i won’t weigh in on the scientific WHY of the quality, but i can report on the tangible effects i felt.
I tried all three flavors and i can honestly say that i loved them all. The Mountain Mocha and Charged Cocoa were a tasty jumpstart to my day, tasting exactly like the sweetened version of their namesakes but only 30 calories per scoop according to the nutritional label. The Apple Cider was completely different in its flavor but also very delicious, so you have some good variety to choose from. I finished all three bags and i will be buying more to break up the monotony of a daily coffee habit. This is a great product and it delivers what it promises.
TIGERS BLOOD: Cold Energy and Focus blend
This version of Ignite is meant to be mixed with cold water, and i used it as i would use an energy drink in the afternoon or during long days at work or play. I occasionally have used this first thing in the morning as my daily kickoff drink as well, and it works perfectly fine for that purpose, providing a delicious hydrating caffeine and mental focus boost lasting most of the day. The Tigers Blood flavor is a mix of various fruits and is really delicious as well. This version of Ignite gave me the same benefits as the hot version did, but this one is a little more versatile in that i can drink it whenever i want. Again, tons of mental alertness and long lasting focus, but no jitters, no crash and no really downside except being wide awake at bedtime if you drink it too late in your day. But even then its not overly aggressive in its mental boost, and I’ve never had any restless sleep or anxiety from drinking too much of this, unlike other products which i won’t call out here.
Bottom line: I love this stuff. I fill a canteen of water and one scoop of Tigers Blood for a day on the range and I’m good to go all day, able to maintain a higher level of focus and clarity and get the most out of my training time. Its almost a competitive advantage on hot days when others are slowing down due to fatigue and I’m still on top of my mental game.
PREWORKOUT:
The problems I’ve had with other pre-workout products were nowhere to be found with this blend. It delivered a really nice boost for my workouts with only a hint of the skin tingly rush that can be overwhelming and uncomfortable in other products I’ve tried. I definitely will continue taking this product when i need an extra boost for my workout, and id recommend this one above all others i tried. The Daiquiri Ice wasn’t my favorite flavor personally, but i didn’t dislike it either.
SLUMBER
I was particularly excited about this product because good sleep is probably the most important thing aside from diet we can do for our health, and its also probably the number one health issue i struggle with. I’d tried something similar in the past from another good company with good results, and Im happy to say this product exceeded my expectations. The idea behind this product is to encourage deep restful sleep and to aid muscle recovery and cell health while you sleep. The end result is that you sleep better, wake up feeling refreshed and your muscles recovered. Thats exactly what i found from using this product after my gym days. The Chai flavor is also particularly delicious, so its essentially like a tasty treat that you can reward yourself after a good gym day. If you’ve never tried something like this, its important that you plan to shut down and try to go to sleep shortly after taking it, as you will start to feel a little drowsy and even feel a little weird. I guarantee if you put the phone down and close your eyes, you will fall into a deep restful sleep and wake up feeling incredibly refreshed and rejuvenated. Definitely recommend that you give this product a try if you workout and want to improve your sleep habits.
QUICK STICKS
These little Straight-to-mouth (S.T.M.) Quick Sticks are intended as an easy daily dose of health. I can report that the flavors were all pretty good, with some being better than others but none of them of them bad, and that for the month i was taking them i had no stomach issues or health problems. Not much else i can say about these, except that you should make sure to be careful when dumping a pile of powder into your mouth that it lands on your tongue and you swallow it so that it doesn’t end up in your windpipe instead. Maybe I’m just a big child but i had about a 50% fail rate on whether i could take these without coughing on one of them, which is kind of funny. I still liked them, and if you like to supplement your daily health with probiotics or multivitamins then these should be a good option for you.
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