While there have been plenty of stimulant powered pre-workouts released this year, we’ve also seen a lot of dedicated pump pre-workouts. Whether you’re a fan of stimulant or stimulant free, there hasn’t been a shortage of new releases of either. One of the bigger pre-workouts dropped this year was the reformulated version of BPI’s Pump HD, which after seeing its rather interesting formula we knew we had to give a go. Over the past few weeks we have been doing just that, putting the supplement to the test to bring you today’s Pump HD review.
Flat to full
Unlike stimulant based pre-workouts, pump pre-workouts don’t have that kick or sudden rush of energy. They usually take a few sets to get your blood flowing before they start to work their magic, then from there it’s nothing but enjoyable. This is of course the case for Pump HD, although we do have to say things will happen a lot faster. Compared to most, if not all of the other stimulant free pump supplements we’ve tried, Pump HD takes about half the time to get going. For us a pump pre-workout usually becomes noticeable after one or possibly two exercises, or around five full sets. Pump HD pretty much halves that as every time we used it the muscles were already blowing up at roughly three sets in, varying a bit for different muscle groups.
The pump
One of the biggest features of a pump pre-workout is the kind of pump it delivers. We tend to separate the effect into two types, one where it’s all about fullness and blowing your muscles up beyond their natural size. Then two, where the pump is more of an enhanced mind and muscle connection, making for a much more intense or focused pump. BPI’s new Pump HD falls right in the middle of those two, with maybe a bit more fullness, almost giving it the best of both worlds.
Once the product gets going, which as mentioned doesn’t take long, you’ll notice your muscles start to get bigger and fuller. While this is definitely something we’ve seen a lot of before, Pump HD makes an interesting turn when the pump becomes quite dense. By that we mean the muscles seem full and heavy, like you’re able to feel every fiber. Unlike formulas that blow you up to a point where it’s almost difficult to maintain an acceptable range of motion. Pump HD makes sure you remain connected to the muscle group you’re working, giving you the ability to target it like never before.
We did say Pump HD’s main effect is a combination of fullness and an intense pump, which could not be more true. The supplement essentially hands you the power to painfully, enjoyable and easily pump up an isolated muscle whether it be legs, back, chest or any day for that matter. It’s that dense connection Pump HD makes that we feel gives you this ability that can only really be described as a high-definition pump.
Servings and stacking
On each bottle of Pump HD you are directed to use just the one single scoop serving. There isn’t a maximum listed, although being stimulant free we did decide to push the product and see if its pump could get any better. Basically the experience we describe above is based on a heaped scoop, so roughly one and a quarter, or one and a third. We did go beyond that however Pump HD’s performance didn’t change, even when going as high as two scoops.
To further test the power of the supplement we also did a few stacking experiments with some of our favorite stimulant pre-workouts. Surprisingly nothing seemed to make the pump in Pump HD any better, regardless of how good the pump was in the product we stacked it with. There was obviously a lot more energy and with some stacks significantly better focus, but the Pump HD pump remained the same.
Pump HD review, final words
Going into our Pump HD review didn’t know what to expect, just that the supplement was going to be interesting. It turns out the BPI formula is in fact one of the best pump pre-workouts available, which isn’t exactly something we say too often. Pump HD brings together an impressive balance of muscle fullness and a focused pump, resulting in a performance that you won’t likely get with any of its competitors. There are supplements around it with more focus and less fullness, and more fullness and less focus. But nothing sitting as evenly in between as Pump HD and its high-definition pump.
