You may remember back in May we posted about getting a beta bottle of PNI’s reformulated pre-workout Prodigy. Based on our experience with it, we said that the supplement was guaranteed a spot in our list of top five pre-workouts, so long as nothing major changed for the final version. That final version was officially released back at the Stack3d Pro in June, which we have since been trialing and are now ready to bring our official PNI Prodigy review.
For those that haven’t seen the formula behind PNI’s 2016 version of Prodigy, we have added it below just as a bit of a reminder. As you can see it is packed, which is what got us so excited about it when it first showed up back in April. We then got to test it out as mentioned in May, and discovered it was everything we hoped it would be. Fortunately, the brand didn’t end up changing much for the final release, keeping everything that made the beta version great.
Unstoppable energy and five-star focus
Like most pre-workouts, PNI Prodigy’s performance starts with a kick. Unlike most pre-workouts however, it packs an incredible combination of long-lasting energy and five-star focus. Firstly you will want to take this one a little earlier than the usual time before your workout, as for whatever reason it does take an extra 5 to 10 minutes to hit. When it does eventually start to come on it isn’t exactly a kick, more of a gradual introduction.
The energy side of the product slowly builds over the first 10 minutes of your workout, going from a light pick me up to a solid flow of energy that almost feels like it doesn’t end. The best way to describe Prodigy’s energy is comfortable. It’s not intense or in your face, but enough to make you feel you can tackle a good amount of reps at any weight, and do it all again once you knock it out. The energy certainly isn’t the only thing to blame for Prodigy’s somewhat unstoppable sensation, as its focus does also play a major role right from the beginning.
Before the energy even peaks, in fact well before that, Prodigy’s five-star focus makes sure you enter the gym with the mindset you need to be at the top of your game. Much like the energy, the pre-workout’s focus is quite calm. 10 to 20 minutes after taking the supplement you’ll find your head will be a lot clearer and have just one thing running through it. That one thing is of course the workout you’re about to demolish, which you will indeed do with the focus giving you the confidence and one track mindset required to do so.
Pump of your life
As amazing as the energy and focus in PNI Prodigy sounds and is, that’s not actually the best part about it. While the two effects already make it a better pre-workout than most, it’s pump is what truly takes it to another level. Basically if you’re a fan of full, muscle bloating pumps, then Prodigy is more than worth picking up.
Regardless of what muscle you’re working when you take Prodigy, you’ll find it’ll fill up right from the first or second exercise. The pre-workout not only makes it a lot easier to get a pump going, but when you do it’ll expand your muscles well beyond their normal limit. Prodigy’s pump is the kind that’ll add an inch on arm day, make full range of motion painfully enjoyable, and blow up a few of the muscles around your arms like your chest and back. With that said you can then only imagine what it’s like on an actual chest or back day.
Keep it for small to medium days
With energy, focus, and pump more than covered you may be thinking what doesn’t PNI Prodigy deliver on? To that we have to say it isn’t as good as a few other pre-workout competitors in the performance and endurance department. While it’s energy is strong and remains that way throughout your workout, it isn’t as reliable or explosive as you’d want on a heavier or more complex kind of day. You do get the drive to go hard from its energy and focus, however if you push your limits too much you will find the energy wears thin.
Prodigy does definitely give you the ability to push in the higher rep ranges, although low and heavy just doesn’t seem to be a strong point for it. We’re not saying don’t use it on a leg day or anything like that, as that’s not the case. It’s simply not as strong as others in the performance and endurance department and is a whole lot more enjoyable with small, medium, or not so exhausting workouts, especially with its unforgettable pump.
Unforgettable combination of energy, focus, and pump
Overall the 2016 version of PNI’s Prodigy is absolutely incredible. While it isn’t as strong as it could be in the performance department, it blows almost every other pre-workout out of the water with its unstoppable energy, calm laser-like focus, and unnatural muscle pumps. We would even go as far as saying it has the best pump in a pre-workout out there, with its energy and focus slightly less, if not on par with the best.
We wouldn’t quite suggest Prodigy if you’re looking for a hard kick or stimulant driven experience, as mentioned earlier its energy is a smooth gradual effect. If however you like the sound of the comfortable energy and head clearing focus, and/or pump heavy pre-workouts, you need to pick up a tub of Prodigy.
How we used it
Lastly we do have to include the dose at which we used PNI Prodigy as it is slightly different from what’s directed. The supplement is a one scoop maximum pre-workout, although we did end up pushing that up a bit. While one scoop is solid and probably enough for some, we found Prodigy performed best on a heaping scoop (+10-25%) which didn’t really add anything to its energy or focus, but undoubtedly takes its pump up a notch.
