Earlier this year we got our hands on Black Skull’s US version of its pre-workout Bone Crusher for review. It turned out to be one of the worst supplements we’d ever tried, feeling like a heavy shot of caffeine. A few months back news came in that the Brazilian brand had in fact reformulated the product, which was then made available at this year’s Olympia for just $10. The staff at Black Skull’s booth told us that the new Bone Crusher is much more intense than the previous one, so we decided to invest $10 and find out how true that is.
Going into this review we already knew that Black Skull’s new Bone Crusher was going to be better than the last. Not only because the formula is quite a bit different, but because there wasn’t really much the brand could’ve done to make it any worse. Black Skull did add a lot of new ingredients to its reformulation making it a little more complete and bumping it up from a 5g serving to 15g.
Big improvement right from the beginning
As soon as this one kicks in you know it’s significantly better than the previous version. Instead of feeling like too much caffeine and beta-alanine, it kicks in pretty calmly and with an overall sense of energy. The best way to describe Bone Crusher’s initial sensation is an average kick, and that’s not a bad thing. The only reason we’re saying average is because the pre-workout category is extremely competitive these days. Being just effective doesn’t quite cut it anymore, especially against supplements like DVST8, Unstoppable, and Prodigy, that bring a whole lot more than average to the table.
The energy in the updated Bone Crusher is best comparable to your more performance dedicated pre-workouts like PreCre, Supernova, and Pumped Sports’ Loaded, that aren’t too focused on super stimulating energy. You get a calm, natural flow of energy that goes from a mild kick at the beginning to a semi-strong sustainable increase in energy that remains throughout your workout. It doesn’t have you bouncing off the walls and wanting 10 second rest periods like stim heavy formulas, but it’s enough to make you lift heavier and do more reps than you felt you could before you walked into the gym.
Performance and endurance benefits
Outside of the energy, there is just one other effect in Bone Crusher that stands out and that is its performance. Coincidentally the products we just said were best comparable to Bone Crusher’s energy, are also great examples of what its performance side is like. The pre-workout surprisingly manages to help boost endurance and overall performance by a noticeable amount, especially in demanding workouts, which works pretty well in combination with its calm energy.
The reason we know Bone Crusher has performance benefits as well as energy, is because if it were just energy driving the supplement you’d wind up exhausted in the bigger workouts. With Black Skull’s new and improved pre-workout that isn’t quite the case. The energy helps keep you eager and ready to tackle every set, while the performance side of Bone Crusher ensures that your muscles are fueled to give their all and able to be comfortably pushed from start to finish.
Better, but far from competitive
Overall Black Skull’s reformulation is a big improvement. The product is no longer a heavily caffeinated hit, it’s a respectable performance powered formula. We do however have to keep things honest, and while the updated Bone Crusher is a lot better than its predecessor, it still has a long way to go before it’s close to being competitive. We did say its energy and performance are best compared to the likes of PreCre and Loaded, although unfortunately both of those have a lot more to them than those effects. PreCre and Loaded also feature good levels of pump and focus, two major pre-workout effects that we didn’t really see at all in Bone Crusher.
It’s also worth mentioning that neither PreCre or Loaded are on our list of top 10 pre-workouts. There you have the likes of DVST8 and Unstoppable, two supplements that are leagues above Bone Crusher in energy and performance, and also include incredibly awesome amounts of pump and focus. Essentially the product is averagely effective in energy and performance rated at around two or three out of five, which isn’t good. If you only deliver two effects in today’s pre-workout market you better make sure they either have some kind of unique synergistic feeling or be four or five out of five.
Updated Bone Crusher hard to find
Lastly, for those interested in giving Black Skull’s new Bone Crusher a go for whatever reason, make sure you check the label of what you’re buying as you may not be getting the updated one. The major retailer Bodybuilding.com is still listing the original US Bone Crusher, so again just make sure you check the label first if you’re looking for the reformulation. Some key details you want to look out for are 20 servings per tub instead of 30, and three proprietary blends instead of one.
