ETS Review

[Anthony]

Since I was a tester for ETS, I thought I'd share my experience with you. Let me start by giving you a quick summary of my stats/experience. I've been training off and on for ~10 years. I started out trying to get stronger for sports and now I'm just trying to get stronger. I'm 5'7, ~200lbs, digital calipers consistently measure at 12.5% body fat (although I think it's higher), raw gym lifts include a 405 squat, 315 bench press, and 500 deadlift. I've only trained in a bench shirt once and managed 365. I'm currently using a westside routine, although I'm also fond of the legs/push/pull split. I also do GPP (general physical preparedness), which will be discussed in detail below. Basically, I've been around long enough to learn a few things even though my knowledge may not be as technical as some of our members.

Back in March 2004, At Large Nutrition asked me to test ETS. The catch was, I wouldn't know what it was or what it was supposed to do (Chris actually peeled the labels off!). I'd run the test for 4 weeks, logging anything I noticed out of the ordinary. Obviously I was hesitant about testing an unknown supplement, but after asking Chris tons of questions I felt comfortable participating. I figured this may work out well, since I was planning to test my max squat/bench/deadlift in a few weeks.

Week 1
During the first week I noticed an extreme improvement in my sleep. I normally get 8-10 hours of solid sleep each night, but for some reason I was waking up even more refreshed than usual. They later told me this was not a feature of the supplement, so take that observation with a grain of salt. I also noticed a decrease in recovery time, more energy, and mental alertness. At the time, I attributed this to the improved sleep. Previous to this week I was suffering some major elbow pain/tendonitis. When the pain disappeared in a week I didn't think twice about it, but I later learned joint pain reduction was one of the major features. Looking back, I know ETS played a role.

Week 2
The second week was my deload phase before testing my max lifts. Out of curiosity, I decided to use GPP every day instead of training in the gym. Here is the routine I had been using:

Squat Thrusts 10x3 sets
Tire Jumps 10x3 sets
Backward Sled Drag* 85lbs x 200'
Forward Sled Drag* 85lbs x 200'
Sandbag Throws 25lbs x 10
Sandbag Walk 60lbs x 200' x 2 sets
Sledgehammer VS Tire 60 strikes
* My sled is actually a tire loaded with sand bags. As you can imagine, dragging a tire across pavement isn't exactly a smooth pull.

Coming into this week, my best GPP time was about 30 minutes. On Monday I recorded 25:42. Tuesday was 23:50. Wednesday 18:28. Thursday 17:56. Friday I was out of town, so no test. Anyway, as you can see I shaved off almost 8 minutes in 4 days. There's no doubt in my mind that ETS was directly involved in my improved endurance.

Week 3
My test week. Unfortunately I was hit by some major stress at work and wasn't 100% focused. Usually when this happens everything goes to complete ****: eating, sleeping, training, etc. These things still suffered, but not as much as they usually would have. I still managed a 20lbs squat PR and I matched my bench PR. Not bad.

Week 4
The following week I matched my squat, set a 10lbs bench PR, and matched my dead PR. What stood out the most during week 4 was that no matter how hard I pushed myself in the gym, I wasn't getting sore. And this is during a time when my rest/sleep was not 100%. Improvements were the same as week 3.

Overall I was impressed with ETS. Despite being sidetracked with stress, the effects were very pronounced. I know that under ideal circumstances I would have noticed even more. Without a doubt I will be using ETS again.

[chris mason]

Thanks for the review Anthony!

[Max-Mex]

I'm interested in the joint pain reduction as I have issues with my elbows. I have to limit my selection of tricep lifts due to pain that is cause by some of them (dips & skulls).

[Mr Joshua]

What is ETS?

[Anthony]

Joshua, check here for a description of ETS: http://www.atlargenutrition.com/nutr.../products_id/5

[PiKappaWRX]

so what would u say was the biggest benefit of supplementing ETS?

[Anthony]

For me the biggest benefit was improved muscular endurance, but recovery and joint pain reduction were close behind. I didn't notice as much strength gains as the others, but that could be a result of the stress I was going through.

[ogarchamplin]

this sounds great!

[cardioking]

planning to test my max squat/bench/deadlift in a few weeks.

Week 1
During the first week I noticed an extreme improvement in my sleep. I normally get 8-10 hours of solid sleep each night, but for some reason I was waking up even more refreshed than usual. They later told me this was not a feature of the supplement, so take that observation with a grain of salt. again.

I don't think this is a coincidence about the sleep but I have noticed my sleep is a whole lot better since taking this supplement. Remember the supplement ZMA? Well this is almost it. It has 2 of the 3 ingredients in it and ZMA is a pill many use to increase sleep. Also when does most effective RECOVERY happen?? During SLEEP! I think this product is excellent.

[chris mason]

Thanks for your input Cardio! Hope you enjoy the site.

[shansen008]

Im in my second week of using ETS.

This stuff is subtle yet amazing. I too have noticed that im sleeping much better, its amazing that this isnt supposed to be one of the effects of the supplement yet everyone seems to notice it.

Max mex: I too have always experienced elbow pain during tri exercises. especially skulls. Since taking ETS i have not had ANY pain in my elbows and im now doing 110lb sets of 6-8 on skulls.

I had a killer leg day 3 or 4 days ago.....and i have YET to experience any DOMS from it. This to me is reason enough to take ETS, as legs have always been an exercise for me that i truly needed a week to recover from.

If i had to rate supplements in order of importance it would now be:

ETS
MULTIVITAMIN
PROTEIN
CREATINE

Everything else is gravy....

On top of everything else, there are the intangibles such as MOOD. Its very hard to get motivated if you are an intense lifter and you have serious DOMS on a lifting day. This stuff puts you at psychological advantage IMO.

Its a great product at a great price.

-Shansen

[fixationdarknes]

Is ETS recommended for people like me: 15 years of age (can one be too young to take ETS?) looking to increase strength and endurance? And since it causes you to have less DOMS, does this mean that you can have less resting time inbetween workout days? For example, I work each body part once a week right now. If I take ETS, will I be able to move it down to every 5 or 6 days?...therefore helping me to increase my strength faster?

Also, is it okay for me to take ETS at the same time as I'm taking Glucosamine Chondroitin & MSM tablets (because I'm looking into taking that)?

[chris mason]

ETS should be fine for a 15 year old. Due to its inclusion of vitamins and minerals I would suggest you make sure not to take any other supplements which contain zinc, magnesium, or vitamin E while using ETS.

ETS should allow you to train more often as you have outlined, yes.

Why would you want to take glucosamine at your age? ETS is fine to combine with it but I don't understand why you would need it (glucosamine & MSM) at your age.

[galileo]

This stuff is subtle yet amazing. I too have noticed that im sleeping much better, its amazing that this isnt supposed to be one of the effects of the supplement yet everyone seems to notice it.

Zinc and Magnesium are both beneficial to sleep, so that is to be expected!

[Anthony]

I noticed the sleep improvements before they added zinc and magnesium (during the trial).

[chris mason]

Im in my second week of using ETS.

This stuff is subtle yet amazing. I too have noticed that im sleeping much better, its amazing that this isnt supposed to be one of the effects of the supplement yet everyone seems to notice it.

Max mex: I too have always experienced elbow pain during tri exercises. especially skulls. Since taking ETS i have not had ANY pain in my elbows and im now doing 110lb sets of 6-8 on skulls.

I had a killer leg day 3 or 4 days ago.....and i have YET to experience any DOMS from it. This to me is reason enough to take ETS, as legs have always been an exercise for me that i truly needed a week to recover from.

If i had to rate supplements in order of importance it would now be:

ETS
MULTIVITAMIN
PROTEIN
CREATINE

Everything else is gravy....

On top of everything else, there are the intangibles such as MOOD. Its very hard to get motivated if you are an intense lifter and you have serious DOMS on a lifting day. This stuff puts you at psychological advantage IMO.

Its a great product at a great price.

-Shansen

Shansen, do we have your permission to place this testimonial on the AtLarge website?

Thank you for your comments!

[BCC]

I noticed the sleep improvements before they added zinc and magnesium (during the trial).

Uninterrupted sleep is something I've really been noticing. I also never feel tired when I wake up. On a lot of days I've actually chosen to only sleep 4-5 hours, just because I feel fine to kick my day off.

[galileo]

I noticed the sleep improvements before they added zinc and magnesium (during the trial).

I believe you, but I was referencing his more recent comment.

[fixationdarknes]

Why would you want to take glucosamine at your age? ETS is fine to combine with it but I don't understand why you would need it (glucosamine & MSM) at your age.

I dunno. My fingers and wrists sort of hurt when I try to grip (crush) stuff. Won't the Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM help my fingers and wrists to not hurt?

[chris mason]

They might, but I would not bother using such a product at your age. That is just my opinion, I would suggest you get the opinion of your doctor as well.

[fixationdarknes]

Alright. I wanna try ETS soon though. I heard that helps with joints too and stuff. Does it taste good?

[Joe Black]

Its tastless as its in capsule form.

[fixationdarknes]

K thanks guys. I'm going to order it as soon as possible. My parents wouldn't want to spend too much money on it, so if I could only get one thing, ETS is the best thing for me, right?

[ryuage]

best thing for you to accomplish what?

[fixationdarknes]

better strength gains