Sheer Strength Labs Pre Workout Review: Amazon’s Loser?

Posted on January 13th, 2016 By Allie Lewis in Pre Workout Reviews Read Time: 12 mins.

Recently updated on September 26th, 2022 at 09:51 pm

Sheer Strength Labs has reached the top of the world, and by the world I mean Amazon. With over 1,300 customer reviews, it comes as no surprise that this product finally showed up on my radar. To be quite honest with you, I am surprised I didn’t catch it sooner. In this Sheer Strength pre workout review, I’ll tell you my OWN thoughts. As somewhat of a pre workout expert, you can bet I’ll give you a definitive answer on whether or not this pre workout is deserving of it’s 4.5/5 star review. We actually have a much more rigorous testing protocol over here at the BPW- here’s how it goes. First off, I review the flavor. These pre workout supplements can taste pretty gnarly sometimes. I want to make sure that there are no surprises when the time comes to drink it down. After we do talk flavors, we’re going to get into the workout results. I’ll focus on how it impacted my performance in the gym, and also let you know post-workout if Sheer Strength is safe for women. After that, we’ll discuss the formula and packaging, before buttoning everything up with a final review summary. Sheer Strength. Ready to begin the review? Me too. Let’s do this.

Have you ever procrastinated for so long that you can no longer find stuff to procrastinate with? It’s pretty hard to do in the days of the internet, trust me. But somehow, I think I’ve managed. I swear I just went to every last corner of Instagram, just putting off the task of telling you about this Sheer Strength pre workout. Well, maybe procrastinating isn’t the right word. I think delaying a little bit was just what I needed. Ok, I’ll be honest. I was actually looking ahead for other new products to review. Imagine that. I had barely even started this Sheer Strength Labs Review, and yet there I was, looking for even more new products to review. I think I have a pre workout problem. Like actually. I swear they put crack in these. How else can you explain that urge you get to try a new one each week? It’s crazy. But yeah- I found Sheer Strength Labs on Amazon. I was browsing the pre workout category and apparently this one is number one. Imagine that! You know what’s weird? This product actually looks awful. So why don’t we start right there- with a packaging grade. 

Sheer Strength Labs Pre Workout Packaging Grade: 6.0

Well this is certainly a rough start for the number one pre workout on Amazon. I’m giving this pre workout a ‘D’, as in barely a passing grade. The product is visually hideous. I know as a girl this product probably isn’t supposed to appeal to me, and it certainly doesn’t. But on the other hand, there are several men’s pre workouts that I have found quite attractive. Neon Sport is one that I’ve been quite fond of in terms of overall aesthetic. Legion Pulse is another that I find very striking. But Sheer Strength Labs is just ugly. The black background provides a soulless backdrop to a mass of text, aligned centrally in the front of the package. There are no graphics. There are no colors. There is literally nothing to grab, or hold your attention or imagination. This is just a terrible design. It actually reminds me of a product that you would see in a video game. The designer was charged with making a pre workout to render into the game, so he made the most generic, stereotypical pre workout packaging that he could. But now, let’s look at the ingredients and see if this lack of distinction extends beneath the lid.

Sheer Strength Labs Pre Workout Formula Grade: 8.7

Sometimes simple is good. And while this strategy does NOT work out for Sheer Strength Labs in the packaging department, I think the simplicity does work with the formulation. This is a pre workout that consists of just FIVE ingredients. This is not what I was expecting at all. I expected a combination of just about every standard pre workout ingredient, all mixed into a little proprietary blend to save costs. But no. This is a five ingredient pre workout that Sheer Strength Labs has used to propel itself to the apex of the Amazon mountain. Here are the five ingredients: 

  1. Citrulline Malate
  2. Beta Alanine
  3. Creatine 
  4. Beet Root Extract
  5. L-Ornithine HCL
  6. Caffeine

That’s all there is to it. So simple. I’m almost at a loss for words because of how much of a departure the reality is from what I expected this formula to be like. These are all in fact very standard pre workout ingredients, and they are dosed quite liberally as well. The most notable ingredient in here that sets it just slightly apart from some other pre workouts is the L-Orinthine- which is usually used in an attempt to improve growth hormone levels. I think the more practical use is as an ingredient that plays an important role in nitrogen balance, which will aid with improving endurance and delaying time to exhaustion. But in the write-up, the Sheer Strength Labs folks DO mention growth hormone, so maybe that is what they were going after. Ladies shouldn’t worry though- there is no sound research proving that L-Orinthine can improve GH levels in any significant way. But now let’s talk about the flavor of this pre workout. 

Sheer Strength Labs Pre Workout Flavor Grade: 8.9

You are going to think this is really strange but I got the cotton candy flavor of Sheer Strength Labs pre workout, and really enjoyed it quite a bit. I know. I’m usually the last one to try one of the crazy, super artificial pre workouts, but as you know from some of my more recent pre workout reviews, I’ve come down off my high horse just a little bit in order to give myself a chance to just enjoy some of these crazier flavors. At the end of the day, I put way worse stuff in my body than a little bit of sucralose. Like. Seriously. How am I honestly going to drink 8 margaritas and then act like I’m some health snob who won’t drink anything artificially sweetened? Yeah. Sounds like you might need a wake up call too! Sheer Strength Labs has really done a nice job with the cotton candy flavor. It doesn’t taste TOO much like REAL cotton candy, but you can tell that they tried really hard to make it as close as possible. There’s a little too much sharpness, or almost a sort of vanilla flavor that makes it too sharp to be a true cotton candy flavor, but it’s still really good. Now we come to the ultimate question- how does Sheer Strength Labs Pre Workout perform? 

Sheer Strength Labs Pre Workout Performance Grade: 7.9

Sheer Strength came so close to getting an ‘B’ on performance. And it’s really quite a shame that I can’t do some more intense workouts to try and ‘activate’ the product a little more. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned over my years of doing these pre workout reviews for you guys, is that sometimes pre workouts only kick in after  a certain amount of coaxing, through blood, sweat, and tears. I swear the ATHENA pre workout kicks in only once you have put in three or five really hard sets. But when it does kick in, there is no stopping you. But that’s not the case with the Sheer Strength Labs pre workout. I used a scoop and a half of Sheer Strength. And while I did notice the beta-alanine tingling sensation, I did not get quite the amount of energy that I wanted from the product. It didn’t ‘let me down’ per se, but the reason why I’m giving it a ‘C’ is because, just like your old teacher in 3rd grade used to say, a ‘C’ is a normal, and acceptable grade. In order to get into a ‘B’ or ‘A’ range, you must do something extraordinary. I did not find this product to be extraordinary in any way once I got into the gym. 

Sheer Strength Labs Pre Workout Review Summary

  • Sheer Strength Labs Pre Workout Packaging Grade: 6.0
  • Sheer Strength Labs Pre Workout Formula Grade: 8.7
  • Sheer Strength Labs Pre Workout Flavor Grade: 8.9
  • Sheer Strength Labs Pre Workout Performance Grade: 7.9
  • Sheer Strength Labs Pre Workout Value Grade: 7.6

I’ll give this product a ‘B’. It tastes good, and has a nice and clean formula. But at the end of the day, this product doesn’t have enough firepower to make it into my top ten pre workouts. I’m really not sure how this pre workout became the number one on Amazon, but, hey. Give it a try, maybe I’m the crazy one.*

 

Sheer Strength Labs Pre Workout Final Review Score: 8.0

Allie Lewis

By Allie Lewis

Hi, my name is Allie and reviewing products is my hobby. I am passionate about being fit and active, so making a blog about my experience with different products that help me stay healthy made sense to me. Please contact me at any time if you would like to guest post or advertise on-site.