Are You Primed for the Season?

Federal’s new supplement line, Primed, is designed specifically for the active outdoorsman.

As hunters and shooters, we know that a small movement while shooting can have a big impact downrange. We spend hours going over the details of our equipment to ensure each trigger pull is dead on. But all too often we miss out on preparing our most important tool, our body, and mind. Our physical fitness plays a key role in how we perform in the field and on the range.

Having the right workout plan and proper nutrition is key to ensure our body is ready. Eating properly is a key factor, but to maximize the hard efforts and sweat we shed I encourage all my athletes to utilize some supplements. And these supplements can vary depending upon the athlete and their goals.

Federal Ammunition and Go Condition have teamed up to produce a line of supplements for hunters and shooters. The aim of Primed Nutrition is to provide us with supplementation and ready-to-go snacks for our adventures in the woods and days on the range. I recently snagged a few of their products to give them a good going-over.

Load-Up – Pre-Workout

Many pre-workout supplements on the market are not much more than sugar water with cheap factory-created caffeine. These can provide a muscle pump feel during a workout and bring on the feeling that your skin is crawling. Some caffeine, sugar, and a few chemicals to make the veins pop might be cool for the beach but I’ve never had a deer compliment how pumped I look. At first glance, it is easy to see that the Load-Up pre-workout does not have a laundry list of ingredients. With only five ingredients listed and each easily recognizable I gave this one a shot.

Using Load-Up over the past few weeks I noticed benefits both in the gym and while shooting. First off, the flavor is good and easy to drink. Normally during my workouts, I incorporate some long shots with my bow in between sets. I noticed an uptake in energy and some improved vascularity during my workouts. The biggest surprise was that my shooting was better when I thought Load-Up would make it worse by giving me the jittery shakes often associated with pre-workout supplements. The only real problem or drawback I experienced was when I took Load-up and lifted late in the evening. On these few occasions I noticed being a little more wired than normal and had some difficulty getting to sleep. But that is normal for me when I consume caffeine later in the day.

So, what exactly is in this stuff? Let’s break it down and see what each ingredient is and why it is useful and good.

Citrulline is an amino acid that is found in watermelon but is also made in the human body. In the body it is used and converted to L-Arginine and nitric oxide. The function and purpose of Citruline is to relax the blood vessels and allow more blood flow to the muscles during strenuous exercise and exertion.

Creatine is one of the most scientifically studied supplements on the market. It has been shown to improve physical performance, increase energy output, and enhance cognitive ability. Plus, it helps in the repair and recovery of muscle tissue so that we can work out sooner.

Beta Vulgaris Root comes from beets. The root vegetable has been shown to help with vascular function providing great benefits for blood pressure. It has also been shown to reduce inflammation and lower oxidative stress that occurs with vigorous exercise.

PeakATP brings muscle power and endurance up a notch. ATP is the body’s energy currency. The more ATP we have available, the more we can do and the longer we can go.  Our body has a limited supply of ATP available, but the PeakATP puts more money in our ATP account so that we can hit the gym hard or push through the last mile on the trail strong.

The final boost comes from 150 mg of natural caffeine from coffee. We all know that caffeine can provide us with the boost we need to push through a hard workout or overcome the next mountain. While many other companies use artificial caffeine, Primed Nutrition kept it real with caffeine from coffee. With about a cup of coffee worth of caffeine, I never experienced any jitters, shakes, or a skin-crawling itch.

Re-Rack Recovery

Exercising hard is important to improve our health and fitness, but the real key is in recovery. The second Primed Nutrition supplement that I tested was Re-Rack which contains branch chain amino acids to help with recovery. Once again, it tasted good without fillers or being chocked full of sugar. This is not a drink that we feel instantly but the real benefits are in the amino acids that help us to heal faster so that we are ready and able to go the next day.

So, what are these amino acids and what in the round world can they do to help us?

Amino acids are vital for building and repairing our body tissues, specifically muscles. In Re-Rack we find Glutamine along with a perfect ratio of 2-1-1 Leucine, Valine, and Isoline. Combined, these improve athletic performance, decrease mental decline during exertion, and help to fight off infection.

L-glutamine is vital for muscle growth and recovery and numerous scientific studies have shown it to improve muscle recovery from workouts as well as healing from wounds and burns. It also has immune system boosting properties along with cardiovascular benefits.

Branch chain amino acids, often referred to as BCAAs are the essential amino acids: leucine, isoleucine, and valine. They are known as essential because we must consume them. Muscle protein is comprised of about 35% of these essential amino acids. Just a few benefits of supplementation with BCAA’s are an increase in athletic performance, mental clarity, stabilize blood sugar, improve post-exercise recovery, reduced fatigue, and decreased soreness.

Field Fuel Bars

Supplements are great when heading to the gym and preparing for the field, but it can be difficult to carry these supplements around in the field. That is where my favorite part of the Primed Nutrition supplement line comes in, the snack bars. The Field Fuel bars come in two flavors, Blueberry Crisp and Peanut Chocolate, and both are delicious. These bars are a great alternative to the normal candy bar and junk snacks that we may often find in our hunting pack. They are low in sugar and contain 8 grams of protein. Plus, even after spending a full day in my pocket this summer, it was not melted and still edible.

The Fuel and Focus bars bring even more to the field as they contain caffeine and theanine to improve focus and concentration. Along with improving alertness and reaction time they include 10 grams of protein. The Fuel and Focus bars will be a staple in my pack for the entire season to keep me alert and focused while staving off the hunger during the long days in the field.

When it comes to nutrition, I focus on getting as much from real food as possible. But when it comes to supplements, Primed provides quality and effective products. They have met the objective by providing hunters and shooters with solid supplements to meet our specific needs. From the supplements to the bars, it is evident they were attentive to details on the ingredients in each product.

Primed Nutrition products are available at the company’s website and at retail partners nationwide. To learn more about this new product line, visit www.primednutrition.com.

About Dr. Brooks Tiller:

Dr. Tiller has traveled the globe working with professional and Olympic athletes. Blending personal experience in the outdoors with knowledge of the human body, performance, and rehabilitation principles with athletic development and strength training to help outdoorsmen live healthier and better lives to reach their full potential. He earned the title, ‘The Healthy Hunter’, for his outdoor athletic lifestyle and dedication to help outdoorsmen live healthy, long, fulfilled lives. Brooks writes for numerous publications, hosted a nationally broadcasted outdoor television program, and has been featured on American Ninja Warrior. 

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