When Stronger Faster Healthier launched its reformulated STRONG product, it piqued my interest. When they announced the 60 day STRONG challenge, I was all in (the word “competition” is a pretty consistent hook, line, and sinker for me). That said, I admittedly wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I thought I was already pretty strong as it was, but the promise of accelerated gains within just two months almost seemed too good be to true.
What Is this Stuff?
Was this a gimmick? Would it actually work? Did I need to be scared of the word “creatine”? Particularly as a female, there’s a pretty hefty misunderstanding among fitness enthusiasts around creatine and its role in muscle synthesis. The bloat that often accompanies its consumption is often misinterpreted as unwanted bulk (or just plain fat), deterring many people from using it. On its own, creatine needs a ton of water to do its thing (build muscle, hydrate muscles, boost performance). So, if you’re not consuming an egregious amount of H2O with your creatine, bloating is on the table. Good news here: SFH STRONG takes the implementation of creatine to a whole new level, as its additional ingredients effectively negate the bloating properties of creatine as a standalone supplement. So I now reap all the benefits of creatine without worrying about that “fluffy” feeling so many creatine users report? Tell me more…
Meet glutamine and beef protein isolate – the two other stars of the STRONG show, and the remaining ingredients that, in tandem with creatine, enable you to unleash your inner, non-bloaty beast. Let’s start with glutamine, which removes excess ammonia. I’m not going to pretend like I’m a scientist, so I had to look this one up…ammonia is a culprit of breaking down muscle tissue, which is not good when you’re trying to improve strength. Glutamine also strengthens the immune system, improves gut health and increases growth hormone. Win, win, win and win. Next up, beef protein isolate comes in swinging, activating muscle synthesis within just two minutes of consumption. This – as the SFH scientists aptly describe – “extends the muscle building window for better, faster recovery and muscle growth.” Not to mention, it’s got this pretty awesome knack for binding to small organic molecules (cough, cough…creatine and glutamine), meaning those molecules are also absorbed at an accelerated rate.
If you’ve gathered anything from this breakdown of what’s inside a bag of STRONG, I’m hoping that it’s somewhere along the lines of magical beast mode fairy dust.
STRONG Challenge Results:
Now that I’ve exhausted my limit of scientific jargon…let’s redirect to what I experienced in this challenge. As a recap, the STRONG Challenge required a submission of starting body fat percentage and PR lift of choice. After taking it consistently with SFH Pure for 60 straight days, I’d retest and resubmit my numbers. Frankly, I entered this challenge to serve as somewhat of a beta test for the product. You all know we at MADabolic swear by SFH, but given the unique nature of this supplement, we preferred to experience STRONG firsthand before potentially offering it to our members. It’s also important to note that, throughout the challenge, I intentionally chose not to alter my workout regimen or nutritional practices, as I truly wanted to see the supplement’s outright impact. Well…long story short, this shit works.
My starting numbers were 18.4% body fat (in the “lean” category for women), and 20kg on the Kettlebell Turkish Getup (my PR lift of choice). I thought my 20kg starting weight was already solid, so I would have been pleased if I could have just bumped up to 24kg. Turns out I jumped up to the 24kg after just two weeks into the challenge, so there was no way in hell I was stopping there. By the end of the 60 days, I dropped to 16% body fat (putting me into the “ultra lean” category) and gained 5lbs of lean muscle mass. For those of you who put too much faith in the scale, this decrease in body fat also entailed a 3lb gain in total bodyweight…so the scale can go f**k itself. What I’m most proud of is my finishing Turkish Getup Weight – a whopping 32kg on both sides (a huge increase for that specific lift in that little time). Sure, dedication and consistency were on my side here, but SFH STRONG is undoubtedly what put me there in such a limited time frame.
This supplement is incredible, and I would recommend it to anyone seeking improvements in performance (consider its impact on body composition an added bonus). This stuff works, plain and simple…winning the challenge was just icing on the cake (although it certainly hasn’t helped me in my efforts to calm my overly competitive spirit)!
Finley Funsten | Owner + General Manager, MADabolic CLT
