# USN are their products any good?



## Roman Podzemny (Dec 12, 2010)

Hi guys, just want to ask if anyone had tried USN products. I never had the joy to try one.

Did you had Good or bad experience?

Apparently the are the second best selling brand.

Thanks for any answers.

Roman P.


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## EXTREME (Aug 5, 2005)

The second best selling brand thanks to them having a huge marketing budget due to them being a wealthy South African company who get their stuff made by Glanbia in Middlesborough.

The same place that makes Sci-Mx, PhD, ON, Vyomax and soon BSN.

Is their stuff any good? It's ok, their formulas are decent but a lot of their success is down to marketing and supplying the re sellers very cheaply which they've just gone back on so lots of shops/gyms not happy with them all of a sudden.


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## Roman Podzemny (Dec 12, 2010)

You know what Extreme, thanks for that, really like your answers...and it clears why are they no 1 in South Africa.

There are many brands I would like to discuss: Cellucor, Warrior nutrition...etc.

I had call from them, so just wanted to know what people think.

Thanks for that Extreme.


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## EXTREME (Aug 5, 2005)

Roman, I'd put ANY Extreme Nutrition product up for comparison against any product by any company anywhere in the world with full confidence in us being as good or better.

We're not as big as many because money is the limiting factor, I've owned the company for 12 years, I started it when studying biomedical sciences and pharmacology and sold my house to get some money to start it so Extreme has never had any big investors or corporate input into how to make us much bigger, I just do it my way and develop the best products I can based upon the science that's available and my own knowledge.

I've always said get every supplement company owner or manager and put us on a panel at something like bodypower and lets have a Q&A session. You'll soon see who knows their onions and who's in it for the money and nothing else or it's just a job for them.

The manager of USN used to work for Holland & Barrat as a buyer, he doesn't train, doesn't design the products and basically is just the guy pushing sales in any way he can. No fault on him, he's done a great job, but how big would Extreme be with the same advertising budget?


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## jakeyUK (Nov 28, 2011)

^^^^^^ Soooo true extreme that's what i always think when it comes to supplements when you look at the main supplements websites its all about pushing the product out to the public for mega bucks but like you said you have gambled your house on your company and you have the background of pharmacology behind the products. As to the Q&A session i think if it ever came to it you would probably only get few answers as they are simply all about marketing and money.

JakeyUK


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## justheretosnoop (Jun 15, 2012)

What do you reckon their annual advertising budget would be roughly Doug?


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

i think its possible if you have credibilty to mix it with the big named UK brands.

i`m not sure how, but benetton won F1 with shumacher when they were nothing, every now and again a football team with no money behind it but have an amazingly gifted team do well.

theres a thread on here about what we all do for a living, i reckon as a community we could come up with some decent credible ideas that dont really soley on having cash thrown at them..


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## EXTREME (Aug 5, 2005)

I don't know how much USN have as a marketing budget but I heard Maximuscle was something like £5 or £6 million a few years ago.


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

jesus! really!???

thing is somehow they managed to get into the top spot without cash originally?


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## justheretosnoop (Jun 15, 2012)

Mad eh. Just makes you realise the %margin they must be making to pull in the profits they do.


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## EXTREME (Aug 5, 2005)

The worst thing in this business is that we're not all competing on level terms, there are respected, high profile brands who know fine well they are knocking out sub par products but they also know the punishment is nothing compared to how much they can make in the mean time.

Remember that brand MMUSA who brought out the "Creatine Serum" where you put 2 or 3 drops under your tongue and they claimed it was all you needed? Their UK office was closed because the Advertising Standards Agency were after them so they went to Italy I believe, I don't know where they are now but the cost of producing that product would have been £2 or £3, the RRP was £45. That's why they made a success of it, huge margins for them, their resellers and plenty to spend on advertising. All good if you're in it for a quick killing!


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## mark_star1466868017 (Jul 14, 2011)

Extreme said:


> Remember that brand MMUSA who brought out the "Creatine Serum" where you put 2 or 3 drops under your tongue and they claimed it was all you needed? Their UK office was closed because the Advertising Standards Agency were after them so they went to Italy I believe, I don't know where they are now but the cost of producing that product would have been £2 or £3, the RRP was £45. That's why they made a success of it, huge margins for them, their resellers and plenty to spend on advertising. All good if you're in it for a quick killing!


blimey i can still get them from my wholesaler, obviously one to steer clear of then


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## justheretosnoop (Jun 15, 2012)

Ha, or one to invest in perhaps?!!


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## mark_star1466868017 (Jul 14, 2011)

Dorsey said:


> Ha, or one to invest in perhaps?!!


only if i want my reputation to go down the pan


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## saorsa (Feb 4, 2012)

Got to say I'm also impressed by Extreme's posts in the forums.

Straight forward, honest, informative posts regarding his supplements.

It's refreshing to see, compared with other supplement companies and the way they push their products.


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## BigAndy (Dec 30, 2011)

Extreme said:


> I don't know how much USN have as a marketing budget but I heard Maximuscle was something like £5 or £6 million a few years ago.


Bloody hell!

I buy USN protein powder. Am I being had?


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## Rhino1466868026 (Jan 24, 2012)

Used USN Diet shake which was good, but I'm currently using an ummarketed local factory for my whey isolate which I'm impressed with.

Like it's been said, marketing is a huge part in it, Grenade is a prime example of this...


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## adamp (Aug 9, 2010)

used a tub of the hyperbolic mass. It did work, made me gain strength in the gym and put on the weight I wanted only problem was the weight was more fat than muscle, so it made me look bloated and now after 6 months I have a flat stomach again. So if anyone does use this stuff make sure to balance out plenty of cardio with it as I didnt


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## EXTREME (Aug 5, 2005)

Adam, it's down to you to check what you're buying, Hyperbolic Mass has the LOWEST protein content of any USN product, it's a big bag of carbs with a few odds and sods thrown in to make it sound good.


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## Ghost1466867995 (Jul 27, 2010)

Extreme said:


> Adam, it's down to you to check what you're buying, Hyperbolic Mass has the LOWEST protein content of any USN product, it's a big bag of carbs with a few odds and sods thrown in to make it sound good.


You know what could be useful:

a table stating serving size mixed with milk or water of all the top brands in a sort of compare the meerkat sort of way to help people make up their own minds


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## EXTREME (Aug 5, 2005)

Good one ghost, time consuming but could be very worthwhile.


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## doggy (Mar 26, 2011)

any spread sheet with the brands compared would be flawed. based on claims that arent honored in the product.

the only way to do it is to test a sample from every maker.


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## Ghost1466867995 (Jul 27, 2010)

doggy said:


> any spread sheet with the brands compared would be flawed. based on claims that arent honored in the product.
> 
> the only way to do it is to test a sample from every maker.


not really as it would be simple number crunching using labels that are readily available on the web


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## renshaw (Jun 5, 2012)

Yeah it would work Ghost.. Just got to keep it up to date!

Will definatly make company like maxi muscle look like over priced and stupid when compared by price.

Would also have to compare protein content and protein quality in a 1 - 5 star rating!

Come to think of it, there'd be bloody loads of variables.

You'd have to compare in overall quality (including value for money)

An index for this, for all sport supplements would be a good idea and could be very good earner if brands would pay for referrals if the site became popular enough...


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## doggy (Mar 26, 2011)

what im saying is, the contents might not meet the manufacturers claims.

so on your spread sheet, the ones at the top may not be able to live up to their claims.

they can say anything they want, but do they put it in the tub?


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## renshaw (Jun 5, 2012)

Exactly i said quality of protien would bentaken in to consideration also.

Only way would be to have every brand tested!!


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## mark_star1466868017 (Jul 14, 2011)

right here's a spreadsheet, not added lots of brands and not suggesting anything is better than anything else, but it's a start

http://healthstoreipswich.co.uk/images/protein.zip


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## webadmin1466867919 (Dec 1, 2006)

mark_star said:


> right here's a spreadsheet, not added lots of brands and not suggesting anything is better than anything else, but it's a start
> 
> http://healthstoreipswich.co.uk/images/protein.zip


Perhaps post this as an image so more people can read it easier, I will try to do this later


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## mark_star1466868017 (Jul 14, 2011)

here we go

View attachment 2906


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