Universal Nutrition’s gang of “animal” products have been around for a long time, and remain popular among bodybuilders and strength athletes in particular. Let’s take a look at their Animal Stak:
What is it?
Animal Stak is a product designed to boost both testosterone and human growth hormone levels and help lifters get better pumps and strength gains in the gym. Animal Stak includes DHT blockers and aromatase inhibitors, which have been added to prevent the conversion of testosterone to estrogen or DHT. The list of ingredients is long and includes stuff like Tribulus, Zinc, Magnesium, Chromium, Longjack Extract, a Vasodilator Complex, Saw Palmetto, Vitamin C, Milk Thistle Extract and more. Animal Stak contains no pro hormones. It comes in easy to use and transportable “packs.”
This is a new version of Animal Stak, and a very different product from the previous version, which contained substances now banned by the FDA.
Does it do anything?
I’ve only done one ‘cycle’ of this product, so I’m not going to base my review entirely on my own personal experiences here. I can say, however, that I did get pretty great pumps in the gym while using Animal Stak, and also seemed to have above average strength gains in the three weeks I was using the stuff – but nothing that was absolutely mind blowing. My motivation to train was very good, and I also felt very good on this product, but then I’ve been feeling pretty darn good anyway since I started incorporating more raw plant foods into my diet. It should be noted that I was already getting some of the stuff this product contains from other supplements, so my results might have been more noticeable had I not already been “used” to taking a lot of what this supplement contains – including Tribulus, which I use from time to time.
Talking to other lifters, results seem to have been very varied. Some people are extremely happy about what Animal Stak is doing for them, while others claim they haven’t noticed much at all. Nothing unusual there are far as nutritional supplements go – if product is any good it’s going to affect people differently, and if it’s no good at all it’ll usually be off the market within a few years (is anyone still using Boron, for example? Cybergenics Phaze 1 six week mass building kit? Anyone?) Bottom line for me, though: Will I use this product again? Yes, definitely. I thought it was good enough the first time around to at least give it another couple of trials, and I expect to benefit from those as well.
Any supplements you should not be using this with?
In my personal opinon, yes there is – at least if you use Animal Stak regularly. One of these is ZMA, or any supplement that gives you high doses of zinc, magnesium or vitamin B6. I use ZMA all the time myself, but will not be using it when I go on my next Animal Stak cycle. Animal Stak already gives me a potent dose of zinc, magnesium and B6, and I don’t need to supplement with more than that. And to be honest, I don’t think it’s even good to supplement with much more than that as these are nutrients that you really can get too much of.
For the same reason, I personally think regular use of this product along with Universal’s Animal Pak might be overdoing things a little. I don’t see why you’d need 800 mgs of supplemental magnesium per day, or more than 60 mgs of zinc or 20 something mgs of Vitamin B6. Over a long time period, doses like that could potentially do more harm than good.
The doses of DHT blockers and aromatase inhibitors that this product contains aren’t super high, but that doesn’t mean you should use more of those unless you have a really good reason to, like if you’re using anabolic steroids – but then you probably wouldn’t be reading this in the first place.
What about the company?
When it comes to supplement companies, I tend to like those that have been around for a while, and Universal Nutrition is certainly no newcomer to this business. They’ve been around since 1977, and I think I still have bodybuilding magazines from the eighties advertising their “Animal” line of products, so nothing new there either. Universal also seem to take very good care of their customers, as I know they’ve gladly paid people back their money when someone wasn’t happy about the results they were getting. Does it get much better than that? No, it doesn’t.
Who should stay away?
If you’re under eighteen, this product – or any product that contains natural testosterone boosters, is not for you. So don’t buy it. I’d even draw the line a little higher myself; those that seem to get the most out of this kind of stuff are probably guys that have been around for a while. So if you weren’t at least born when Reagan ruled, there might be better things to spend your money on.
Bottom line?
If you’re looking for a natural testosterone booster that could also give you a HGH jolt or two and that mental and physcial edge in the gym, I think this is product that is probably worth trying out. While results vary, there are plenty of guys that are getting good results from this stuff, and that could be you. Animal Stak offers a little bit more than just the plain old Tribulus and zinc stuff by also incorporating a DHT blocking agent and arotamatase inhibitors as well as a bunch of other ingredients that could benefit your training. It’s not the absolute cheapest product around, but then it also might replace some other supplements you are using. Besides, it’s not like you’re going to be using this all the time – Animal Stak is a product you do three week cycles on with a minimum of a one week break in between.
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