Today’s Muscle Pharm Combat Protein powder review takes a much closer look at one of the most popular protein powders on the market. If you’ve been investigating protein powders, there is hardly little doubt you’ve come across Muscle Pharm Combat Protein. We list this protein powder among the top protein powder supplements available today. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t without its own issues.
When it comes to any protein powder, they live and die by their ingredients. Combat Protein has pretty upstanding ingredients and is sans all the crappy junk fillers found in many popular protein powders. Their manufacturer is an enormous protein powder player, both in pre and post-workout verticals. The brand is also extremely recognizable due to huge social media marketing campaigns and products that are often associated with other big brands and celebrity endorsers.
Whoa, that seems like a lot of information. Not to worry, I promise we will get through it in a seamless and condensed manner. If you are thinking about buying Combat Protein, I can tell you that you aren’t on a bad track, but you should still read this Combat Protein review and get all the details because, in the end, you do have a lot of options on the table.
About Muscle Pharm
This is a well-respected supplement company (mostly). Their marketing strategies are typically tied to famous athletes, such as fighters and bodybuilders. In the case of Combat Protein, they are marketed alongside the UFC; hence, the name, “Combat.” They are attempting to appeal to the new wave of fighting inspired fitness.
The truth is, you shouldn’t look to co-branding or celebrity endorsements as your guide to any supplements. Hydro Whey 100 is largely considered the top protein powder on earth and they don’t have any celebs touting them on Youtube.
Case and point, Arnold Schwarzenegger famously terminated his association with Muscle Pharm due to “issues and distractions.” Schwarzenegger took a lot of flack because the product he was aligned with was considered a lower quality product. In fairness, the Combat Protein supplement which is aligned with the UFC is of much higher quality.
Muscle Pharm Combat Review – The Ingredients
Now comes the holy grail that any and all of the top protein powder supplements are judged by. If a protein powder company slacks with ingredients in its supplement, the supplement can’t rank highly. This is just science at play. Poor ingredients always translate to poor user results.
Combat Protein Powder, fortunately, contains solid ingredients that do work. First and foremost, you will get 24 grams of protein with each serving you take. That’s a generous amount and extremely competitive with the other top products. But the amount of protein in protein supplements is typically around this high, which should serve as a red flag for the consumer.
In order to stay competitive, protein powder supplements realize that they need to have at least 20 grams of protein per serving. This leads many supplement companies to use junk protein so that they can market their powder accordingly.
The truth is, I’d rather have a “less per serving” experience but only high-quality proteins rather than 25 grams of junk.
Combat Protein Powder uses the big three:
- protein hydrolysate (OK)
- whey protein isolate (great)
- whey protein concentrate (junk)
Now here’s the thing, whey protein isolate is the most superior protein experience available, but unless you buy Hydro Whey 100, which cost a bit more, you aren’t going to get any protein powder using that as their singular protein ingredient. Many top protein powders utilize both hydrolysate and concentrate versions as a way to beef up their protein offerings.
This is not egregious. Combat Protein Powder remains a top supplement.
Combat Protein Powder also contains various forms of branched chain amino acids.
- leucine
- valine
- glutamine
- isoleucine
The extra value here is without debate. BCAAs are essential attributes and influencers of muscle recovery and muscle growth. Glutamine, as science would have it, can even help strengthen your immune system. If you are sick less, you are working out more. And really, who doesn’t want the added benefit of being sick less?
Any protein powder that lacks BCAAs is no protein powder anyone should use.
What else?
The rest of Combat Protein’s ingredient label looks extremely good.
- 1.5 grams of fat
- 5 grams of carbs
- 130 total calories
- 75 milligrams of cholesterol
- 150 milligrams of sodium
I could do without the sodium, but in the end, you should be drinking water so this isn’t likely to be a big factor, honestly.
Here’s the full Combat Protein ingredient label:
Combat Protein Taste
Clearly, if you are a motivated and driven athlete, a less than appealing taste isn’t going to stop you from ingesting a protein powder that works. And taste is subjective, which is why I don’t spend much time in the taste sections of these reviews.
That said, I think their products do taste good. They have a number of flavors available for all types of palates.
- Banana cream
- Chocolate milk
- Chocolate peanut butter
- Cookies N’ cream
- Triple berry
- Vanilla
Those are all available in the 4lbs bags. If you decide on a 10lbs bag, your options are then limited to Chocolate milk, Cookies N’ cream, and vanilla.
I’m a big fan of vanilla, personally, but all the flavors are relatively smooth experiences in general.
Pros
- Mostly made up of the potent protein hydrolysate
- Contains BCAAs for muscle recovery
- Tons of flavors available
- Low in fat, carbs, calories
- Muscle Pharm is a legit and trusted brand
Cons
- Unlike Hydro Whey 100, it uses concentrated protein
- Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn’t like them
Summary (TLDR)
Combat Protein is made by a trusted and well-respected supplement manufacturer. It is made of a mostly good and beneficial version of protein. It doesn’t use nasty fillers or crappy carbs. Most all Combat Protein reviews are stellar. You will also get BCAAs with every serving.
Muscle Pharm is reliant on big-name endorsers, such as is the case with Combat Protein and their branded UFC bottles. This can be an indication of a company that’s been largely successful over the years, but it should never be the make or break point of your decision-making process. Clearly, celebrity endorsers and brand are notorious for simply lining up where they can profit.
