Review: The FINAL3 Recovery Supplement

The Rx Review: Reporting on Fitness and CrossFit News, John Michael Bric

This week we take a moment to review a relatively new recovery supplement called TheFINAL3:

Product: The FINAL3 Recovery Supplement
Price: $49 USD (1 month’s supply)
Manufacturer: The FINAL3
Purchase: www.TheFINAL3Supplements.com

For those of you who haven’t heard of The FINAL3, it’s a relatively new supplement to hit the functional fitness market that has a huge focus on improving recovery after training. Its main aim is to help get your body back to normal to be able to return to training as soon as possible.

After a tough workout your body is literally in shock and is craving nutrients and fuel sources to help repair its muscles. As a result it will experience inflammation of some sort and will also release glucose into your bloodstream to fuel it, which if unused, can be stored as fat.

The FINAL3 is pretty much designed to fuel your body with the amino acids it needs after a workout, while also decreasing inflammation, and increasing muscle repair and growth.

So how does the supplement do all this?

According to their website, The FINAL3:

Researched which foods are perfect to feed your body after a workout, dug deeper to understand which ingredient in that food was vital, and put that in our supplement. Scientific studies have been conducted to support each ingredient and its expected result. The FINAL3 is the first sports supplement to deliver these 3 benefits:

1. Decreased soreness
2. Increased muscle repair
3. Decreased energy depletion 

The supplement is stacked with a bunch of amino acids to help achieve the three things stated above including  Leucine, Isoleucine, Valine and bilberry extract. It also comes in a capsule form, designed to be taken immediately after a workout.

I’ve been using The FINAL3 for the past month to see if it lives up to its claims. Here’s what I think about the supplement and whether or not we feel it is a worthwhile purchase:

The Good

Quality Amino Acids: Nowadays you can find amino acids everywhere. All kinds of supplements promote having some form of amino acids to help recovery and muscle gains etc. However, not all of these amino acids are of high quality, and designed to do what the supplement claims to. The FINAL3 contains a bunch of amino acids including Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine to name a few. Now these are all essential amino acids that our bodies cannot create on its own, meaning we literally have to ingest this via powder or foods. The beauty about these amino acids is that they trigger protein synthesis and also inhibit thebreakdown of muscle cells. So basically, they all work towards repairing your muscles and just as importantly preventing any muscle loss.

Use of Bilberry Extract: Bilberry Extract is something we don’t see in too many supplements. But it is very effective in reducing muscle soreness by reducing inflammation. Several studies have shown that athletes who take bilberry extract after competing or training report substantially smaller pain increases. So going on that research, taking The FINAL3 after training will give you protection against acute muscle soreness and reduce the amount of pain you may feel the day after a tough workout.

Reduction of Cortisol: One of the main aims of The FINAL3 is to reduce cortisol levels. While cortisol is good for our bodies in small doses, and in certain situations, it can also work against us immediately after training. After stressful situations, like tough workouts, the human body increases levels of cortisol in order to release glucose in the bloodstream to be used as fuel. Straight after a workout its important we reduce these cortisol levels because if glucose is not used as energy, the body will just store it as fat. In addition it’s also beneficial to decrease cortisol levels post workout because it inhibits the uptake of amino acids into the muscle cells, making it harder for us to fuel our muscles and allow them to repair and grow.

Capsule Form: The FINAL3 comes in a capsule form, which is a hell of a lot easier to take then powdered form where you have to mix and blend into water. I’ve been taking several amino acids on and off for years and get fed up with having to mix and stir. The convenience of these capsules is definitely a positive.

Endorsed by Athletes: The FINAL3 is endorsed by a bunch of functional fitness and CrossFit Games aspiring athletes. It’s always refreshing hearing leading athletes endorse a product before you buy and try.

High Bio-availability: All of the ingredients in The FINAL3 are natural, so your body can absorb more nutrients from the supplement than the other brands with artificial flavors, fillers, etc.

FDA Approved: The FINAL3 iis also manufactured in an FDA approved facility in New York so you can be confident it meets all the necessary standards.

The Bad

Did it Work?: Like many supplements, it’s hard to determine just how effective they are, unless you’re conducting professional research assignments, which The Rx Review isn’t doing. After taking a month’s supple of The FINAL3, I find it hard to say exactly how effective it was. The short answer is, yes I did notice an improvement in my recovery. But how much of an improvement?

I honestly do believe that my recovery times were slightly better after taking the supplement directly after a tough workout. And I did find that times when I didn’t take it, I felt a little sorer and stiff the following day. That being said, don’t expect to be waking up the morning after a gruelling WOD feeling 100 per cent normal with no pain or DOMS. While The FINAL3 helps, it doesn’t completely eliminate all muscle soreness the following day. But really, that can’t be expected with any supplement.

Price: A bottle of The FINAL3 costs around $49 USD. Each bottle comes with 90 tablets, which is one month’s supply. If you want to buy more for a discount, a three months supply (three bottles) costs you around $125 USD. While it is not an outrageous price by any means, it is a little more expensive than some other recovery supplements on the market.

Hard to Access: GO2 Life is a company based out of Australia with all shipments coming out of there. While they do deliver to all parts of the world, a lack of local distributors means the shipping fees may be a bit expensive for those outside of Australia.

Conclusion

Overall, the FINAL3 seemed to live up to most of what it claimed to offer.

In my experience with the supplement I did notice slight improvements in my recovery after tough workouts, and also a reduction in inflammation in my body. I addition, I certainly didn’t lose any muscle size during the month I took the supplement, and if anything, my muscle size increased and my performance improved.

That being said, don’t expect to take The FINAL3 and notice huge differences. I’m sure it will do a great job of reducing your recovery times etc, but how much i’m unsure.

In regards to its price, I do feel it’s a reasonable amount, and probably just for what you get. Sure, there are cheaper recovery supplements on the market, but I often find that the cheaper the product is, the less effective it is. For $49 USD a month, i’m happy to pay that amount if it means I can get back to training faster than I would without it, especially if you’re serious about training, or a CrossFit Games aspiring athletes.

Review: The FINAL3 Recovery Supplement