Ghost PUMP Review – Ingredients, Dosage, Benefits
Today we’ve got our Ghost Pump review for you, a pre-workout supplement that focuses on boosting muscle pumps. It comes as a powder and contains 20 servings per tub.
It contains several well-known ingredients including L-Citrulline; however, it also has artificial sweeteners which we aren’t the biggest fans of. Read on for a quick Ghost Pump review summary, followed by a more detailed team’s analysis!
Ghost PUMP At a Glance:
Pros
- Stim-free
- Manufactured by GHOST, a reputable company
- Several decent flavor options, Sour Watermelon being our favorite
- 3,000mg of L-Citrulline per scoop for enhanced levels of vasodilating Nitric Oxide (NO)
- Pine Bark Extract boosts blood flow throughout the body
- Contains AstraGin, a patented Astragalus extract that can reduce muscle inflammation
Cons
- Uses the artificial sweetener sucralose which is known to negatively affect gut microbiome and brain health
- Negative customer reviews in regards to taste and clumpiness
- Missing ingredients for energy and mental focus
- Several ineffective ingredients
About Ghost Pump
What does Ghost Pump do? It is a flavored pre-workout drink designed to maximize your muscle pumps – increasing fullness and sustaining the muscle pump effect for longer than your average pre-workout.
It costs $36.99 per tub (20 servings).
Vegan friendly, gluten free and soy free, Ghost Pump is claimed to help you:
- Increase muscle pumps
- Elevate pre-workout experience without using caffeine or other stimulants
- Enhance exercise satisfaction
On the whole, Ghost PUMP looks like a solid pre-workout (we expect nothing less from a company as established as Ghost). It is a bit different from your run-of-the-mill pre-workout, in the sense that it doesn’t focus on elevating your energy levels or giving you a mental rush. Instead, it’s main focus is on delivering those satisfying muscle pumps.
Still, there are a few concerns that we think should be addressed before you make the purchase decision.
How to Take Ghost Pump
One scoop of Ghost PUMP mixed in water should be taken 30-45 minutes before working out.
If you want, you can safely take up to 2 scoops. However, don’t do more than that within a 24-hour period to avoid side effects.
Ghost Pump Nutrition Facts
- Calories: 0
- Carbs: <1g
- Sugars: 0g
- Vitamin C: 135mg
The Ingredients
Ghost Pump is a stim-free pre-workout, which means it doesn’t have any caffeine. Additionally, there’s no creatine in Ghost Pump.
People who don’t like stimulants and those who prefer creatine-free pre-workouts will love this. While caffeine can be a great energy booster, it also comes with the downside of causing ‘jitters’ if not dosed properly.
Creatine, on the other hand, as amazing and as researched as it is, can actually put a strain on your kidneys. Not good if you already have a kidney problem – and many people have without any obvious symptoms!
So, what are the ingredients in Ghost Pump? Here’s a closer look:
- L-Citrulline (Vegan Fermented) (3000mg)
- Arginine Nitrate (NO3-T®) (1500mg)
- PureWay-C™ Ascorbic Acid + Citrus Bioflavonoids (195mg)
- Setria® L-Glutathione (100mg)
- Astragin® (25mg)
- Taurine (1g)
- Pine Bark Extract (1g)
Among “other ingredients” you’ll find: Citric Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Silicon Dioxide, Calcium Silicate, Tartaric Acid, Xanthan Gum, Sucralose, Vegetable Juice Powder (for coloring)
The good thing is that there’s no proprietary blends in Ghost Pump. Unlike many pre-workouts, it doesn’t hide its ingredient dosages behind proprietary blends.
The ingredients themselves look good for the most part – they can do what they’re claimed to do – boost blood flow to your tissues and muscles for bigger pumps.
The only problem we have with Ghost PUMP’s formula is the use of artificial sweetener Sucralose, along with artificial flavoring. Why is this an issue? Because, studies show Sucralose can have a negative impact on our friendly gut bacteria, along with potentially messing with your neurotransmitters in the brain which are critical for mood and cognition.
We think there’s absolutely no legit reason to use artificial sweeteners in pre-workouts – especially with so many effective natural options available these days.
Okay, let’s say you don’t mind the artificial sweeteners. Let’s say you don’t care much and just want a good workout experience with bigger muscle pumps. Are the ingredients up to par to provide these benefits?
See for yourself:
L-Citrulline
L-Citrulline is an amino acid from watermelon. In your kidneys, it turns to L-Arginine, which makes citrulline more effective at raising Nitric Oxide (NO) levels than Arginine itself. Nitric Oxide (NO) is a molecule that dilates and relaxes your blood vessels. This leads to bigger and fuller muscle pumps.
There’s 3,000mg of L-Citrulline per scoop of Ghost Pump, so you’ll need to double-scoop it to get the full effects of this compound.
Arginine Nitrate
There’s 1,500mg of Arginine in Ghost Pump. Arginine is similar to citrulline, in a sense that it works as an amino acid that boosts blood flow throughout your body.
The only issue? Arginine has low bioavailability, which means very little of it actually ends up being used by the body. [1] This is why Arginine isn’t on our recommended list of the most effective pump ingredients.
PureWay-C™ Ascorbic Acid + Citrus Bioflavonoids
Ascorbic Acid is a part of vitamin C. It’s a good natural antioxidant that can protect your body from excess inflammation, which can be useful for training recovery. However, ascorbic acid is not – we repeat – it’s not actually vitamin C. Vitamin C is more than only ascorbic acid – it consists of numerous natural cofactors.
We want to see a natural, whole-food vitamin C included in Ghost PUMP which contains all the natural elements of vitamin C. Adding a few milligrams of cheap Citrus Bioflavonoids won’t cut it!
Setria® L-Glutathione
L-Glutathione is a master antioxidant that your body makes on its own. Getting it through supplements is not the best way to reap its benefits, which include, yes, improved muscle pumps. While some people can tolerate supplementing glutathione, it makes a lot of individuals worse, leading to side effects like headaches, insomnia, irritability, and if supplemented long-term, chronic fatigue. [2]
A better alternative? Taking glutathione precursors, such as glutamine and glycine, which your body uses to naturally make as much glutathione as it needs.
Astragin®
Astragin is a patented extract of Astralagus, an ancient Chinese plant known to influence a vast array of bodily functions. Blood flow and muscle pumps included!
This is a great ingredient, no complaints here. Astragin is also good for your kidneys – it’s been shown to help reverse some damage caused by everyday toxins.
Taurine
Taurine is an amino acid that can help boost GABA production in your brain, making you feel calmer. [3] Is it the best muscle pump ingredient? We don’t think it is! But it’s great for canceling out the jitters if you pair it with caffeine for pre-workout.
Pine Bark Extract
Pine Bark Extract is sourced from Mediterranean Maritime Pine trees. It is another excellent natural vasodilator.
It contains powerful antioxidant compounds – proanthocyanidins – which have been shown to aid everything from cold hands and feet, to erectile dysfunction, to poor blood flow in general (in the brain included). [4]
Our Thoughts on the Ghost PUMP Formula
It’s a solid formula. We like Pine Bark Extract, L-Citrulline, and Astragin. Although the rest of the formula is mediocre, these three ingredients alone will be enough to provide you with a decent boost.
The only question is whether you’re OK with artificial sweeteners. If you are, then this could be a decent option for enhancing your muscle pumps.
But considering there are natural pre-workouts with even more effective ingredient profiles, we don’t rate Ghost PUMP’s formula as the best bang for the back on sale right now.
What do we rate as the best?
>Top 3 Pre-Workouts of This Year<
Customer Reviews
As Ghost Pump isn’t sold on Amazon or eBay, we weren’t able to find many independent customer reviews on this pre workout. We did come across 35 customer reviews on GNC, where Ghost PUMP boasts 3.5 out of 5 stars.
One customer said; “One of my favorite products. I use 2 scoops but it helps me focus and get a great workout in.”
However, some customers complained about the flavor – one said: “hardened into clumps and you have to break it up every time you want a scoop. Very bitter taste! It was effective, but so are other products… NOT WORTH IT!“
Another customer shared the same opinion; “Flavor is great but it’s not very powdery almost like clumpy in the container as if it got wet before it got sealed.”
Negative experiences with the hardended clumps continued: “Not sure if the tub I received was bad, I like all my other Ghost products, but this was very clumpy and rocky textured (may be how it comes as I’ve seen others say the same?) but did not notice anything when taking this without combining it with Legend. Wanted to try out all of their products, but will not be purchasing this one again.”
Side Effects
Ghost PUMP doesn’t contain any caffeine, which dramatically cuts the risk of side effects. Still, it contains artificial sweeteners which may, over the long-term, cause changes to your gut microbiome.
In terms of the more obvious, immediate side effects, we feel this is a safe pre-workout.
Price and Value for Money?
Some people wonder if Ghost PUMP is discontinued. The answer is no – Ghost Pump still sells regularly on the official Ghost website as well as on GNC.
That being said, Ghost PUMP isn’t available on Amazon.
Still, it ships worldwide from the sites it sells on. You can get Ghost Pump in Australia, Canada, UK and the rest of the world.
Ghost Pump vs Legend
Ghost PUMP is a stim-free pre-workout that focuses on enhancing muscle pumps. Compared to Ghost Legend, it contains more vasodilating ingredients like Pine Bark Extract and Arginine.
Ghost Legend, on the other hand, contains more aggressive ingredients than Ghost Pump – including caffeine and Beta-Alanine. This means that Ghost Legend is the better option for increasing pre-workout energy and mental focus.
Despite having 200mg of caffeine per serving, Ghost Legend is safe for most people who can tolerate stimulants. Beta-Alanine might give you a harmless side effect of paresthesia – a tingling in your feet and hands. To some, this is annoying, others love it. See the current top rated pre-workouts without beta-alanine here.
However, both Ghost Pump and Ghost Legend use artificial flavoring. As a result, we don’t currently rate them as the best natural pre-workouts on the market right now.
In conclusion: if you want bigger muscle pumps and are willing to sacrifice a bit of an energy boost, go with Ghost Pump. If you care more about mental focus and energy rush from caffeine, go with Ghost Legend. Again, keep in mind that both products contain synthetic sweeteners and flavors, which makes them score below what we expected.
Ghost Pump vs Size
Ghost Pump vs Ghost Size: which is better for improving your workouts? Well, Ghost PUMP contains more vasodilating ingredients, which means it is more effective at enhancing your muscle pumps than Ghost Size.
However, if you’re looking to increase your raw power output and strength, then Ghost Size is the better option. Not only does it have creatine that enhances muscle strength, Ghost Size also contains Betaine, Beta-Alanine, and Green Tea catechins for more efficient muscle building and recovery.
Ghost Pump Review Conclusion
Ghost PUMP is one of the better pre-workouts for muscle pumps, but it’s missing several important ingredients for energy boosting and other benefits that you typically experience with pre-workout supplements. While the price of $37 per 20 serving is not the cheapest, the biggest criticism we have is related to the usage of Sucralose.
To sum it up… Ghost Pump vs Pre Workout: which is better for you? If you’re looking for a muscle booster that will enhance your pumps and don’t mind the artificial sweeteners, Ghost PUMP is for you.
Scientific References & Literature
- Tangphao O, Grossmann M, Chalon S, Hoffman BB, Blaschke TF. Pharmacokinetics of intravenous and oral L-arginine in normal volunteers. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1999;47(3):261-266. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2125.1999.00883.x
- https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-717/glutathione
- Schaffer S, Kim HW. Effects and Mechanisms of Taurine as a Therapeutic Agent. Biomol Ther (Seoul). 2018;26(3):225-241. doi:10.4062/biomolther.2017.251
- Iravani S, Zolfaghari B. Pharmaceutical and nutraceutical effects of Pinus pinaster bark extract. Res Pharm Sci. 2011;6(1):1-11.
