MusclePharm’s Arnold Series of supplements has been one of the most exciting bodybuilding and sporting supplement releases in 2013. With 7 products to be initially released including a blended whey protein, a mass gainer and a pre-workout to name a few, one of their most exciting supplements is their novel fat burner and cutting supplement; MusclePharm Arnold Series Iron Cuts. Let’s examine what’s in Iron Cuts and how it compares with other similar products.

MusclePharm Arnold Series Iron Cuts Highlights

• 3 Complexes of Ingredients to Support Fat Burning, Muscle Building and Optimal Estrogen and Cortisol Levels.
• Designed for Lean Mass Gains

MusclePharm Arnold Series Iron Cuts Ingredients & Dosages

The Arnold Series Iron Cuts is an extremely interesting blend of ingredients which is designed to be a 3 in 1 supplement that assists with fat loss, muscle building and estrogen and cortisol levels. Iron Cuts contains 3 matrices of ingredients including:

• Thermogenic & Fat Metabolizer (930mg) – L-Carnitine Tartrate, Green Tea Extract, Caffeine, Panax Ginseng, N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine, Evodiamine, Vinpocetine and Inositol.
• Muscle Building Maximizer (900mg) – Maca, Eriobotrya Japonica, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Boron Citrate, Fenugreek and Pumpkin Seed Extract.
• Estrogen & Cortisol Metabolizer (383mg) – Gymnema Sylvestre, Grape Seed Extract, DIM, Cinnamon, Banaba and Chromium.

On top of those three complexes, Iron Cuts also contain 400IU of Vitamin D and 50mcg of Chromium. A recommended serving size is 3 capsules to be consumed once or twice per day.

MusclePharm Arnold Series Iron Cuts Pros & Effectiveness

Iron Cuts is no doubt an innovative and novel supplement and unlike anything on the market currently. The closest supplement to Iron Cuts would probably be BPI Sports Pro HD. The best thing about the supplement is that it is designed to help promote lean gains by helping to assist with fat loss and aiding in optimal ratios of testosterone, estrogen and cortisol to ensure the most favorable anabolic conditions. Due to the sheer amount of ingredients, let’s take a look at the positives of each complex of ingredients:

• Thermogenic & Fat Metabolizer Matrix – L-Carnitine, green tea extract, caffeine, inositol and evodiamine all help to support fat loss and weight loss. Most of the ingredients do this through increasing thermogenesis, while ingredients such as carnitine and inositol assists with fat metabolism. Ginseng, tyrosine and vinpocetine are odd ingredients, but all help to assist with mental performance and fatigue, which is important in minimizing poor dietary decisions made during weight loss periods.
• Muscle Building Maximizer – An interesting but haphazard complex of ingredients. Maca, boron, fenugreek and pumpkin seed extract have all been purported to assist with optimal testosterone levels, either through increasing free testosterone or by reducing its conversion into unwanted metabolites such as dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Eriobotrya Japonica or Loquat has been receiving interest recently as being able to reduce muscle protein breakdown and increase glycogen resynthesis, the latter mechanism shared by alpha lipoic acid.
• Estrogen & Cortisol Metabolizer – Grape seed extract and DIM are both ingredients that have exhibited the ability to decrease estrogen levels in the body through acting as aromatase inhibitors. Aromatase is an enzyme in the body which converts testosterone to estradiol. All the other ingredients appear to have a hypoglycaemic effect; that is, they assist with lowering of blood sugar, which can increase in increasing cortisol levels.

If one were to rank the effectiveness of Iron Cuts, it would rank well as a fat burner, medium as an estrogen and testosterone support supplement and ambiguous as a cortisol reducing supplement.

MusclePharm Arnold Series Iron Cuts Cons

Supplements such as the Arnold Series Iron Cuts are always hard to analyze due to the sheer amount of ingredients and a range of factors need to be addressed to judge the supplement. Overall, the majority of the ingredients in Iron Cuts are useful and support the positive and energetic roles specified by the supplement. Some of the ingredients definitely deserve more research before any conclusive statements can be made, and this is most relevant to some of the ‘cortisol reduction’ ingredients. While the ingredients belonging to this category can reduce blood sugar levels, whether they do so via the reduction of cortisol or by another mechanism is unknown. A reduction in blood sugar levels may not necessarily be associated with lowered cortisol levels and it is here that the supplement falters slightly.

MusclePharm Arnold Series Iron Cuts Taste & Mixability

MusclePharm’s Iron Cuts is available in capsule form with a 30 serve (90 capsules) and a 40 serve (120 capsules) version.

MusclePharm Arnold Series Iron Cuts Verdict

The idea for Iron Cuts is great, especially if it follows suit to other popular and effective supplements such as Universal Nutrition’s Animal Cuts and MusclePharm’s own Shred Matrix.

MusclePharm Arnold Series Iron Cuts is a supplement with a lot of potential and definitely a game changer; the extent of which however, only time will tell.