A little while ago, I was contacted by a marketing rep for EAS supplements inviting me to review several of their Pro Science line of supplements, and I agreed. I received four different Pro Science supplements which were Finish, Reload, Push, and Armor. If you click those links, it leads to their individual reviews. Armor is not linked, since this is an review for that supplement. I had received a few sample packs for each of these supplements; however, not enough to really test it out and write reviews on them - something I mentioned to the marketing rep, so he kindly sent me an additional package in the mail which included roughly a 2 weeks supply for each of the supplements.
Disclosure: As mentioned above, I was contacted by a marketing representative for the Pro Science line of products. A request was made to test out and review several Pro Science products, and I was happy to oblige. Please note, however, no payment or other forms of compensation were received in any way, and you can be sure that this review, like all other reviews on the site, are free from bias and free from manufacturer influence. I received roughly a two week supply of Pro Science Armor.
I have since finished testing and trying out each of the four supplements, and have completed reviews on them, and this last review would be for the final item Pro Science Armor, which is mainly a combination of arginine, glutamine, and HMB - referred to as their "Juven Technology" by EAS.
EAS Pro Science Armor Ingredients
Below is a list of Armor ingredients:
14 Powder Packets Fruit Punch
Serving Size1Packet(30g)
Servings Per Container14
Amount Per Serving %DV
Calories 110
Total Carbohydrate 11g 4%
Sugars 5g
Calcium 200mg 20%
Juven Technology™ 15.5g
L-Arginine
L-Glutamine
Calcium ß-Hydroxy-ß-Methylbutyrate Monohydrate (HMB) §
Taurine 3g
‡ Percent Daily Values (%DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet
§ Daily Value (DV) not established
Other Ingredients:
Sugar (Dextrose), Citric Acid, Natural And Artificial Flavor, Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose, And FD&C Red #40.
Pro Science is a EAS line of products that's developed by Abbott Nutrition which offers advanced recovery proteins and sports supplements. The Pro Science line of products is targeted towards serious athletes and help provide them the nutritional requirements of their training. Pro Science Armor is designed to help increase strength, and promote muscle recovery after intense exercises.
This supplement contains 11g of carbohydrates, and its key ingredients are arginine, glutamine, HMB and taurine. Arginine is a non-essential amino acid found in a variety of foods. It plays a role in several important body functions, including cell division, wound healing, immune function, and the removal of ammonia from the body. Arginine is a precursor for nitric oxide which leads to vasodilation (widening of blood vessels), and because of this, arginine is often found in sexual enhancers. Arginine is widely used in bodybuilding also for its benefits for nitric oxide production.
HMB (ß-hydroxy-ß-methylbutyrate)
is a natural compound produced in the body in very small
amounts, and is also found in some limited foods. HMB is a metabolite of leucine. There are some indications that it can help increase lean mass and help decrease body fat. HMB is found to increase strength and minimize muscle damage in a East Tennessee State University study in Johnson City. 39 men and 36 women were randomized to a placebo or HMB group supplemented at 3g HMB per day. Training involved 3 times per week for 4 weeks. The study results found that the HMB group had greater increase in upper body strength (7.5kg) compared to the placebo group (5.2kg). The HMB supplement group also increased their fat free weight by 1.4kg and decreased body fat percentage by 1.1%, while the placebo group increased lean mass weight by 0.9kg with a 0.5% decrease in body fat percentage. This study indicated that HMB helps increase upper body strength, and improves body composition when combined with an exercise program. [1]
Glutamine is one the most common amino acids found in your muscles where over 60% of the amino acids in skeletal muscle is glutamine. It also plays a key role in the transport of nitrogen into muscle cells. Glutamine is known for its muscle recovery effects, and it helps minimize muscle breakdown, and improves protein metabolism. Intense exercise severely depletes the body of glutamine. In a Swedish study, the researchers found that 2 hours after exercise, glutamine concentrations in type I and type II muscle fibers were reduced by 30 to 35%. [2]
Other studies have found that consuming glutamine drinks after exhaustive exercise increases plasma glutamine concentration, and glutamine supplementation promoted storage of muscle glycogen. [3]
Taurine is a semi-essential amino acid that's not as well
known as amino acids like glutamine; however, taurine
plays an important role and is found in the heart muscle,
white blood cells, central nervous system, and skeletal
muscle. It plays an important role in metabolism. Studies done on taurine has found that it
plays an important role in nitric oxide production, where
lowered taurine levels leads to the reduction of nitric
oxide production. Read more about taurine here.
My Review of EAS Pro Science Armor
First of all, a little about the taste of Armor - it comes in a fruit punch and orange flavor. I do believe that EAS uses the same flavoring agent for their Armor, Reload, and Push supplements, so all the flavors taste essentially the same across the different supplements. Like the other Pro Science supplements, the taste for Armor was quite good. The fruit punch was good, but it was the orange flavor that I really liked.
As far as results ago, I can't say that I noticed as much direct benefit to my workout sessions as I did with either Reload or Push; however, there was noticeably less muscle soreness, and quicker muscle recovery, which is what Pro Science Armor is intended for.
1. Nutrition. 2000 Sep;16(9):734-9.
Nutritional supplementation of the leucine metabolite beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (hmb) during resistance training.
Panton LB, Rathmacher JA, Baier S, Nissen S.
2. Amino Acids. 2009 Oct;37(4):629-36. Epub 2008 Oct 19.
Changes in amino acid concentration in plasma and type I and type II fibres during resistance exercise and recovery in human subjects.
Blomstrand E, Essén-Gustavsson B.
Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, Box 5626, 114 86,
3. J Appl Physiol. 1999 Jun;86(6):1770-7.
Effect of oral glutamine on whole body carbohydrate storage during recovery from exhaustive exercise.
Bowtell JL, Gelly K, Jackman ML, Patel A, Simeoni M, Rennie MJ.
