When I reached out to Transparent Labs, I told their team exactly why: clean labels and published dosing are exactly how I coach supplements, so Transparent Labs is a natural fit. That sentence is my whole supplement philosophy in one line. I own Black Iron Athletics, a veteran-owned strength gym in Frisco, Texas. I have coached for fifteen years, including national-level weightlifters, and my members ask about supplements every single week. My answer never changes: read the label, find the doses, find the testing.
Now the honest part, before anything else. Product is on its way into the rotation at the gym, but as I write this, nothing has landed. I have not trained on any of it. So this is not a review. You will get zero flavor takes, zero mixability opinions, and zero "how it felt" stories from me today. What you get is what I do for members every week: a coach's read of the labels, the doses, and the lab paperwork. Hands-on reviews with my own photos come after I have lived with each tub. That is how it works here.
Two things to keep straight. First, testing. Transparent Labs states that every one of their products undergoes Informed Choice testing, a real program with manufacturing audits and ongoing blind testing of retail product. That is not the same thing as NSF Certified for Sport, and I will not pretend the two are interchangeable. My drug-tested athletes and the health-first foundation stay on Thorne, which is NSF Certified for Sport; that is the Dad Stack and my Thorne Creatine review. Transparent Labs is the flavored performance lane that sits next to that stack, not in place of it.
Second, the COAs. This is the edge almost nobody in this industry gives you. Transparent Labs publishes real lab documents on a searchable Third-Party Tests hub: purity Certificates of Analysis, ingredient verification tests that check the dose against the label, and gluten tests. Published COAs show the testing lab, the reviewing scientist, and the lab director's signature. I link the actual PDFs below. Go read them. That habit will serve you with every brand you ever buy.
One more thing for my people: Transparent Labs gives 15% off to current and former U.S. military, spouses and dependents, and first responders, verified through GovX ID at their GovX discount page. You verify, get a single-use code, and log back in with GovX ID for a fresh code on future orders.
BULK Pre-Workout
BULK is $64.99 for 30 servings, thirteen flavors, and the label reads like someone actually checked the research: 8,000 mg citrulline malate, 4,000 mg beta-alanine, 2,500 mg betaine, 1,300 mg taurine, 1,000 mg tyrosine, 300 mg Alpha-GPC. Over 17 grams of active ingredients per scoop, per the page, with no proprietary blends hiding the math. Fair warning: 4 grams of beta-alanine will make your skin tingle. Harmless, but it surprises people.
The caffeine is the coaching point. 200 mg of organic caffeine is moderate, roughly two cups of coffee, and it is paired 1:1 with 200 mg of L-theanine, a combo people use to take the edge off stimulants. This is built for the 5:30 am lifter or the dad who trains after bedtime and still wants to sleep. If you want a face-melter, they sell a high-stim Bulk Black and a stim-free version separately. The moderate middle lane is a feature, not a flaw.
Paperwork: Informed Choice badge on the page, plus a published purity COA and ingredient verification test, per flavor and per lot.
Creatine HMB
Creatine HMB is $49.99 for 30 servings: 5,000 mg of creatine monohydrate, 1,500 mg myHMB, 500 IU vitamin D3, and 5 mg BioPerine. Unflavored plus twelve flavors, with a 60-serving size available. The monohydrate is the workhorse: right form, right dose, decades of data, the same molecule I preach in the Thorne Creatine review. Treat the HMB as a bonus, not the reason you buy, and know that 500 IU of D3 is a nudge, not your full vitamin D strategy.
If you want bare, unflavored, NSF Certified for Sport creatine, Thorne remains my answer. If you will only remember the daily habit when the scoop is flavored, this is that product with published testing behind it.
Paperwork: Informed Choice badge, a purity COA, and a separate creatine content verification. Publishing a lab test of the actual creatine content is the kind of receipt I wish every brand handed over.
100% Grass-Fed Whey Protein Isolate
The Whey Isolate is $64.99 for the 2 lb tub, 30 servings at 28 g of protein each from grass-fed whey isolate. A 4 lb, 55-serving size exists; I am only quoting the 2 lb price because that is what I verified. Twenty-four flavors, which matters because the best protein powder is the one you do not get bored of.
The certification stack is the story here: both Informed Choice and Informed Protein, and Informed Protein means the protein content itself gets verified. In a category where independent testing keeps catching brands short on actual protein, that second certificate is not decoration. Documents: purity COA and ingredient verification.
Who it is for: the guy using a shake to cover the gap between the breakfast he skipped and the dinner he eats standing up.
Mass Gainer
Mass Gainer is $79.99 for 15 two-scoop servings: 53 to 55 g of protein from grass-fed whey concentrate, 110 g of carbs from organic tapioca maltodextrin, oat flour, and sweet potato powder, 15 g of fat from MCT oil and coconut milk, 3 g of creatine, 6 g of fiber, roughly 760 to 770 calories. Most gainer labels are the dirtiest in the store. This one names every carb source.
One honesty flag, because that is the whole point of this guide: the brand states every product goes through Informed Choice testing, but the live Mass Gainer page shows published lab documents without the Informed Choice badge the other three products carry. The documents are still there: purity COA and ingredient verification. If the badge matters to you, note the difference.
Who it is for: the genuinely skinny lifter who cannot eat enough. Everyone else should fix dinner first.
The Damage
| Product | Price | Servings | Cost/Serving |
|---|---|---|---|
| BULK Pre-Workout | $64.99 | 30 | $2.17 |
| Creatine HMB | $49.99 | 30 | $1.67 |
| Grass-Fed Whey Isolate (2 lb) | $64.99 | 30 | $2.17 |
| Mass Gainer | $79.99 | 15 | $5.33 |
Knock 15% off everything if you qualify through GovX. Worth noting for the same crowd: Swolverine, the other brand coming to our front desk, runs its own GovX program at up to 25% off. My gym is full of people who earned both.
Where This Fits Next to the Thorne Stack
The Dad Stack is the foundation and it does not move: creatine, magnesium, a real multivitamin, protein, and omega-3, all on Thorne, because NSF Certified for Sport is the standard I hold for drug-tested athletes and for the health side of the house. Transparent Labs is the performance lane on top of that: the pre-workout Thorne does not make, a flavored creatine option, a flavored isolate, and a gainer for the hardgainer. Published doses, published COAs, and a brand that makes label reading easy. That is a lane I can coach. Once product lands and goes through the rotation at the gym, each of these gets a full hands-on review.
Full transparency: Every Dad Carry is an approved Transparent Labs affiliate, and buying through the links on this page pays the site at no extra cost to you. As of publish I have received nothing free from the brand (product images are Transparent Labs' own renders); a product sample is being arranged, and any brand-provided product will be disclosed on its page when the hands-on reviews come.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Talk to your doctor before starting any supplement.
