Disclaimer: This article doesn’t constitute medical advice and is just the opinion of the writer(s). We recommend that individuals speak with their doctor about men's health supplements.
Vintage Muscle is a men's health brand that sells supplements for muscle growth and hormonal optimization. Their products include ingredients not commonly seen in over-the-counter (OTC) supplements, like steroids and prohormones.
But do Vintage Muscle supplements contain ingredients proven to increase testosterone and support muscle growth? Does the brand use dangerous ingredients? Who's behind Vintage Muscle? And how do real customers rate and describe the effects of the brand?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in two of Vintage's Muscle's most popular products (Alpha Test Stack and Muscle Growth Stack) to give our take on whether or not they're likely to be effective, and whether or not they're dangerous.
We'll share our concerns about some of the ingredients included in Vintage Muscle formulations, share our concerns about the team behind the company, and feature real Vintage Muscle customer reviews.
Alpha Test Stack Ingredient Analysis
Vintage Muscle’s Alpha Test Stack consists of two testosterone (T) support supplements to build “hard, lean muscle and strength."
The ingredients in the liquid formulation (Epi-Test) are shown above.
We apologize for the low quality of the image. This is the image uploaded by the brand.
This formulation contained epiandrosterone, which is an illegal anabolic steroid, when we last updated this article. according to WebMD.
In 2021, the founder of a supplement brand called CCB Nutrition LLC pleaded guilty to a felony charge related to distributing anabolic steroids including epiandrostesrone according to the Department of Justice.
Since, the formulation has changed and now the active ingredient is 3-beta-hydroxyetioallocholan-17-one.
We cannot find a single study showing this compound to be safe or effective for oral consumption in humans, and consider it to be potentially dangerous given the lack of safety information.
The capsule supplement included in Alpha Test Stack is called Methyl-Test.
It contains nine active ingredients: magnesium, zinc, Tribulus terrestris extract, chrysin, horny goat weed extract, tongkat ali, saw palmetto, hawthorne and Cissus quadrangularis extract.
Tribulus terrestris can increase sex drive, but a clinical trial published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology reported no increase in testosterone when this ingredient was supplemented at doses similar to that in Methyl-Test.
Chrysin is a plant-derived compound shown to have no effect on testosterone levels in a 2003 clinical trial.
Tongkat ali has been shown in research studies to naturally increase testosterone, but as we documented in our Nugenix review article, the minimum effective dose appears to be 200 milligrams (mg) daily.
Only 50 mg is included in Vintage Muscle's supplement.
The remaining active ingredients in this formulation are included at too low of a dose (50 mg each) for them to have any effect on testosterone in our opinion.
Overall, we do not consider Alpha Test Stack likely to improve testosterone levels, and we do not consider the stack to be safe.
We are unable to identify any clinical studies showing the active ingredients in either supplement to be effective for increasing T levels at their stated doses.
Muscle Support Stack Ingredient Analysis
Vintage Muscle Muscle Support Stack consists of two supplements to help "increase natural testosterone production:" Cycle Support and Armidione.
The ingredients in the liquid formulation (Armidione) are shown above.
3b-hydroxy-androsta-4 6-diene-17-one is the active ingredient in this formulation.
It appears to be another prohormone, but we can't identify any clinical trials on this ingredient proving its efficacy or safety.
The Cycle Support supplement is a capsule formulation and contains three different proprietary blends: "EstroControl Blend," "TestSupport Blend" and "LivSupport Blend."
The TestSupport blend is the one with ingredients for testosterone support: fenugreek extract, Cissus quadrangularis, tongkat ali and 3,4- divanillyltetrahydrofuran.
Fenugreek extract has been clinically proven to increase testosterone levels, as we documented in our Ageless Male reviews article.
Cissus quadrangularis is a plant extract and we can't find any proof of its efficacy for increasing T levels in men.
Tongkat ali may be effective for improving T as we discussed in the previous Ingredient Analysis section.
3,4- divanillyltetrahydrofuran was shown in a clinical trial published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology to increase testosterone levels in mice.
This doesn't necessarily mean the same effect will occur in humans.
Overall, we consider this stack potentially effective for testosterone enhancement due to some research-backed ingredients in the capsule formulation, but we very strongly recommend avoiding this stack because we can't find any evidence that the prohormone in the liquid formulation is safe for ingestion in humans.
Highly Questionable Health Claims
There are many uncited, unscientific and questionable health claims on the Vintage Muscle website. We can't feature all of them, but below are a select few.
The brand claims that their Epi-Test supplement is "10x more androgenic than testosterone" without any proof or citation.
The brand claims that something called the "Estrogen Rebound" tries to "balance" natural testosterone increase:
This is false and unscientific. "Estrogen Rebound" is not a clinically defined term, and the brand again provides zero proof to support this claim.
This claim essentially suggests that any attempt to naturally increase testosterone like resistance training, improved diet or increased sleep are futile, because the body will sabotage such efforts.
We consider it to be a red flag of a low-quality brand to make bold health claims without any proof of those claims.
Real People Try Vintage Muscle
A YouTube creator named "Jersey Flex Fitness" reviewed a Vintage Muscle supplement called Win-Test:
Another YouTube creator named Brian Duclos reviewed a variety of Vintage Muscle supplements:
Who's Behind Vintage Muscle?
We recommend that consumers investigate who's behind the supplements they're taking.
It's a good sign if there are publicly-listed scientific experts like doctors, PhDs and clinical researchers.
Formulating dietary supplements requires extensive knowledge on the efficacy, safety and interactions between various compounds.
The Vintage Muscle website does not have an "About Us" page with any information about the team.
Some research determines that the founder of Vintage Muscle is a man by the name of Jared Van Yperen. He has a personal website and wants to “mentor entrepreneurs.”
His website makes no mention of any relevant scientific or medical credentials or education that would qualify him to formulate exotic prohormone supplements.
No Published Test Results
The only way you can know what you’re getting when you buy supplements online is if the company publishes (ideally third-party) test results proving that their products are accurately labeled and have no contaminants.
Vintage Muscle does not do this.
The need for independent testing is even greater for muscle building products than for most supplement categories, because this type of product is so frequently contaminated with harmful or illegal drugs.
The FDA publishes reports on tainted bodybuilding products, and those listed may make up a very small percentage of those available for sale, because the FDA “cannot test all products on the market” as they say themselves.
We do not recommend taking novel research compounds without any proof or test results suggesting those compounds are safe for long-term use.
Our Testosterone Support Picks
MBG Vitamin D3 Potency+ is our top value testosterone support pick.
Vitamin D3 supplementation has been clinically shown to increase total testosterone levels by over 25%.
Performance Lab Magnesium is our top mineral testosterone support pick.
Magnesium is a mineral that is clinically shown to increase free and total testosterone in athletes and in sedentary individuals.
All of the products recommended in this section are entirely free of ingredients that we consider unhealthy.
Vintage Muscle Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of Vintage Muscle in our opinion:
Pros:
- Capsule formulations contain some research-backed herbs
- Company removed an illegal steroid from one of their supplements after we called out this information
Cons:
- Some active ingredients have no proof of safety in humans
- Founder has no relevant background
- Highly questionable formulations
- Highly questionable, and in many cases false, health claims on brand's website
- Doesn't appear to be clinically tested
- Brand previously used an illegal steroid in one supplement we reviewed
- Supplements contain natural flavors
- We consider this to be the most dangerous bodybuilding supplement brand we've reviewed to date
