This article will attempt to recreate a legendary bodybuilding powder called Ultimate Orange formulated by supplement guru Dan Duchaine. For those of you that did not bodybuild in the 1990s, first off, I feel sorry for you. LOL. Secondly, Ultimate Orange was the ORIGINAL pre-workout formula. BEFORE Jack3d!! (side note: do NOT be fooled by the rip-off versions being sold today…they are garbage!!)
The Original Pre Workout — Dan Duchaines’ Ultimate Orange
One of the first supplements I have ever used was Ultimate Orange. EVERYONE was using Ultimate Orange. It was the mid to late 1990s, the golden day’s of the supplement industry, and combining the use of whey protein and Ultimate Orange increased one’s strength and muscle like no other products did before. Those products (pre-whey protein and Ultimate Orange) that didn’t do jack squat and were a complete waste of money were free form amino acids, vitamins in every shape and form, glandulars (organs), and crazy Russian herbs.
Ultimate Orange never used the words “pre-workout” in its marketing. It was merely something that you just drank before you worked out. After a week or so of using it, most people saw results.
I theorize the success of the product was due to a few reasons.
Ultimate Orange Pre Workout Ingredients
The first reason is the stimulants in the product.
It contained a combination of caffeine and ephedra coming from herbs. Studies have proved that stimulants like these increase one’s strength. I do not know the amount of caffeine or ephedra in Ultimate Orange, but we can guess it contained anywhere from 100mg to 400mg. If you have read my blog posts in the past, you’ll know that I am not a fan of stimulants pre-training. However, combining stimulants with carbohydrates, protein, and other ingredients might just be enough to fight off the catabolic effect of these ingredients, which the common pre-workout supplements today do not contain.
Next, Ultimate Orange contained carbohydrates, four different types, glucose, maltose, dextrose, and fructose. Do you know what else contains four different carbohydrates? Raw honey!
I love the brilliance of Dan Duchaine here. Being from the “old school” era of bodybuilding, could he of know that raw honey was one of the perfect carbohydrate sources for bodybuilders? Was he trying to recreate the carb layout in honey and put it into Ultimate Orange? I believe so! Duchaine also knew that carbs are needed for energy, along with spiking the body’s insulin level to create an anabolic effect.
Next, Ultimate Orange contained hydrolyzed whey protein concentrate. Of course, we will never know the quality of the hydrolyzed whey protein. Hell, it might have even been 100%. Maybe back in the ’90s, some company was taking the time to produced a 100% hydrolyzed whey protein before hydrolyzed whey protein became a by-product of the inline production of intact whey protein. We cannot be sure, nor we will ever know. However, something tells me, because of how effective the product was, it might have. And if it did not, Duchaine was using the highest quality hydrolyzed whey protein he could find.
But why did Duchaine use hydrolyzed whey protein and not intact whey protein concentrate or whey protein isolate? At the time, NOBODY knew what hydrolyzed whey protein was, but Duchaine, and he brilliantly used it because he knew of its rapid absorption and its superiority over intact whey protein. He probably knew about its impact on insulin levels in the human body, which also supports anabolic output.
After the protein, Duchaine put in a multi vitamin and mineral blend. I believe he did this mainly for the electrolytes, which the body needs for post-workout recovery.
Finally, Duchaine added muscle-building nutrients.
Cayenne Pepper Extract
coleus forskohlii
sida cordifolia
The only thing we will never know is how much of each ingredient was used.
So I looked at this formula and decided to recreate it. But better, of course. It is the year 2021, and I have been at this for 20 years. If I cannot create a better version of Ultamine Orange, I should quit!
to be continued…..
Ingredients in the original Ultimate Orange
Ingredients: QUADRACARB� [4 stage release carbohydrate from branching chain glucose polymers from amylopectins, high glycemic index maltose with dextrose, plus low glycemic index fructose], specially filtered and partially predigested [hydrolyzed] Whey Protein Concentrate [providing shorter and longer chains of bonded amino acids], BioVite� [bioactive vitamin-mineral blend of magnesium oxide, ascorbic acid, potassium phosphate, potassium chloride, vitamin E acetate, calcium pantothenate, niacinamide, pyridoxine HCL, zinc sulfate, biotin, ferrous fumerate, vitamin A palmitate, manganese sulfate, thiamine HCL, copper gluconate, riboflavin, ergocalciferol, cyanocobalamin, folic acid, chromium picolinate, potassium iodide, sodium molybdate, sodium selenite], Ultimate Orange Herbal Transport System�* [proprietary herbal powder blend from: guarana seed, ma huang, sida cordifolia, Korean ginseng, green tea, coleus forskohlii, bioflavonoids from orange peel, grapefruit extract, cayenne pepper all in a glycerol base], citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, malic acid, lecithin, glutamine peptides, Structured Lipid Complex [medium chain triglycerides with omega-3 fatty acids], acesulfame-K, FD&C Yellow #6.
Alex Rogers is a supplement manufacturing expert. He has been formulating, consulting, & manufacturing dietary supplements since 1998. Alex invented protein customization in 1998 & was the first company to allow consumers to create their own protein blends. He helped create the first supplement to contain natural follistatin, invented whey protein with egg lecithin, & recently imported the world’s first 100% hydrolyzed whey.