EMISGOD’s BodyBlog

You can figure out how to get to the full list yourself, but I thought I would comment briefly on the nominees for the bb.com Awards for 2008.

I imagine they are doing the list now so that they can hand out whatever trophies are appropriate at Mr. Olympia, but what is some great stuff comes out between now and September? If they are keying on the O, why not make it from O to O, meaning the "year" would start after last year’s Olympia?

Anyway, I have eliminated a number of categories for consideration, largely because I think they’re somewhat irrelevant. Here, then is the list, with both what I voted for, out of the available choices and what I feel a more accurate answer is (* = best out of choices, bold = the more accurate answer:
Best Breakout Brand of the Year

* VPX

The growth of this company is astronomical and before anyone starts talking about anyone else, you can’t swing a dead cat over your head without hitting a bottle of Redline somewhere. Their market penetration is awesome.

VPX. At this point in the year, I would still not change this answer. I believe AEN has done and continues to do great things and probably are deserving of at least consideration for this, I think also that next year will be the year they break. For now, it is VPX.

Best Labels of the Year

* Muscle Asylum Project

I chose these because they were the most visually interesting, but I didn’t like any of these choices.

Fusion Nutrition: I really like what they did with their packaging. Just excellent.

Best Weight Gainer of the Year

* Prolab N-Large II

I have always been a big fan of CytoGainer and think Champion’s Gainer also has a lot of strength going for it, but since I use none of these, I deferred to Vanessa’s wisdom on this.

N/A - This choice is as good as any other…I think the entire category is kind of silly.

Brand of the Year

* Controlled Labs

What the Hell….they have no real shot, but just in case they do…this is an interesting experiment, in a way, on the effect, if any, of the Forums…

Athletic Edge Nutrition: So far everything Sebastian does is magic and his is the only product line I would say carries all “ringers”. I use every single thing AEN makes regularly and can say that about literally no one else.

Creatine Product of the Year

* Controlled Labs Green MAGnitude

I almost skipped this one, but again, let’s run with the experiment some more.

MAN Orotine: I don’t use creatine at all, but this one worked by far the best.

Energy Supplement of the Year

* NOW Dextrose

I thought all the choices here were useless for energy and just picked the one that was more or less food…

ErgoPharm ClearShot: While not as great as some of the predecessors out there have been historically, it is far and away the best thing on the market currently.

Fat Loss Product of the Year

* MAN Scorch

Out of that list, this is the only one I would consider purchasing or recommending.

Tie: Designer Supplements Lean Extreme/ErgoPharm AMP2: I should try stacking these two together sometime to see what happens. Both of these products are at the top of their prospective categories (stim & non-stim fat reducing agents).

Glutamine Product of the Year

* Prolab Glutamine Powder

Not sure why this is a category, but again, voted along brand lines.

N/A: I have no issues with Primaforce’s Glutaform, but have no doubt Prolab is as good, if not better.

Joint Supplement of the Year

* TKE Joint Boost With MSM

Again, rather useless choices, so I went with the one with the coolest name.

Labrada Elasti-Joint: Tastes like shit, but has been effective for many years. The best formulation out there, without question.

Multivitamin of the Year

* Controlled Labs Orange Triad

Normally would have picked Activite, but again with the experiment…

AOR Multi Basics 3: Once again, nothing is even remotely close. I wish bb.com carried this.

Muscle Builder of the Year

* ErgoPharm 6-OXO

This category is the biggest mess of all of them. Again, voted on brand lines.

N/A: This seems to be a test booster category, but it is a bit of a misnomer. Test will not build by itself; it needs protein, so protein in general is the best protein. WPH is the best protein, so any WPH is the best muscle builder. If they mean test boosters, then I’d pick Designer Supplements ActivaTe Extreme.

New Brand of the Year

* Jarrow Formulas

Again, no shot in Hell of winning, but Jarrow is a fairly well established line and seems to have a lot of quality stuff.

N/A: I don’t know what they mean by this category.

New Product of the Year

* Blender Bottle Blender Bottle

Because, I figured, you know, why not…again not a lot of good choices.

Athletic Edge Nutrition IntrAbolic: This is one of the best things put out by anyone and should have been in the list.

Nitric Oxide Product of the Year

* VPX NO Shotgun V.3

A very solidly named product…which is the only one that has anything going for it at all, in my view.

N/A: Could really care less about this. NO products have historically not worked for me.

Protein Bar of the Year

* VPX Zero Impact Bars

As long as they make Zero Impact bars, this category will never be close.

VPX Zero Impact: Once again, nothing is even close.

Protein of the Year

* BSN Syntha-6

This has a lot of excellent tasting flavors, if nothing else. This category again has some less than solid choices…

Champion Nutrition Pure Whey Stack: One of the most underlooked and undersung products out there. I’d also include ErgoPharm’s GF-Pro V2 for consideration as well as Black Star Labs Whey Supremacy, were it still around.

Supplement of the Year

* Controlled Labs Purple Wraath

On with the experiment…

Athletic Edge Nutriton IntrAbolic: This has been phenomenal right out of the gate, since Day One. I’m hoping that my PWO formulation will be available this time next year, as I think that has the potential to rule this category…<strong />