I'm simply a better athlete having taken this before the workout. This and some MSM (2-3g before and after workout) and you're a machine with no downsides. Sometimes I would forget my pills and do the workout anyway and I just wouldn't be able to go on as long or as hard. I'm pretty meticulous about documenting my workouts so this is pretty easily seen. I have not noticed any negative side effects. It would also seem that my post-workout high productivity hours were gone when I stopped taking it. I stopped as part of a supplement free fitness challenge but that's over, I won, and now I'm back on the sauce. The pills are kind of large but not difficult to take since they're not rock hard.