For most men, pre-workout is a safe supplement to take, but even at the safe end of the spectrum, its side effects can still cause jitters, itching and interrupted sleep, which are harmless but still uncomfortable. Our advice: if you're new to pre-workout, go for half doses to begin with and see how your body reacts. What Pre-Workout Ingredients Should I Look Out For? Our primary focus is on the quality and safety of the ingredients. We meticulously analyze each product’s formulation, giving precedence to supplements that boast of clean, natural, and clinically proven ingredients. Every product on our list meets stringent safety standards and is free from banned or harmful substances. Simply taking the supplement on face value— it’s ineffective. With just 4.75 grams of unquantified ingredients, and missing many of the big performance enhancers seen in the best pre-workouts—it’s not going to improve your training, at all. So why would you want to use a stimulant-free pre-workout? Many of us already consume a lot of caffeine during the day from drinks including tea and coffee. Regularly consuming too much caffeine could have negative health effects and also increase your tolerance. This would mean you need to consume more to have the same desired effect. Often times, the pre-workout market is completely oversaturated by non-transparent proprietary blends that do next to nothing. We weren’t going to cut corners at REPP Sports, we were completely focused on building a pre-workout that can help boost mental focus, increase muscular endurance and provide skin splitting pumps all at the same time.

We are becoming more fond of PhD Nutrition all the time. The popular sports nutrition brand has a huge variety of products available for a range of goals. We often recommend PhD for a number of exciting products including protein bars and whey protein. Pump is one of three products in the pre-workout range and this is the version without caffeine. Creatine is included to boost physical performance by providing muscles with energy for short bursts, perfect for squeezing the last few reps on the bench. Many more exciting additions include beta-alanine, citrulline malate, vitamin B6 and electrolytes. Not only is our RE(FRESH) technology a complete game changer but the wide variety of flavor options and crowd sourced additions to the Raze family make up one of the highest quality energy drink choices you could ever choose from. Some pre-workout brands spill over the recommended daily dose. ProSupps Mr Hyde NitroX pre-workout, for example, houses an uncomfortable 410mg of caffeine in a 7.5g scoop.

Customer Reviews

It seems that not long after release, Driven Sports dropped this pre-workout, replacing it with yet another incarnation—CRZ-The O.G. Bulk Powders is a leading name in the sports nutrition industry, and their Elevate pre-workout certainly seems to match up to the brand’s legacy. It also contains 250 mg L-theanine that helps with focus and also prevents jitters from too much caffeine. Scientists have previously linked the original class of energy drinks to diabetes, mental health problems and kidney damage.

The added B6 vitamin also helps with the bioavailability of the ingredients in Raze. Creapure is one of the highest quality forms of creatine monohydrate and for some of us the 4g serving is enough for one day but see more on this below. The 220 mg of caffeine worked very well for me, enough to feel very awake but without overdoing it and giving a bad headache or comedown when it wears off. Glucoronaltone is a pretty new ingredient to me but I believe this is one of the most notable ingredients in Raze, it claims to boost energy levels, increase alertness and reaction times as well as improving performance and mood when taken with Taurine and caffeine, which are both already in Raze, meaning it works out pretty good for us. So why do I think Glucoronaltone is so effective? Well although I got all the usual benefits of a pre-workout supplement, I felt extremely positive, motivated, and focused about my workout, much more than usual, to be honest, I felt great! Our limited edition attachment to the Broken Arrow family, Hail Storm, was completely transformed by the addition of our patented ingredient, CitraFuze™. Cycling’ is when you take a supplement for a period of time and then take a break for a period of time afterwards, preventing your body from becoming accustomed to the effects, or protecting you from over-abuse of certain ingredients (this is most commonly a steroid-related issue). Protein Works has included beta-alanine, another common active ingredient in pre-workouts. To be effective, it must be taken regularly for several weeks and often a couple of times daily. The recommended dose is generally between 2.5g and 6g daily. Like other ingredients in Protein Works Raze Extreme, the amounts are low, suggesting they may need to be used with other supplements. Mix one scoop with eight ounces of water and consume 15-30 minutes before training. “How Much Does Craze Cost?”The craze pre workout banned story stems from 2013, when N-α-diethyl phenethylamine, a methamphetamine, was found to be contained in this pre-workout. BCAAs: Branch chain amino acids have been found to improve endurance during a workout and increase strength by maintaining cellular energy and supporting protein synthesis. High blood pressure, dehydration, and digestive issues - These side effects may be experienced if you don’t follow the recommended dosage or you are sensitive to one of its ingredients. As we said a little earlier in this post, some people say that creatine should only be taken after a workout, rather than in a pre-workout shake. However, you will find that most pre-workouts do include creatine in either one or multiple forms. L-Citrulline

As well as the common ingredients listed above, there are also plenty more great ingredients found in non-stimulant prep-workout supplements. Electrolytes such as calcium, sodium and potassium are often included. Allowing them to replace the electrolytes lost through sweat during a workout. One way to avoid these side effects is to use natural alternatives to pre-workout supplements. Some examples are beet juice, green tea, and certain fruits. They can boost energy and performance naturally. However, they aren't as effective as quality supplements. We’ve seen in this Craze Pre Workout review that it’s severely underdosed—hence the chance of suffering any side effects at all are pretty low.During high-intensity workouts, muscles use this ATP energy to provide short boosts of high performance. But they only store enough to provide this energy for 8-10 seconds. Creatine works to increase phosphocreatine which is used to produce more ATP for high-intensity exercise such as weight lifting. Manufacturers do this for one simple reason— because the individual doses are too small to be effective, and they don’t want you to know that. I’d also been off caffeine for a few weeks before I started taking this, so was expecting to be tripping balls pretty hard on each workout. It also contains theobromine and green tea extract that not only provides focus and elevate mood, but may prevent the post-workout crash from being too bad. Improved performance: Research published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition concluded that pre-workout supplements "have promise as an ergogenic aid for active individuals." Or, in other words, they enhance the performance of people who already exhaust the gym.

When it comes to pre-workout formulas, it can be difficult to stand out, and in the past, we have chosen competitor products over the selection from MyProtein. However, many new releases including this product really stand out. You’ll often hear people saying that proper rest and recovery is equally as important as doing the exercise itself. Creatine can help to speed up the recovery process; reducing inflammation and muscle cell damage. With better recovery, your muscles are able to grow larger and more efficiently. When it comes to any sports supplements, one of the first brands we turn to is MyProtein. The extensive range of great-tasting products is often unrivalled. Since launching in 2004, MyProtein has gone on to be the number one online sports nutrition brand. If you have used whey protein, you will have most likely come across MyProtein before, for their hugely popular Impact Whey protein.The University of Córdoba found the citrulline added to pre-workout could add up to 53% more bench press reps in a workout. I, for instance, had a bit of trouble with the amount of caffeine in each serving (220mg) and found that about six scoops was my max. Considering all the ingredients are contained in a 4.75-gram proprietary blend, with none of them being quantified, it’s an awfully underdosed supplement. The taste and flavour when purchasing supplements are often overlooked, but we believe it makes a big difference. This is particularly true with pre-workout supplements were it can be difficult to find one that tastes good. Unlike protein supplements, many pre-workout formulas have a bad taste and can be quite sour. For this reason, we recommend a tester before to ensure you like the taste.