What's your pre-workout?

Galaxyshock

A pre-workout supplement is something I pretty much always take when I lift weights. I just get much better workouts because of the improvement in energy, focus and better pumps.

I currently use a pre-workout product called Inzane which is made by a Finnish company. The ingredients are:

Olive leaf extract 300 mg
Rhodiola rosea extract 500 mg
N-acetyl-L-Tyrosine 100 mg
Taurine 1000 mg
Schisandra Chinensis extract 300 mg
Piperine (black pepper extract) 6 mg
N-methyl-tyramine 100 mg
L-theanine 200 mg
Tart cherry extract 75 mg
Citrullus Lanatus 400 mg
Caffeine 400 mg
Acetyl-L-Carnitine 800 mg
Choline-bitartate 800 mg

It gives a decent boost in energy and focus without jitters (probably because of theanine). Not that much for pumps so perhaps I should add some L-citrulline there? The product costs me €21,90 for 36 servings. I also sometimes take half a serving as an energy drink if I don't feel like drinking coffee but need that boost.

Neuro

Wow, those are some solid ingredients in that pre-workout. Definitely way better than 95% of the pre-workouts in North America. It also lists the dose of each ingredient whereas most of the pre-workouts here say 'proprietary blend'.

Also, most of them have high doses of seemingly useless ingredients, like creatine. As far as I know, creatine needs to be taken long-term for beneficial effects. It doesn't seem appropriate as an ingredient in pre-workout.

The price is also not too bad.

The only pre-workout I've bought and taken is MRM DRIVEN Pre-Workout Boost, which costs $23 CAD or €16.42.

The ingredients are decent:

Vitamin C - 63 mg
Niacin - 10 mg
Vitamin B6 - 5 mg
Vitamin B12 - 25 mcg
Pantothenic Acid - 5 mg
Calcium - 25 mg
Magnesium - 38 mg
-
Hydration Blend - 4,200 mg
Trehalose - 3,100 mg
Betaine Anhydrous - 625 mg
N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) - 375 mg
Pine Bark Extract (95% Proanthocyanidins) - 100 mg
-
Muscle Blend - 3,750 mg
Arginine Alpha Keto-Glutarate - 1,125 mg
Creatine Monohydrate - 1,125 mg
CarnoSyn® Beta-Alanine - 1,000 mg
Citrulline Malate - 500 mg
-
Energy Blend - 1,225 mg
Acetyl-L-Carnitine Hydrochloride - 500 mg
N-Acetyl Tyrosine - 375 mg
Schizandra Berry Extract (2% Schizandrins) - 193 mg
InnovaTea® Natural Caffeine (from Tea) (yielding 125 mg Caffeine) - 132 mg
Pea ATP® - 25 mg

Effects I usually get:

Improved mood
Enhanced focus
Increased energy

One thing I dislike about this pre-workout is that it absorbs moisture way too easily and goes bad within a few weeks of opening. It has a moisture absorber inside, but it doesn't stop the light red powder from turning dark red and forming very hard chunks that are essentially unbreakable.

For pumps, I'm not sure if citrulline would help but agmatine definitely gave me some nice pumps when I used to workout. Beta-alanine is also good, but gives me tingling in the body, a bit like pins and needles only it's neither unpleasant nor pleasant.

Are gyms open in your area? They are in mine, but even before COVID the gyms were always packed. Now, I'm hesitant to go despite the mask mandates.

Galaxyshock

Yeah I like the products the company makes. They have good amounts of ingredients and no "hidden" proprietary blends.

I think the gyms are open but I don't have a gym membership right now. I recently had a three month total break from lifting as I just didn't have the motivation. I'm at my parents house now for couple of weeks and we have some gym equipment here.

Today I did:
3 sets of upright rows
3 sets of barbell curls
3 sets of dips
2 sets of barbell rows
2 sets of barbell hack squats
2 sets of leg raises

So total of 15 sets and the workout took me about 40 mins. Took two scoops of whey protein as post-workout drink and ate a fruit for some fast carbs.

Neuro

Nice, are you following a program like Starting Strength or doing your own thing?

Are gyms in your area expensive? Mine cost more than $500 for a years membership and it's always busy.

Galaxyshock

I do my own thing. I usually do full body workouts with different basic exercises. Can't really go wrong that way. I never quite liked following programs but still made good progress. Just try to add weight/sets/reps depending how I feel.

Yeah the gyms cost like 40-50 euros / month here so it's not a cheap hobby. I still might get a gym membership at some point depending how the covid situation proceeds.

Galaxyshock

Well adding a nicotine gum to my pre-workout seems to improve focus and motivation. It also makes lifting more enjoyable. I start chewing the nicotine gum about 5 minutes before I start lifting since it takes 5 mins to start having effect.

Neuro

Galaxyshock That's good to hear, I wonder if your mind is going to associate lifting with the effects of nicotine. I might improve your motivation to lift, even on days that you don't take nicotine.

Galaxyshock

I'm using a different pre-workout product now. Another Finnish product called "A-1".

The ingredients are:

Citrulline malate 3000 mg
Arginine Alpha-Ketogurate 2000 mg
L-tyrosine 1000 mg
Choline Bitartate 800 mg
Acetyl L-Carnitine 500 mg
Siberian ginseng 400 mg
Caffeine 300 mg
Schisandra extract 300 mg
Rhodiola Rosea 200 mg
Ginkgo Biloba extract 100 mg
Green tea extract 100 mg
B6-vitamin 5 mg
B12-vitamin 5 mg

I find it has better energy / anti-fatigue effect than the previous "Inzane" pre-workout supplement. Also improved pumps from the citrulline/arginine.

It also seems to have a mood brightening effect and even decreases my anhedonia to some extent. I wonder what ingredients are responsible for this.

Neuro

Wow! That is a solid pre-workout. Great ingredients and good dosing. I can't find it online, I guess it's local in Finland, eh? What's the company? How much does it cost?

How often do you use it? The ALCAR might provide a rapid antidepressant-like effect, thus improving mood and decreasing anhedonia. Schisandra might also have rapid effects. Can't say that the Siberian Ginseng, Rhodiola, Ginkgo, Green tea, nor the other ingredients might be having an effect as well in this area. Those seem to only work after chronic dosing.

Galaxyshock

Yeah it's a good PWO. It's local indeed, the company is called PPS Nutrition which is the shop's own brand. The supplement was on sale -50 % and costed about €15 for 30 doses. I bought two bottles.

I've actually been taking half a scoop in the morning to kick start the day since it provides nice energy, moodlift and some decrease in anhedonia. Then I take a full scoop before my workouts. So I'd say it's actually chronic dosing in this case.

Tolerance may become an issue at some point I guess, but so far it works nicely.

Neuro

Heh, you're making me jealous of Finland. How do you find these local supplements? Do you search online or just explore local stores?

It might be a good idea to take a few days off, like the weekends, to try to slow tolerance down. Well, this well slow down tolerance to caffeine but perhaps the other ingredients might benefit from regular, chronic dosing.

But this all depends on what you want out of the pre-workout.

Galaxyshock

I'm using a new PWO product now called God Of Rage by Centurion Labz. It's pretty strong stimulant that provides surge of energy and focus. I like it, reminds me a bit of those old school PWO stims like Jack3d back in the days.

Ingredients:

Quite expensive though, 50 euros for 30 servings.

Neuro

Looks good, but nothing really special for 50 euros.

Do you feel any restlessness or jitters from it? Seems like it's all stimulants with nothing relaxing added, like L-Theanine.

Never heard of Juglans Regia. I Googled it and it's just walnuts, but apparently the extract contains Octodrine (DMHA).

Dimethylphenethylamine (N,N-DMPEA) is a substituted phenethylamine and might have stimulant properties in humans. I'm surprised it's not illegal, thought this most likely means it's not very potent.

How does it taste?

BTW, do you find your pre-workouts get clumpy and absorb moisture? The MRM one I have absorbs moisture like a sponge and gets rock hard within a few weeks of opening it. There doesn't seem to be a way to undo this nor even use it anymore.

Galaxyshock

Yeah not sure if it's worth the price, but it is indeed probably one of the most stimulant-packed PWOs on the market. I don't get restlessness or jitters, but perhaps some irritability or anger. I can sort of channel that to the workout session though. Yeah it contains bunch of possibly stimulative ingredients, it's definitely stronger than what the caffeine alone does, but tolerance does seem to build.

Taste is surprisingly good, usually PWOs with Citrulline don't taste good but this one tastes like juice.

Some pre-workout products indeed get clumpy, it's annoying. I think I once used a knife to break those clumps back into powder lol.