No, some comedian or reality-TV star will not point you in the right direction. If you want to know what to look for in a pre-workout and what to avoid, you need to inspect each product for a few key details. 

The first thing I look at when reviewing pre-workouts is the ingredient list. If the ingredients are shit, it doesn’t matter how good it tastes, how cheap it is, or how it performed in third-party testing. It’s like dressing a pig in diamonds — pointless. 

So, let’s look past all the jumped-up marketing and figure out if the pre-workout your uncle’s bodybuilder friend goes on about actually has the goods to back up the hype. 

But first…

No Pre-Workout Will Turn You Into the Next Mr. Olympia or Rich Froning.

The screenshot below is from Mike O’Hearn’s pre-workout product page. And it’s complete bullshit.

You will not look anywhere close to Mike O’Hearn just by taking a pre-workout. 

No supplement will ever help you get jacked unless you put in the work: intelligent, progressive training, dialed-in nutrition, and anal-level focus on sleep, rest, and stress management. 

And even if you have the training, nutrition, sleep, and recovery dialed in, so much of your success in the weight room comes down to genetics. 

Also, surprising to no one, some of the fine folks selling their branded pre-workouts are on the sauce. 

The worst thing you can do is to buy a random pre-workout you saw on the shelf at GNC. Instead, do a bit of sleuthing and find a good pre-workout.

Two Must-Have Pre-Workout Certifications

If there is one golden rule to follow when choosing your pre-workout, it’s this: Never trust a pre-workout brand’s word on purity or potency. Because the pre-workout industry is so under-regulated, trusting a brand’s word on the quality of its pre-workout is like trusting the alternative health advice of Gwyneth Paltrow. 

The most troubling downside of pre-workouts is the possibility of them containing ingredients not listed on the label, some of which could be dangerous to your health or downright illegal.

Luckily, you can easily suss out the bad players by digging a little deeper. 

Third-Party Testing

Always check to see if a pre-workout is third-party tested. Supplement companies can hire an independent, third-party organization to analyze product batches, verifying their quality and safety.

Whether a brand is third-party tested is relatively easy to check because most companies are proud to shout it from the rooftops — or at least, on their websites. 

Without third-party testing, you’re trusting the company’s word that they’re not bullshitting you. And pre-workout brands are notorious for their bullshitting skills.

Also, third-party testing isn’t cheap. We’re talking north of $10,000 per ingredient per product. Companies won’t do this if they don’t want to be 100% sure their products are clean. If they don’t care about the purity (and they know their customers don’t know any better), why would they test the product?

Here are some of the well-known third-party seals of approval:^[1]

GMP Certification

Whereas third-party testing is product-specific, GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) is facility- and process-orientated.

GMP certification means the manufacturing facilities comply with the rigorous quality standards of regulatory authorities. It covers the entire manufacturing process, including sourcing of raw materials, processing, packaging, and labeling.

This quality control tells you that you can trust what the label says and that the manufacturers aren’t running your pre-workout through a process line that bottled meth the day before (or if they do, at least it gets cleaned in between). 

Third-party testing and GMP certifications on their own don’t mean the pre-workout is worth taking. 

You will still have to comb through each ingredient to ensure the doses and the ingredients themselves are effective.

Pre-Workout Ingredients to Avoid

Proprietary Blends

Any brand with a “proprietary blend” is best used as a target in crossbow practice. Every product should have a transparent label because you deserve to know exactly what’s going into your body.

Companies often say they use proprietary blends to keep their “amazing” formulation secret. But in most all cases, they use these blends to keep costs down by stuffing your pre-workout with cheap ingredients and sprinkling the good stuff in there.

Here’s an example of a proprietary blend that makes me see red:

Looking at this, you have no idea how much beta-alanine, L-arginine, etc., is inside that “C4 SuperSport Performance Blend.” 

All you know is that there’s 3.1g in total, but you’re flying blind on the dosage of each ingredient.

Again, if a pre-workout has a proprietary blend, don’t buy it.

N,N-Phenethyldimethylamine Citrate

N,N-phenethyldimethylamine citrate originates from phenethylamine, structurally similar to amphetamines. Phenethylamines have been associated with increased blood pressure, heart rate, and other cardiovascular effects.

There isn’t any scientific research supporting the effectiveness of N,N-phenethyldimethylamine from a performance standpoint. 

N,N-phenethyldimethylamine is even banned in some countries due to a lack of research on its long-term effects and potential addictive properties.^[2] You don’t want this shit in your pre-workout.

Yohimbe

From the Pausinystalia yohimbe tree and the Rauwolfia serpentina plant, Yohimbe is often hyped as the fat-loss and performance supplement for the ages. 

Not only is there zero evidence that it improves strength or physical performance or increases muscle. But it may actually cause nausea, abdominal pain, dizziness, nervousness, and anxiety.^[3] 

Pre-Workout Ingredients I Care About

The two (that’s right, two) ingredients to focus on when evaluating pre-workouts are caffeine and L-citrulline because they deliver 99% of the benefits you’ll want from a pre-workout: focus, energy, and pump.

Caffeine and L-citrulline are the only nonnegotiables in a pre-workout. If those two aren’t featured on the ingredient label, look elsewhere. 

If the label lists caffeine and L-citrulline, you also want to be sure they hit the minimum effective doses (more on this below). Another case against proprietary blends: If you don’t see the exact figures, how do you know it’ll do what you want it to?

Caffeine

Caffeine is the most essential ingredient to look for in your pre-workout supplement, with a truckload or two of science to support its effect on mental focus and performance.^[4]

Caffeine works by blocking the action of adenosine, a neurotransmitter that promotes relaxation and sleepiness. This then increases the release of neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and norepinephrine, which boost your alertness and energy levels, both of which help you dominate your workout.

Because caffeine does so much of the heavy lifting in your pre-workout, taking it alone is worth trying before buying a supplement. 

Drink two cups of coffee 30 minutes before your workout and see if that does the trick. You might’ve just saved yourself a bunch of money on supplements. If you’re not keen on coffee before a workout, let’s look at the levels of caffeine you want in a pre-workout. 

Research shows that you should have about 3–6 mg of caffeine per kilogram of body weight to get the real effects from it. Or, for us Americans, 1.4–2.7 mg per pound. 

For a guy sitting at 80 kilograms (about 176 pounds), here’s how you’d calculate the optimal caffeine dosage:

• Low end of range (3 mg/kg): 80 kg x 3 mg/kg = 240 mg of caffeine
• High end of range (6 mg/kg): 80 kg x 6 mg/kg = 480 mg of caffeine

Now, the recommended daily caffeine dosage for most people is 400 mg. That’s about four cups of brewed coffee. Taking 480 mg before a workout sounds absolutely batshit crazy. 

Unless you’re seeking extreme jitters and anxiety, I can’t recommend 400 mg for anyone, especially in one hit — unless your dad is Batman and your mum John Rambo. 

Some other factors to keep in mind with caffeine: 

If you’re a regular caffeine user, you will need a higher dose to get the same effects as those with a lower tolerance. And if you’re sensitive to caffeine, you may experience some annoying side effects, like jitteriness or stomach issues, even at the lower end of the recommended dose. 

Caffeine might also mess up your sleep real good if you take it in the afternoon, especially if you’re particularly sensitive to its effects. How late in the day you should take a pre-workout with caffeine in it comes down to your individual caffeine tolerance. If you’re mainlining dirty chai lattes well into the evening, you might be fine.

Still, I recommend you avoid high doses of caffeine six hours before bedtime and that you factor in your other caffeine consumption throughout the day to keep some kind of a lid on your daily total.^[5] 

Now, I regularly break those recommendations. As I type this, my caffeine sits at around 500 mg for the day. 

I often drink two or three cups of coffee in the morning, which puts me at around 200–250 mg. I then take a pre-workout with 300 mg in it. Which puts me at, well, you do the math.

So, if I know I’m training that day and will be taking pre-workout, I will only have two cups of coffee instead of my usual three.

The bottom line: Caffeine tolerance is highly individual. Use your tolerance as your guide when looking at pre-workout supplements. If you’re new to pre-workouts, 150 mg per scoop is a good starting point. Just keep that upper range at around 400 mg for the day.

L-Citrulline

L-citrulline is a vasodilator, which is a fancy way of saying it increases nitric oxide production. That’s yet another fancy way to say you might get a better muscle pump. 

A pump might at least theoretically help you to squeeze out a rep or two in training. But I wouldn’t bet my money on that claim. Some people notice f*ck all benefits from taking L-citrulline.

There are other performance and recovery claims often floated around about L-citrulline, but the science doesn’t entirely back them up.^[6]

The most important thing about L-citrulline is that you need at least 4,000 mg (4 grams) to get the desired pump. Even then, 4,000 mg is pretty low. Personally, I prefer pre-workout supplements with at least 6,000 mg (6 grams) of L-citrulline.

Many pre-workout brands lowball L-citrulline, so read those labels carefully to make sure it isn’t yet another product with all the show and no go.

Citrulline Malate

Just to confuse the shit out of you, companies often mix L-citrulline with malic acid or similar substances. That’s then labeled as citrulline malate, and you need to break out some math to ensure you’re getting enough L-citrulline with each scoop.

You will typically see this as “Citrulline Malate 2:1,” meaning you’re getting two servings of L-citrulline to one serving of malic acid. You can see this demonstrated in the photo below.

If you’re about to lose your shit with all the math, stay cool. Let’s look at how that 8,000 mg splits between L-citrulline and malic acid.

Remember the 2 to 1 ratio:

• 8,000 mg/3 parts = 2,600 mg 
• 2 parts of L-citrulline x 2,600 mg = 5,200
• 1 parts of malic acid x 2,600 mg = 2,600

With L-citrulline sitting at 5,200 mg, this product does meet the minimum effect dose of 4,000 mg, but like I said earlier, I would like to see L-citrulline at or above 6,000 mg just to be sure.

The bottom line: You want a minimum of 4,000 mg of L-citrulline, but for the best pump look for pre-workouts with at least 6,000 mg. Just remember, the science on L-citrulline isn’t strong enough to claim that it works for everyone. 

Common Pre-Workout Ingredients That (Likely) Won’t Do Jack Shit

Numerous ingredients are often marketed as the miracle ticket between you and the body you want. Yet, the science doesn’t back up those claims.

Beta-Alanine

Beta-alanine is the ingredient that makes your skin tingle. Many love it. Lots hate it. It’s a nonessential amino acid that improves muscular endurance during one- to four-minute high-intensity activities (think HIIT-style training). I go back and forth on beta-alanine and if I want it in my pre-workout.

Most pre-workout supplements don’t mention that to get the benefits from beta-alanine, you must hit a saturation point.^[7] 

The saturation point for beta-alanine is 179,000 mg! Here’s some more math: 

If you were to take a pre-workout with 3,200 mg of beta-alanine in it every day, it would take just under 60 days to hit that saturation point. 

But I know no one who takes pre-workout supplements every day of the week. 

You probably train three to four days a week and therefore only take pre-workout three to four days a week. If you want the benefits of beta-alanine, you should supplement this in addition to your pre-workout, not look for one with it included.

And there’s one more thing you need to know about beta-alanine:

The benefits of beta-alanine are all in your head.

It acts as a potent placebo in a pre-workout supplement. Those tingles trigger you to think the pre-workout you’ve just taken must be supercharged.

I remember when I was just getting started with pre-workout years ago, I would take Jack3d (now illegal), which had about a pint of beta-alanine in it. Well, not quite, but it was a shit-ton.

That tingling sensation made me feel so strong. And my workouts would be amazing because I believed the tingles correlated with the efficacy of Jack3d. If this still holds true for you, look for a pre-workout with beta-alanine in it. 

If you don’t care about the tingles, doing HIIT-style training, such as CrossFit, or hitting the saturation point and taking it every day, you’re missing nothing by ignoring beta-alanine.

The bottom line: To get the tingles with a pre-workout supplement, you need at least 3,200 mg of beta-alanine. And the tingles are about all beta-alanine will do for you. The placebo effect of beta-alanine doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. But let’s be clear why a placebo works: It works because you think it works.

Betaine Anhydrous

Betaine anhydrous is a natural compound in the body and is found in foods like beets, spinach, cereals, and seafood. It’s in pre-workouts for the purported muscle pump and performance improvements. But the actual benefits are inconclusive at best.

Some evidence supports the effects of betaine anhydrous on muscle endurance and power, but the results are inconsistent across all studies. And betaine anhydrous doesn’t seem to improve resistance exercise at low volumes (1–3 sets).^[8]

Also, you’re wasting money if you’re taking betaine anhydrous to help with your high-volume training. Take creatine instead (outside of your pre-workout!). It’s backed by way more science.

The bottom line: Betaine anhydrous won’t do a whole lot for intracellular hydration or muscle pump. You’re more likely to get by taking L-citrulline.

L-Tyrosine

L-tyrosine forms into several important neurotransmitters, including dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine. These chemicals are crucial for cognitive processes, mood regulation, and stress response.

The benefits of L-tyrosine supplement on performance depend on the context. It works better when you’re dealing with cognitive challenges and stress. There’s less science to back up its effect on physical performance.^[9][10]

Whether those cognitive benefits transfer to your training is a different story.

The bottom line: The science is way too inconclusive to say that L-tyrosine does anything for your training.

Electrolytes

If you’re training with high intensity or in high summer temperatures, adding electrolytes might help. 

An electrolyte imbalance can cause muscle cramping, speed up fatigue, and mess up your performance and recovery. Adding an electrolyte supplement can prevent all that.

Your electrolyte needs vary widely based on your sweat rate, the duration and intensity of training, the climate, and your physiology. Here’s a general guideline for electrolyte supplementation per hour of training:

• Sodium: 500–700 mg
• Potassium: 200–400 mg 
• Calcium: 150–300 mg 
• Magnesium: 50–100 mg

You can get those in foods too: bananas (potassium), dairy (calcium), nuts and seeds (magnesium), and table salt (sodium).

If your diet is on point, and you’re training at a low to moderate intensity and enjoying the modern upsides of air conditioning, you don’t need to worry a whole lot about electrolytes.

The bottom line: Electrolytes can make a big difference in your training if you’re doing longer sessions with high intensity or working out in the heat and sweating like a priest in a liquor store.

L-Arginine 

L-arginine is a precursor to nitric oxide, a compound that relaxes blood vessels, improving blood flow. While some studies suggest L-arginine can improve physical performance, especially in aerobic exercise, the evidence is mixed. 

Instead of L-arginine, you’re better off focusing on getting at least 4,000 mg of L-citrulline in your pre-workout. 

The body can convert L-citrulline to L-arginine more efficiently than L-arginine supplementation itself. 

Many companies put L-arginine in their pre-workouts to make their labels look pretty, but besides thinning your wallet, it doesn’t do anything to improve your workout.

The bottom line: The research on L-arginine is a mixed bag at best, partly due to its shitty bioavailability. You’re better off focusing on getting at least 4,000 mg of L-citrulline instead, which the body can then convert to L-arginine.

Theobromine

Theobromine is a mild stimulant and diuretic found in cocoa beans, chocolate, tea leaves, and kola nuts.

Because it’s less potent as a central nervous system stimulant than caffeine, it might provide a milder, longer-lasting energy boost without the typical crash of high caffeine intake.^[11] One hypothesis is that whereas caffeine affects the nervous system, theobromine may act mostly by improving blood flow and making the heart pump more efficiently.^[12]

The bottom line: The minimum effective dose of theobromine is 50 mg, but there’s a good chance it won’t do anything to improve your training.^[13]

Creatine: I Don’t Care About This

I will get some heat for the first one on the list, but here we go. 

Creatine is a fantastic ingredient and the most researched supplement in the world.^[14] However, it is pointless in a pre-workout formula. Here are three reasons why: 

1. There is no immediate effect on performance or recovery.
2. You have to take a minimum of 5 grams of creatine daily to get the benefit. 
3. It likely drives the cost up.

Most companies don’t put 5 grams (5,000 mg) of creatine in their pre-workout blends. So you have to add whatever’s missing by taking creatine separately. But let’s say your pre-workout supplement has 5 grams of creatine. 

You likely won’t train seven days a week; therefore, you won’t take pre-workout seven days a week and will have to supplement creatine regardless. 

The bottom line: Creatine is amazing and dirt cheap. But it makes zero sense in a pre-workout. Instead, supplement 5 grams of pure creatine daily on top of your pre-workout. 

Other Ingredients I Don’t Care About

Last but not least, here are some other ingredients you don’t need to care about.

I won’t speak to these ad nauseam, but they don’t deserve to be in your pre-workout because they have zero impact on either your workout or your recovery.

• Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs)
• Taurine
• Theanine
• B vitamins 
• Herbs, mushrooms, and other fairy dust
• Bioavailability Agents
• Anything else that isn’t covered so far

Taste and Solubility

Here’s a not-so-fun fact that will leave you scratching your nutsack. The better the pre-workout formula, the more likely you’ll have to sacrifice taste and mixability. 

When a pre-workout has an effective minimum dose of each ingredient, mixing it with water is more difficult. Those ingredients also make it harder to smoothen out the taste.

But you can often overcome poor taste or solubility by adding more water. If you typically drink pre-workouts with 12–16 ounces of water, and it tastes like garbage and feels about as smooth as a bowl of sand, add more water. Usually, 20–24 ounces of water will do the trick.

Best Pre-Workout on the Market

There’s no such thing as a perfect pre-workout. But there are some that come close.

Transparent Labs BULK

As you can guess from its name, BULK comes with third-party testing and complete transparency about its ingredients. For $1.66 per serving ($1.49 if you subscribe) BULK gives you 5,300 mg of L-citrulline, 200 mg of caffeine, and 4,000 mg of beta-alanine (for those placebo tingles).

You can read my full Transparent Labs BULK review here.

Outwork Nutrition Pre-Workout

At $1.99 per serving, you’ll get 5,000 mg of L-citrulline, 300 mg of caffeine and 3,200 mg of beta-alanine for the tingles. Plus, thanks to third-party testing, you can be 100% sure you get what you pay for — and nothing else. 

Just a word of caution, I did have a crash each time I took this.

You can read my full Outwork Nutrition Pre-Workout review here. 

Frequently Asked Questions

References

1. Mathews N. M. (2018). Prohibited contaminants in dietary supplements. Sports Health, 10(1), 19–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/1941738117727736

2. Cohen, P., Travis, J., & Venhuis, B. (2014). A methamphetamine analog (N,α-diethyl-phenylethylamine) identified in a mainstream dietary supplement. Drug Testing and Analysis, 6(7-8), 805–7. https://doi.org/10.1002/dta.1578.

3. Examine. Yohimbine. https://examine.com/supplements/yohimbine/

4. Guest, N. S., VanDusseldorp, T. A., Nelson, M. T., Grgic, J., Schoenfeld, B. J., Jenkins, N. D. M., Arent, S. M., Antonio, J., Stout, J. R., Trexler, E. T., Smith-Ryan, A. E., Goldstein, E. R., Kalman, D. S., & Campbell, B. I. (2021) International society of sports nutrition position stand: caffeine and exercise performance. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-020-00383-4

5. Drake, C., Roehrs, T., Shambroom, J., & Roth, T. (2013). Caffeine effects on sleep taken 0, 3, or 6 hours before going to bed. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 9(11), 1195–1200. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.3170 

6. Gonzalez, A. M., & Trexler, E. T. (2020). Effects of citrulline supplementation on exercise performance in humans: A review of the current literature. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 34(5), 1480–1495. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000003426

7. Trexler, E. T., Smith-Ryan, A. E., Stout, J. R., Hoffman, J. R., Wilborn, C. D., Sale, C., Kreider, R. B., Jäger, R., Earnest, C. P., Bannock, L., Campbell, B., Kalman, D., Ziegenfuss, T. N., & Antonio, J. (2015). International society of sports nutrition position stand: Beta-Alanine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 12, 30. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-015-0090-y

8. Ismaeel A. (2017). Effects of betaine supplementation on muscle strength and power: a systematic review. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 31(8), 2338–2346. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001959

9. Coull, N., Chrismas, B., Watson, P., Horsfall, R., & Taylor, L. (2016). Tyrosine ingestion and its effects on cognitive and physical performance in the heat. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 48(2), 277–286. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000757

10. Jongkees, B. J., Hommel, B., Kühn, S., & Colzato, L. S. (2015). Effect of tyrosine supplementation on clinical and healthy populations under stress or cognitive demands: a review. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 70, 50–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2015.08.014

11. Baggott, M. J., Childs, E., Hart, A. B., de Bruin, E., Palmer, A. A., Wilkinson, J. E., & de Wit, H. (2013). Psychopharmacology of theobromine in healthy volunteers. Psychopharmacology, 228(1), 109–118. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-013-3021-0

12. Mitchell, E. S., Slettenaar, M., Meer, N. vd., Transler, C., Jans, L., Quadt, F., Berry, M. (2011). Differential contributions of theobromine and caffeine on mood, psychomotor performance and blood pressure. Physiology and Behavior, 104(5), 816–822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.07.027

13. Gao, L., Ge, W., Peng, C., Guo, J., Chen, N., & He, L. (2022). Association between dietary theobromine and cognitive function in a representative American population: A cross-sectional study. The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease, 9(3), 449–457. https://doi.org/10.14283/jpad.2022.39

14. Kreider, R.B., Kalman, D.S., Antonio, J., Ziegenfuss, T. N., Wildman, R., Collins, R., Candow, D. G., Kleiner, S. M., Almada, A. L., & Lopez, H. L. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z