Blasting through a gym session at 100% intensity is the best feeling. Weights feel easier, your muscles swell and you walk away completely in the knowledge that that was a damn good session.
But not every session is like that. Sometimes you’re tired, overworked, and generally just not in the mood.
That’s where pre workouts come in.
Pre Workouts are all natural supplements that supply your body with the nutrients it needs for:
- More energy – Feel alert and preventing fatigue.
- Increased motivation and focus – Want to train harder for longer in the gym.
- Muscle Pumps – Make your muscles look more vascular and powerful.
- Power – Hit the weights harder with more intensity.
However, not every pre workout has these benefits. You need a good eye for serving size and ingredients to know which product will definitely do the job.
In this Top Three page we’ll be covering the best Pre Workouts in the business, why they’re so effective, and what you should avoid in other products.
This is what you need to know:
The Top Three Pre Workouts
We’ve looked all around the market for the best Pre Workouts available.
After spending hours of research vetting numerous products for the safest and most effective results – we finally have our answer.
This is our top 3:
1. 4 Gauge
Made by premium supplements company, Roar Ambition. Using 100% natural ingredients to give you that extra boost in the gym, 4 Gauge has been proven to improve your workouts.
It delivers an increase in focus, energy and muscle pump – everything that’s key for a quality pre-workout.
Why You’ll Like It:
With no side effects and numerous benefits, 4 Gauge promotes:
- Great Muscle Pump – the vasodilators improve blood flow to your muscles, promoting size and endurance.
- Strength Boost – squeeze out those extra few reps at the end of your set.
- Enhanced Cognitive Function – concentrate more on your workout, wasting less time and making more progress in the gym.
- More Energy – the caffeine really helps to give you a boost, helping you when you’re tired and unmotivated to train
- No Side Effects or Energy Crashes – 100% natural ingredients, without any artificial sweeteners, ensure no side effects.
Learn Why It’s So Effective:
This pre-workout will give you the boost you’re looking for without the ‘crash’ – so you always reach your fitness goals. You can learn how it helped me push harder in the gym below:
– Read my 4 Gauge Review –
Or visit their website to buy www.4Gauge.com
2. The Curse – Cobra Labs
One of the more interesting pre workouts in the industry; The Curse, from Cobra Labs. Despite it’s immature design there appears to be quite a lot of research that has gone into this supplement.
Why you’ll like it:
This is a pre workout that has been seen to increase:
- Energy
- Focus
- Muscle Pumps
It’s been around for a few years now and Cobra Labs are a well-respected company. Some of the better ingredients in this product include:
- Creatine Monohydrate
- L-Citrulline
- Caffeine Anhydrous
Drawbacks:
It’s not perfect. The Curse has several proprietary blends. You don’t know how much is being used in each nutrient, so you can’t guarantee you’ll be getting the best out of this supplement.
On top of that the caffeine dose is high (248mg). This should manageable for some, but if you’re not used to it, it could lead to side effects.
Also Beta-Alanine has been linked to causing a tingling sensation in the face and hands known as paraesthesia – harmless, but distracting.
– Read my The Curse Review –
3. Assault – MusclePharm
Assault is one of the better products from supplement giant MusclePharm, who in the past have endorsed athletes as famous as Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Why you’ll like it:
MusclePharm’s Assault is one of the better performing pre workouts on the market. Having been reported by users to promote:
- Energy
- Strength
- Overall Performance
This is another product that has clearly had the necessary research go into it. The ingredients of this product include:
- Creatine Monohydrate
- Acetyl-L-Carnitine
- Caffeine Anhydrous
Drawbacks:
Although there are some good ingredients in Assault, there are a few areas that could do with improvement.
Like The Curse, Assault also suffers from containing too much caffeine (250mg).
It also has the problem of paraesthesia – tingling of the face and hands. Many pre workout products claim that this is just the product ‘working’ but having experienced it first hand – it’s incredibly distracting.
– Read my MusclePharm Assault Review –
Pre Workout Safety: Double Scooping
When it comes to pre workouts – everyone’s heard of double scooping. It’s essentially having 2 servings of one of these supplements at the same time.
But should you do it?
The key thing is to check whether the product is designed so you can safely consume a double serving – some are created with lower doses of stimulants per serving, so you can double-up when you need that extra ‘kick’.
However, here’s what you have to remember. Most pre-workout supplements usually contain a lot of stimulants per serving – doubling that amount could push you over the edge, and cause side effects like jitters and energy crashes.
This is why only the best products are formulated so you can take a double serving – it’s more effort for companies to do, but it’s worth the trouble.
Here are the main benefits of being able to double scoop:
Pros
- Better workout
- Stronger Performance
- Potentially Break a PR
Remember: be sure to check whether the product you choose is designed to allow double servings to be safely consumed. This is one of the reasons 4 Gauge is our #1 pre workout supplement.
Quick Pre Workout Guide
What do pre workout’s do?
When most people think of pre workouts, they think of soaring energy levels – but there’s so much more to it than that.
Here are some of the main functions pre workouts serve to give you that edge on your training:
Stimulants – Most pre workouts contain a stimulant complex (usually caffeine) that increases wakefulness, attention, focus and overall energy levels once absorbed.
Cognitive Enhancement – Think fast! Pre Workouts can also have nutrients that supply the brain with higher levels of neurotransmitters. These are cognitive enhancers and have been seen to promote memory, learning, reasoning, attention and mood.
Vasodilators – One of the best nutrients for achieving solid muscle pumps. These nutrients dilate your blood vessels allowing your muscles to pump up more when training, giving you that thick, tight look.
CNS Improvement – This ties in with the stimulants used. Not only do they raise your wakefulness and focus, but they can also improve the connection to your central nervous system, allowing you to have much more explosive power while training.
However, you must remember all pre workouts are different. Some will do these functions better than others, and some will lack them completely.
It’s important to learn how these products work, and know what the difference is between a good supp, and a bad one.
How Can You Identify a Good Pre Workout?
When you’re researching a pre workout, you should always make sure that there it meets certain standards to avoid both side-effects and poor results.
This is what we recommend you look at:
- The Dosage – Is there enough of the right ingredients in this supplement for the full effects?
- The Ingredients – What ingredients are being used, do they have clinical backing?
- The Company – Are they transparent about what they use? What is their reputation, do they have guarantees/returns?
Here they are in more detail:
The Dosage
One of the main things you’ll come across with Pre Workouts are what’s known as proprietary blends.
This is when a range of ingredients have been grouped together under the same value. You’ll commonly see it described as a ‘special formula’ or ‘matrix’ – it may sound impressive – but don’t fall into the trap.
This is so they don’t have to tell you how much of each ingredient is being used. This allows them to talk up the more expensive and effective ingredients – while really they’re putting in the bare minimum. This allows them to save money and still be able to market the nutrient as if it’s fully dosed.
The Ingredients
First things first, be skeptical about what the manufacturer tells you – do your own research.
The ingredients are arguably the most important part of any pre workout, not having the right ones could lead to poor results, or worse – side effects.
We’ve put together a guide on the best and worst ingredients you can find in a preworkout. Check out the full guide below:
– Pre Workout Ingredients Guide –
The Company
Finally, the company, who are they? What is their reputation?
Knowing who you’re doing business with can tell you a lot about the kind of quality you can expect to get with your product.
Check the basics:
- How long has the company been around?
- What are people saying about their other supplements?
- Do they have a guarantee? (Do they believe in their product?)
- Where is their product manufactured?
That last one is really worth investigating. If your supplement isn’t made in a certified location – how can you be sure it contains the ingredients they claim it does?
Do some digging, make sure the supplement that you choose is made in a cGMP approved facility (that’s Current Goods Manufacturing Process) this way you know you’re getting what’s advertised to you.
Where to now?
Now that you know what to look for in a Pre Workout, your next step should be to look at your best options.
As you can see, we’ve picked out our top 3 above. These are the most effective Pre Workouts that help promote:
- Energy
- Motivation
- Muscle Pumps
- Focus
And we’d suggest starting by looking at our top choice: 4 Gauge by Roar Ambition.