ErgoPRE is a pre-workout supplement that’s marketed by Ergogenix as “The Ultimate Pre-Workout”. It comes in three different flavors – Pineapple Mango, Glacier, Apple Berry.
Claimed to promote:
- Muscle pumps
- Mental Focus
- Energy
We’ll take you through the positives and negatives of this product and analyze the company behind it, to help you decide whether it’s worth trying.
Take a look:
About the Company
Based in the US, Ergogenix aims to deliver quality and effective products at an affordable price – this is evident from the ErgoPRE, which is sold at a reasonable $29.99.
The Ingredients and How They Work
It’s refreshing to see a product without any proprietary blends on its ingredient list – this gets ErgoPRE off to a great start, as they’ve clearly provided the exact quantities of each individual nutrient inside their pre-workout supplement.
However, there are some negatives mixed in with the positives when looking at the content of ErgoPRE – L-Citrulline is a great addition to any pre-workout, but such ingredients as Beta-Alanine come with risks of side effects.
See for yourself:
L-Citrulline Malate
This is an amino acid that’s turned into L-arginine in the kidneys after supplementation – it’s more effective in boosting L-arginine levels in your body than taking L-arginine itself, as L-Citrulline has a better absorption rate.
L-Citrulline is perfect for a pre-workout, as once it’s turned into L-arginine in your kidneys, it plays an important role in raising your nitric oxide levels and improving your blood flow.
Ultimately, this means that you’ll experience great muscle pumps during your workout. Ergogenix has done well by including this in ErgoPRE, especially at a dose of 6,000mg – the optimal amount of L-Citrulline to enhance sports performance is 5,000-8,000mg, taken an hour before your training session.
Beta-Alanine
While this nutrient has been shown to improve muscular endurance, it comes with the risk of a potential side effect – when taken at a dose higher than 800mg-1,000mg, Beta Alanine causes paresthesia, a tingling on the skin of your face, chest, hands and extremities.
As you can see, ErgoPRE contains 2,000mg of this ingredient, meaning you’re likely to experience this side effect, which would definitely ruin your workout in the gym. We recommend that you stay away from this ingredient to avoid the risk of paresthesia.
Choline Bitartrate
Also known as Trimethylethanolamine, Choline is a molecule that’s most commonly supplemented for its cognitive boosting properties. Ergogenix has clearly added this into their pre-workout to increase your mental focus during your workout, but here’s where the problems start.
There’s been no evidence that Choline actually improves mental function (memory and reaction time) in any scientific studies. Ergogenix could have replaced this nutrient with a more beneficial ingredient such as Creatine Monohydrate, which has been proven to improve your strength and endurance in the gym.
You should look for a pre-workout containing creatine in order to get the most beneficial product.
See SupplementTester’s
– Highest Rated Pre Workouts Here –
L-Tyrosine
This is an amino acid that’s been proven to reduce stress levels and improve cognition. L-Tyrosine has also shown to improve your general well-being as well as well, so it definitely doesn’t hurt to add this into a supplement.
However, L-Tyrosine is better suited to a Nootropic, and Ergogenix could’ve replaced this nutrient with an ingredient like Beetroot Extract – Beetroot Extract has a high nitrate content, which encourages the production of nitric oxide that results in great muscle pumps in the gym.
L-Glutamine
This is one of the amino acids in dietary protein, found in high levels in both whey and casein protein. We understand why Ergogenix have decided to include this ingredient in ErgoPRE, as it’s believed to promote muscle gains.
However, it’s only shown to benefit those that have suffered from physical trauma (eg. burns or knife wounds) in studies, having no effect on healthy individuals.
Alpha-Glyceryl Phosphoryl Choline
Also known as Alpha-GPC, this is a compound that’s been proven to improve your power output and reduce cognitive decline. However, it comes with the risk of potential side effects, such as heartburn, headache, insomnia, dizziness and skin rash.
While Alpha-GPC may have its benefits, it’s not worth risking the potential side effects from supplementing it.
Caffeine
Everyone knows what caffeine is – a powerful stimulant that’s been proven to provide numerous benefits, such as boosts in physical strength, endurance, and mental function (memory and reaction time).
It’s one of the safest ingredients out there, used in countless products ranging from tea/coffee to chocolate. The only negative we can see with Caffeine in ErgoPRE is the amount of it inside – the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for caffeine is set at 400mg, with ErgoPRE containing the majority of that at 300mg.
This means that you won’t be able to enjoy any other products (such as tea/coffee) when supplementing with this pre-workout or you’ll be at risk of experience such side effects as Insomnia and jitters.
Ergogenix could have avoided these potential side effects by reducing the Caffeine content in their pre-workout, and by paring the nutrient with L-Theanine – L-Theanine works synergistically with Caffeine to form a ‘smart caffine’, as it removes the risk of jitters and an ‘energy crash’.
You should look out for a pre-workout that contains both caffeine and L-Theanine on your search for a quality pre-workout supplement.
Black Pepper Extract
This is simply what you’d use to season your food, but it has many benefits that most people aren’t aware of. It improves the absorption rate of other ingredients that it’s digested with, meaning you’ll experience the full benefits of the other ingredients contained in the supplement you’re taking.
It’s not essential in a supplement, but it doesn’t come with any negatives.
While EgroPRE contains an optimal amount of L-Citrulline, it also comes with potential risks of side effects.
Check out which ingredients work and which don’t in our
– Pre workout ingredients guide –
Side Effects
Some of the ingredients in EgroPRE, such as Beta-Alanine, carry a risk of potential side effects. Take a look at a list of all the possible side effects that you could experience from taking this pre-workout:
- Tingling on the skin on the skin of your face, hands, chest, and extremities (Beta-Alanine)
- Heartburn (Alpha-GPC)
- Headache (Alpha-GPC)
- Insomnia (Alpha-GPC)
- Dizziness (Alpha-GPC)
- Skin Rash (Alpha-GPC)
Not what you’re looking for? See your best options in our
– Top 3 Pre Workout Page –
Pro’s and Con’s
Pro’s
- Contains an optimal amount of L-Citrulline (5,000-8,000mg) resulting in great muscle pumps during your workout
- Has some quality ingredients inside such as Caffeine, L-Tyrosine, and Black Pepper Extract
- Relatively low-priced
Con’s
- Contains nutrients that come with risks of side effects such as Beta-Alanine and Alpha-GPC.
- High dose of Caffeine
- A few ingredients that haven’t been proven to be effective, such as Choline Bitartrate.
EgroPRE Review Conclusion
Ergogenix have clearly done some research into what makes a quality pre-workout – they’ve included the optimal amount of L-Citrulline in EgroPRE to provide you with great muscle pumps. We also give them credit for not including any proprietary blends (a mixture of numerous ingredients that are all shown to the customer as one quantity, without revealing the exact amount of each invididual ingredient).
However, they’ve included a few ingredients that come with risks of side effects, such as Beta-Alanine (tingling on skin of face, chest, hands and extremities) and Alpha-GPC (heartburn and headache among others) – these side effects would definitely ruin your training session.
We strongly recommend that you look for a product that is free from side effects and contains more beneficial ingredients in a pre-workout, like Beetroot Extract, L-Theanine (this works synergetically with Caffeine to form a ‘smart caffeine’, giving you all the benefits without the potential side effects of caffeine, such as jitters and an ‘energy crash’).