The blurb for Warrior RAGE labels it “one of the most powerful, most effective, and most results driven pre-workouts on the market.”
This product claims to:
- Increase alertness and attention
- “Contribute to normal energy-yielding metabolism”
- Reduce tiredness
- Enhance “physical performance in successive bursts of short-term, high intensity exercise”
The promises above don’t seem to give you anything new or exciting. But this product is getting a lot of good feedback of late, so we thought we’d do our own Warrior RAGE pre-workout review…
About the Company
We don’t know anything about Warrior – we can’t tell you if it’s just a brand or a company. The Twitter link to its “website” takes you to the Bodybuilding Warehouse – a website offering bargain prices on hundreds of supplements. The brand appears to be no relation to the similarly-named Warrior Fuel Supplements.
Other products available under the Warrior name include Blaze Reborn, Shredded to the Bone, and Mass Mayhem – among other hardcore names.
Meanwhile, the brand ad copy uses words like “battlefield”, “overdrive” and “warrior” to push home its apparent ethos: “To bring to market the best sports supplements in the world.”
But as Warrior appears to be a glorified store brand, the claim to be the world’s best may be a little far-fetched.
The Ingredients and How They Work
Warrior RAGE contains some decent ingredients (plus at least a couple of sketchy ones). But on the flip side, the product is one big proprietary blend with zero dose info.
Note: Proprietary blends are sub-formulas that list ingredients, but not doses. Fitness experts don’t like proprietary blends because they hide vital info that tells you whether the ingredients are safe and effective or not.
See for yourself:
Branch Chain Amino Acids
The term “Branch Chain Amino Acids” (BCAA) refers to Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine. All three are important nutrients for muscle growth. However, most people get enough BCAA in their diet and don’t need to take more of them in a supp – meat and eggs are rich in these nutrients.
However, BCAA supplementation does help lifters and athletes battle fatigue.
And if you lift weights, you’ll no doubt be taking protein powders. And whey protein already includes enough BCAA to give you the boost you need during your workout.
As a result, these aminos may be redundant here.
Beta-Alanine
Beta-Alanine can reduce fatigue in the muscles and gives some users the ability to perform one or two more reps per session.
Despite this, Beta-Alanine is among our pre-workout ingredients to avoid. This is because it may lead you to feel itching, tingling, numbness and skin-crawling sensations on your hands, legs, feet, or even over your whole body.
While a harmless side effect, many athletes and lifters find this condition – known as paresthesia – wrecks their workouts. As this is the opposite of what you want, we advise avoiding it.
In addition, Beta-Alanine does the same job as Creatine. And as this supp already contains Creatine, there’s little need for Beta-Alanine here.
Creatine Gluconate
As we always say, Creatine is the one of the two most important pre-workout ingredients (along with Citrulline Malate).
As perhaps the best-tested nutrient in the history of the fitness industry, it’s proven to enhance weight room performance, aid muscle growth, protect brain cells and lower the risk of bone decay.
But here’s the issue…
Creatine Monohydrate is not only the cheapest form of Creatine, it’s also the most tested and most effective. Unlike the Monohydrate form, the Creatine Gluconate in Warrior RAGE is NOT backed any research at all.
In addition, the lack of dose info means there no way to know whether there’s enough Creatine in this supp to be effective (1000-1500mg is ideal).
Arginine AAKG
Arginine is an amino acid. It produces nitric oxide, which sends vital nutrients to your muscles to help them grow. Nitric oxide also gives users the satisfying muscle pumps lifters crave, and reduces soreness.
However, Arginine has a low absorption rate – tests show your body absorbs L-Citrulline (an Arginine precursor) much easier.
As a result, taking L-Citrulline in a supp is a much more effective way of getting the Arginine (and therefore nitric oxide) your muscles need.
And since Warrior Rage already contains L-Citrulline (with Malic Acid to form Citrulline Malate), the use of Arginine seems pointless – unless of course this supp uses a dose of Citrulline Malate that’s too small to be effective on its own. But as the label provides no dose info, you’ll never know…
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Citrulline Malate
We’re always glad to see Citrulline Malate in any pre-workout. Along with Creatine, it’s one of two pre-workout ingredients we refuse to do without.
As described above, Citrulline Malate is L-Citrulline with added Malic Acid.
When ingested, L-Citrulline turns into Arginine in your body, which then creates nitric oxide to help your muscles grow, while also reducing fatigue and muscle soreness. At the right dose, it also boosts your strength and stamina in the gym.
The addition of Malic Acid makes L-Citrulline even more effective. The compound is proven to reduce the build-up of ammonia in your muscles to help prevent soreness – Citrulline Malate really is one of the best pre-workout on the market.
How much Citrulline Malate do you need?
We find around 6000mg of Citrulline Malate to be the optimal amount to help you bust through your workout. But because Warrior Rage gives you no dose info, there’s no way to know whether it holds enough to give you the results you’re looking for.
Taurine
You may have seen Taurine listed in the ingredients of many high-Caffeine energy drinks. As a result, many people mistakenly believe Taurine to be a stimulant. In fact, the amino acid helps prevent muscle cramps caused by high doses of Caffeine.
We can’t tell how much Taurine or Caffeine is in Warrior RAGE. But the presence of Taurine suggests this supp may be packed with too much Caffeine, which in turn could make you anxious and ruin your workout…
Caffeine
As you know, Caffeine is a stimulant – and it’s the only one you need in a pre-workout. Decades of research shows Caffeine improves focus and motivation, as well as strength and endurance.
Caffeine works by antagonizing the adenosine receptors to stop you feeling tired. But as we say earlier in this review, the presence of Taurine implies this supp may hold a large amount of Caffeine, which could make your workout crash before it even starts.
We’re also concerned Warrior RAGE has no L-Theanine to partner the Caffeine. If there is – as we suspect – a large amount of Caffeine in this supp, then a larger dose of L-Theanine would help take the edge off.
No such luck here.
Vitamin B6
Vitamin B6 is an essential nutrient that has a variety of health benefits – but we’re not sure why the guys behind this supp include B6 in the formula.
We suspect B6 is included here for its supposed ability to lower cortisol levels. If this were true, lower levels of the stress hormone could help boost motivation – but that link is tenuous at best.
The lone human study focused on B6’s effects on women and failed to find any significant influence on cortisol. Swapping the vitamin for an ingredient like Beetroot (Red Beet) would make more sense.
This is because Beetroot not only contains B6, but a host of other nutrients proven to work with Citrulline Malate to improve your health, boost endurance and increase strength. Studies also show Vitamin B6 boosts testosterone, which is why it would make more sense in a T-booster.
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Warrior Rage Pre-Workout Side Effects
Overall, the ingredients in Warrior RAGE are safe to use. However, Beta-Alanine may cause itching and tingling sensations.
Some describe these feelings as akin to “bugs crawling across your body.”
This side effect – known as paresthesia – is harmless, but you may find it unpleasant.
Due to the complete lack of dosage info, there’s also no way to tell whether the doses are safe or not.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Citrulline Malate boosts endurance and reduces soreness
- Creatine aids muscle growth and performance
Cons:
- BCAA’s are probably superfluous if you’re already using a decent protein powder
- Beta-Alanine may cause paresthesia (itching)
- Creatine untested in Gluconate form
- Arginine has a poor absorption rate
- Lack of dose information gives you no way to gauge effectiveness or safety
- Vitamin B6 would be more use in a T-booster
- Only available in the UK
See SupplementTester’s Highest Rated
Highest-Rated Pre-Workouts Here
Warrior RAGE Pre-Workout Review Conclusion
The best thing we can say about Warrior RAGE is that it contains some great ingredients. After all, you’ll find the likes of Citrulline Malate, Creatine and Caffeine in some of the best pre-workouts in the world.
But the complete lack of any dose info lets it down. Bearing in mind this is a cheap pre-workout (£19.99 for 392g), could it be packed full of Caffeine at the expense of other key ingredients? We can’t say – and that’s the problem.
A little digging also reveals the Warrior brand may be a trading name for an online bargain-basement supplement store (although the product is available elsewhere).
So while Warrior RAGE claims to be among the “best supplements in the world”, its status as one big proprietary blend, its bargain price and hidden origin make us suspect it’s just the opposite.
Our verdict
For your safety and peace of mind, avoid this pre-workout and look for one with both great ingredients AND clear dose information.