Are You Hitting Your Full Potential in Workouts? Here's the Best Pre-Workout to Buy Right Now
Like protein powder and creatine, pre-workout is a staple for fitness lovers worldwide. In truth, 78 percent of regular gym-goers have added this widespread powder to their complement stack in current years. Why? The greatest pre-workouts yield simple efficiency enhancements.
Most importantly, pre-workout skyrockets power, sharpens focus, intensifies muscle efficiency, and delays muscle fatigue—an enormous boon when motivation is sapped.
Whether you’re chasing a brand new PR and wish an additional enhance in efficiency or need to shake up your standard shot of espresso, I examined the greatest pre-workout dietary supplements on the market to discover varieties for these searching for clear, stim-free, and great-tasting choices. I additionally tapped business specialists to establish what substances to search for when looking for manufacturers.
Want the newest fitness recommendation and workouts to sort out any journey? Sign up for our Blueprint e-newsletter.
Best Pre-Workout of 2025 at a Glance
- Best Pre-Workout Overall: Gorilla Mode
- Best-Tasting Pre-Workout Supplement: Ghost Legend
- Best Pre-Workout for Beginners: CBUM Signature Essential
- Best Clean Pre-Workout: Just Ingredients
- Best Stim-Free Pre-Workout: Transparent Labs Stim-Free
Related: Hunting for Affordable Supps? These Are the Best Protein Powders You Can Buy at Target Right Now
Best Pre-Workout Overall: Gorilla Mode
Courtesy of Gorilla Mind
There are about one million nice pre-workout choices on the market, however if you would like the most bang in your buck, spring for Gorilla Mode. Crafted with 5,000mg pure L-citrulline, 2,500mg l-tyrosine, 400mg Alpha GPC, and 200mg caffeine, this components will get you pumped and energized in no time. Plus, every scoop has 2,500mg creatine monohydrate, so you may skip your every day serving altogether. The taste selections are first rate, too, with Bombsicle, Tigers Blood, and Blackberry Lemonade amongst our high picks.
Best-Tasting Pre-Workout Supplement: Ghost Legend
Courtesy of Ghost
Any pre-workout lover has most likely tried not less than one among Ghost‘s full-flavor pre-workouts. The model has a few of the most unusual on the market, with Warheads Sour Black Cherry, Welch’s Grape, and Swedish Fish providing a welcome throwback to the 90s. The pre-workout components consists of generally used substances like L-citrulline, beta-alanine, and 250mg of pure caffeine, in addition to distinctive components like nitrosigine for an excessive pump and vitacholine for improved focus.
Best Pre-Workout for Beginners: CBUM Signature Essential
Courtesy of Get Raw Nutriton
If you are new to lifting or new to pre-workouts, it is best to start with the fundamentals. Tons of pre-workouts have a laundry checklist of substances, however CBUM’s Signature Essential Pre-Workout solely has the naked requirements (therefore the identify). In the product, you may discover all fundamental substances, like L-citrulline, beta alanine, and caffeine, lined with out the extras. Plus, flavors corresponding to White Cherry, Raspberry Creamthickle, and Sour Watermelon are scrumptious.
Best Clean Pre-Workout: Just Ingredients
Courtesy of Just Ingredients
It’s tempting to seize a pre-workout that tastes like sweet. But in an effort to minimize out artificial dyes and scale back synthetic sweetener consumption, strive Just Ingredients Pre-Workout. The product accommodates all the things you want and nothing you do not: taurine, citrulline malate, caffeine, and beta-alanine, with out synthetic colours, flavors, or sweeteners. Plus, it consists of maca root, which is believed to forestall the dreaded pre-workout crash that may occur with different manufacturers.
Best Stim-Free Pre-Workout: Transparent Labs Stim-Free
Courtesy of Transparent Labs
Most pre-workouts comprise a hearty dose of caffeine for that further enhance of power. But should you’re delicate to caffeine or are a night-time lifter, there is a good likelihood you need to forgo stimulants to protect your sleep high quality. Transparent Labs Stim-Free Pre-Workout is non-caffeinated and consists of evidence-based nootropics like taurine, L-tyrosine, and huperzine-A for laser focus with out the crash. It’s additionally freed from synthetic colours, sweeteners, and flavors and makes use of pure flavoring and stevia for style.
Related: These Two Common Supplements May Slow Aging When Paired With Regular Exercise
More Pre-Workouts We Love
Naked Energy
Courtesy of Naked Nutrition
If you need a no-frills pre-workout, look no additional than Naked Energy. This naked bones pre has solely 10 substances, together with L-arginine, beta-alanine, creatine, and 200mg of caffeine from espresso beans. It’s additionally freed from synthetic sweeteners and components, and is third-party examined for heavy metals.
C4 Original
Courtesy of Cellucor
It would not be a listing of the greatest pre-workouts with out C4 Original. This OG pre-workout has all the fundamentals like 200mg caffeine, beta-alanine, L-citrulline, L-arginine, and creatine. Plus, it comes in traditional flavors, together with Hawaiian Punch Fruit Juicy Red, Icy Blue Razz, Watermelon, and extra.
What Is Pre-Workout?
“Pre-workout is a type of workout supplement used by both fitness enthusiasts and athletes that’s designed to increase performance during training sessions,” says Paul Kriegler, RD, LD, director of dietary product improvement at Life Time. “It typically includes amino acids, ergogenic compounds—such as caffeine, and a blend of vitamins, designed to assist athletes with endurance, strength, and mental focus both before and during workouts. [It] also provides athletes and club members with a multitude of health and wellness benefits, including performance, increased energy, and focus during their workouts, regardless of their goal.”
Related: How to Get 30 Grams of Protein at Every Meal
Common Pre-Workout Ingredients
Most pre-workout substances are categorized into one among 4 classes: stimulants, vasodilators, sensory enhancers, and carbohydrates, in accordance to NASM exercise physiologist, molecular biologist, and biostatistician Brad Dieter. Below, he breaks down the substances and their makes use of.
Stimulants
“The stimulant category is perhaps the most well-known, and these ingredients make up the majority of pre-workout supplements on the market,” Dieter says. “The most common stimulant found in pre-workouts is caffeine. Most supplements provide around 100 to 300mg of caffeine, which is around one to three cups of coffee and appears to be the effective dose.” Other stimulant substances embody issues like synephrine, which is believed to boost athletic performance when mixed with caffeine; theacrine, which enhances focus and reduces fatigue; and yohimbine, which can have the potential to help athletic performance and enhance body composition.
Vasodilators
“These ingredients are designed to help dilate (expand) your blood vessels to deliver more nutrients and oxygen to muscles,” Dieter provides. “This can help people experience ‘the pump’ that comes with higher-volume resistance training.” The fundamental substances in this class embody L-arginine, nitric oxide, and beetroot juice or extract.
Sensory Enhancers
“These are ingredients that may not have any real performance benefit, but provide a distinct feeling that can help create a placebo effect. The most common ingredient in this category is beta-alanine, which can give a tingling sensation known as paresthesia when consumed in larger quantities (~5 grams in a serving).”
Carbohydrates
Consuming carbs pre- or post-workout is one among the single handiest methods to make sure you maximize efficiency—particularly throughout longer periods (over an hour) and high-intensity efforts. “These ingredients often include things like dextrose, maltodextrin, glucose, rice syrup, and waxy maize, which provide easily digestible glucose muscles and the rest of your body can use during a workout,” Dieter explains.
Related: These Low-Sugar Yogurt Brands Can Help You Cut Calories Without Sacrificing Flavor