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You just got off of work at 5pm. It was a long and exhausting day and you don’t really feel like going into the gym to lift heavy weights. After you muster the will, you go to the cabinet to grab your pre-workout supplement, which happens to be the best pre workout for men.
A surge of energy comes over you as your motivation rises. Your will and determination to throw the weights around comes to a peak and after you warm up you are prepared to crush your workout.
In my experience this is how the best pre workout for men has been beneficial to my training.
If you have experienced a similar scenario after work, or early in morning, then you will probably benefit from a high quality pre-workout supplement.
However, we have to be careful here because there are plenty of supplements out there that are stuffed with ingredients that are either incorrectly dosed, ineffective, or just straight rip-offs.
We are going to cover and recommend the best pre workout for men. These are extremely effective for increasing your training intensity and are the ones that are effective and safe to use if used responsibly.
Let’s get to it.
The Supplement Industry Is Not Necessarily Looking Out To Give You the Best Pre Workout For Men
I say this because it is the hard truth. The supplement industry is full of companies that prey on the desperate people looking to change their bodies. It’s a sad thing but a reality.
In my early days of training, I too fell prey to a lot of the supplement marketing. I want to use my experience to help other guys save time, money and disappointment. It’s incredibly frustrating to get excited about a new weight gainer or pre-workout that makes promises that it could never deliver. If you have gone through this yourself, then you know what I am referring to.
The reason why so many pre-workout supplements are no good is the same reason why so many workout supplements in general do little to nothing for you. These companies are driven by greed, plain and simple.
Here is something I learned from an ethical supplement company that actually produces high quality products:
“The retail model makes it basically impossible to create good effective supplements. A supplement company needs to sell their supplements to a distributor, who then sells to a retailer, who then sells to customers. All three of them need their margins, which are usually anywhere between 50 to 100% and that leads to a 100 to 200% markup.”
Who ends up paying for that? We do. That is why these companies have such an incentive to put lousy ingredients and cheap fillers in their supplements, including pre-workouts.
If they do have clinically effective ingredients on the label, it is almost always such a small amount that is hidden in these “proprietary blends“. These are marketing gimmicks designed to fool the consumers even though it doesn’t even help you with your goals. That is how they keep their costs low so that they can make a huge profit.
These companies use marketing to target aspiring athlete’s and people wanting to change their bodies. Usually their products are incredibly hyped up but there’s a lack of credible scientific evidence to back up the outrageous claims made on labels.
Well now that I have thoroughly made you give up hope on supplements, let me say that there are still good supplements out there that are effective and from ethical companies. So it is not all bad. We will talk about some of the best pre workouts for men below in this article. First, let’s look a some of the things to look out for in a pre-workout in an industry with thousands of pre-workouts to choose from.
What The Best Pre Workout For Men Does Not Include
So we just talked about how the supplement industry takes advantage of us and make the most profit they can while putting out cheap and low quality products.
Well then how do we see through their tactics to choose an actually effective pre-workout supplement? Here are some things to look out for when wanting to purchase a pre-workout:
- If the label doesn’t say “Supplement Facts” then you should forget it.
When the label on the back says “Nutrition Facts” at the top and not “Supplement Facts” they are most likely trying to hide something. This may not be as big of a problem as it used to but is still worth mentioning. Supplement facts are required to list certain things that the other label isn’t. You can see the FDA’s guidelines here.
- If it lists a proprietary blend, matrix or something similar, then move on.
If the “Supplement Facts” list any sort of proprietary blends, performance matrix’s, or complexes then you should look for another pre-workout unless it specifies all the ingredients and their amounts in it. Supplement companies will tell you that their blends contain secret formulas that only their product has and they will give you results on par with steroids.
This is all simply not true at all. First, all of the natural ingredients that have been scientifically proven to actually benefit you are all well known by the industry and that information is available to the public.
Further, it costs a heck of a lot of money to find and test out what new ingredients could work better. Second, any consumer armed with the proper knowledge can see that any time there is a blend on the label, there are only the supposed ingredients listed in that blend. These ingredients are listed in order of how much of it is added. However, there is no amount specified for each individual ingredient. It can be very easy for supplement companies to add a really low dose of any ingredient to save costs. There is no reason for these blends to exist unless they are hiding something.
- It should be made with properly dosed and proven ingredients.
The whole point point of buying a pre-workout supplement is to increase your workout intensity in order to further your progress toward your goals. It is also meant to supply your body with additional substances that we don’t get through our diet to aid in building muscle or losing fat.So why would we want any ineffective or improperly dosed ingredients? Most people don’t actually know what and how much is effective and companies take advantage of this. That’s why we will take a look at the most proven and effective ingredients.
- If it contains a whole bunch of ingredients then you should pass
A large number of ingredients is not really a good sign although it seems like it would be. This is because it means there are most likely small and probably ineffective dosages of each. What we like to see in the best pre-workout for men is a shorter list of ingredients that has larger dosages of proven effective ingredients. That means it’s an effective product.
- Naturally flavored products are better, but it is up to you.
I don’t like putting all kinds of man made chemicals into my body when I don’t need to. I take supplements multiple days a week and that adds up. Supplements can be full of artificial sweeteners and dyes so I prefer to go all natural. Supplement companies use artificial stuff because they are cheaper than the natural alternatives. If a company didn’t mind spending a little more per bottle, natural sweeteners like stevia and erythritol work just fine and so do natural flavoring and food coloring ingredients. Again, this last one is up to you.
These are some guidelines you can use to narrow down your choices of pre-workouts to buy. It also can be applied to all sports nutrition supplements. Please note that all of this information may not apply to every single individual supplement or supplement company. It is just a generalized truth about most in the industry. Now let’s look into what ingredients actually work and what you should look for on the label of the best pre workout for men.
Most Effective Ingredients in the Best Pre Workouts For Men
The best pre workout for men is going to have proven ingredients at effective dosages. We already talked about what to avoid to narrow down your choices to a quality product. Now we are going to look at actual effective ingredients that your pre-workout should have.
- Caffeine: You probably know that caffeine is one of the most effective energy producing ingredients. Some people are more tolerable of it than others so this ingredient will be a personal preference. However, if you train without it you are missing out on some good benefits. Furthermore, caffeine helps you lose weight by increasing the amount of energy your body burns throughout the day, and it also improves strength, promotes muscle endurance, and enhances anaerobic performance.
So, this is a good ingredient to look out for. In addition, for maximal performance benefits you should take 3 to 6 mg caffeine per kg of body weight. So a 200lb guy should take about 272mg-544.2mg of caffeine. Although, I would definitely start on the low end and probably never take the high end of that range. - Theanine: If you’re a caffeine junkie, then will you probably enjoy theanine used in conjunction with it. It is an amino acid that is mostly found in tea. It has been shown to lower stress, enhance nitric oxide production, and improve focus, alertness, and mood. Clinically effective dosages of theanine range from 100 to 250 mg. This depends on the amount of caffeine it’s combined with.
- Citrulline: This is another amino acid that has been proven to improve performance. Citrulline is known for stimulating nitric oxide production. The nitric oxide production encouraged by citrulline has been shown to boost muscle endurance, minimize muscle soreness, and enhance aerobic performance. In addition, if you take citrulline every day, it can definitely improve your workouts. If you supplement with it alone you can take it whenever. For best results, try to get between 6 to 8 grams per day.
- Beta-Alanine: Is a natural amino acid that regulates the amount of the molecule carnosine that can be stored in the muscles. This is an ingredient that you definitely want to see in your pre-workout. Its benefits are proven and it’s 100% safe.
Further, when you supplement with beta-alanine, levels of carnosine in your muscles rise. This is good for lots of reasons. A reduction in the fatigue associated with exercise, improvement in anaerobic workout capacity. It also increases your potential workload, which can lead to an increase in lean mass.
Beta-Alanine is best taken at around 5 grams per day. The best pre-workouts for men will have between 2.6 to 6.4 grams of Beta-Alanine. - Betaine: Betaine is also known by its scientific name trimethylglycine, which you may see on the supplement label. It is a compound that’s found in beets and some other plants.
Betaine has gained more and more popularity among supplements, and for good reason. Research shows that betaine supplementation can boost muscle endurance and increase strength. The most current research relates the use of betaine to the “cellular swelling” effect, which protects cells from exercise-induced damage leading to improved performance.Most studies suggest that a clinically effective dose of betaine ranges between 1.25 to 2.5 grams.
- Creatine: Out of all these supplement ingredients creatine is on of the only ones to directly speed up muscle growth. There is plenty of scientific research that has taken place for decades and they have conclusively proven that supplementing with creatine is safe and beneficial.
It can: Improve overall strength and build muscle and increase anaerobic endurance, as well as, minimize the muscle damage and soreness resulting from exercise. Although, it was once thought that creatine may cause kidney damage in otherwise healthy individuals. However, this has been thoroughly debunked. However, people with pre-existing kidney damage should avoid creatine supplementation.
In addition, mainstream health care professionals have held on to the past side effects that creatine monohydrate was known for (bloating, cramping, etc.). Years of refinement have almost thoroughly eliminated this.
Further, you should take it responsibly. More is not necessarily better. As far as a pre-workout ingredient, this is going to be up to you. There’s evidence that using creatine after your workout is more effective than before your workout. I think the best pre-workout for men does not include creatine for this reason.
Additionally, if you are interested in a high quality post-workout supplement that has 5 grams of creatine, then I highly recommend Recharge by Legion Athletics which you can get for 20% off using code “TravisF”
Above was a list of some of the MOST effective ingredients that should be in the best pre workout for men. There are other common ingredients that are in them. These include:
- Agmatine
- B vitamins
- BCAA’s
- Arginine
- L-tyrosine
- Yohimbine
- Synephrine
- Various nootropics
These ingredients are not on the previous list because they are not proven to be AS effective. They still do have benefits that may be more appropriate for a different supplement though. Most pre-workouts will include one or more of these ingredients. I didn’t add them to the list because I only wanted to include the BEST and MOST effective ingredients that will be in the best pre-workout for men. Less is more in some cases.
As long as you get clinically effective doses of the right ingredients, then you will have a great supplement for you.
The Best Pre Workout For Men Depends On What Your Goals Are
There are so many pre-workout supplements out there that it can be hard to choose. The guidelines above will definitely help you narrow it down. However there are still going to be many that will be an option.
Below is a list of some of the best supplements that I have tried personally over the years. Some I have not, although it is included because I truly think that it would be beneficial for you after lots of research.
Some of these won’t fit exactly to our guidelines listed above but will still be among the best in the industry. Let’s check them out in no particular order:
Old School Labs Vintage Blast
Vintage Blast is the world’s first two-stage natural pre-workout for men. It is specifically formulated to deliver sustained energy, strength, endurance and pumps. It is special because of its two-staged concept. It has ingredients that can power you through your entire workout. These ingredients include L-Citrulline, Beta Alanine and L-Arginine.
They have a money-back guarantee so there is no risk involved. Old School Labs always includes clear and complete supplement facts without any “proprietary blends.” They say they stand by their products so if you are not happy with it, they will give you a full refund.
Vintage Blast is naturally flavored and has close clinically dosed ingredients and is among some of the best pre-workouts for men. All of their flavors are 100% vegetarian with no animal-sourced ingredients.
Their products are formulated in California and made in U.S.A. to boot and it has:
- Caffeine
- Citrulline
- Beta-Alanine
- No Artificial Flavors or Dyes
- Made in USA
Genius Pre
Genius Pre is a little different than most pre-workout supplements. They do not include any caffeine in their product. Instead, they use a number of nootropics to create laser-like focus and a stronger mind-to-muscle connection.
Unlock strength and power that will take you beyond your raw capabilities and push you to new levels of strength. Genius Pre claims to be the world’s first clinically dosed nootropics based pre-workout. Your physical capabilities are guaranteed to expand when your brain is engaged with the proper nutrients.
Find yourself mentally energized and focused with natural ingredients like Huperzine-A, Taurine and L-tyrosine.
They use all natural ingredients, are passionate about their products and have 100% transparency.
If you are looking for a caffeine-free supplement to fuel your workouts, Genius Pre could be the one you’re looking for. It’s got:
- Citrulline
- Beta-Alanine
- Betaine
- Nootropics Based
- All Natural
Pre-Kaged
Kaged Muscle supplements are formulated for performance-minded men who not only wants real results, but also wants a clean product that provides incredible value for their money.
This pre-workout delivers a clean, intense surge of energy and relentless focus that will get your mind and body locked in and ready to obliterate your workout.
This one DOES include what they designate as blends on the label. However, these “blends” actually are listed out and all the ingredients have their amounts in full detail shown. For that reason it makes the list. Kaged Muscle is known for their transparency and are a superb product.
Pre-Kaged offers clinically dosed ingredients and is naturally flavored. Their unique combination of patented ingredients are scientifically tested to deliver increases in muscle size, strength, and athletic performance. It has been third-party tested, screened for banned-substances, and the ingredient profile is completely transparent. So, everyone can see exactly what they’re getting. It is a powerhouse of a pre-workout and will get the job done for you.
If you want a creatine-free supplement like Pre-Kaged, then they make another pre-workout called Pre-Kaged Sport which may suit your needs as well. It includes:
- Caffeine
- Beta-Alanine
- Citrulline
- Creatine
- Naturally Flavored
Transparent Labs Stim-Free
Transparent Labs Stim-Free is stimulant free, caffeine-free and gluten-free. It is non-GMO and has no artificial sweeteners, no artificial coloring, no creatine and no artificial preservatives. This makes it pretty clean and one of the best pre-workout supplements for men.
Inside their product, they chose citrulline malate over L-arginine because it provides better absorption, higher plasma arginine levels. Like we talked about, it has been found to improve strength, aerobic performance, and muscle endurance.
This pre-workout also includes a full dose of beta-alanine, which increases cellular carnosine levels. Most pre-workout supplements contain beta-alanine but at significantly under-dosed levels. Using this pre-workout will delay the onset of fatigue during intense exercise. This one claims to significantly increase lean mass and decrease fat, it has seemed to live up to its claims.
Transparent Labs Stim-Free is among their “pre-series” of products. They all follow the brands clean ingredient trend. It boasts clinically dosed ingredients and is loved by thousands of people. This stimulant-free supplement can be for caffeine sensitive folks or anyone trying to lower caffeine intake. It is offered in a jumbo tub or a standard size tub.
It has:
- Citrulline
- Beta-Alanine
- Betaine
- Stimulant-Free
- Natural Ingredients
Legion Pulse
Pulse is a naturally sweetened and flavored pre-workout supplement that contains large and effective doses of only the best science-backed ingredients. That’s it. It does not include any of other ingredients. Only the ones that are proven to improve performance. This pre-workout includes nearly everything we listed including: L citrulline malate, betaine, beta alanine, alpha gpc, caffeine, and L theanine.
This all natural pre-workout is a nitric oxide booster and helps you push more weight and reps, get bigger and better pumps, and gain more muscle and strength.
If you’re not 100% satisfied, just notify Legion and they will give you a refund with no return necessary.
Are you tired of the exaggeration and lies of the supplements industry? So was Mike Mathews, international bestselling fitness author with over a million books sold, and that’s why he created Legion Athletics and Pulse.
Legion also offers a rewards program that allows you to build points to save on future orders.
Therefore, this is why Pulse is our overall favorite. It is completely transparent and only includes the ingredients that work. I only use this pre-workout supplement after years of trying others. The others on this list are great products, but Pulse is my clear favorite and is the best pre-workout for men in our opinion.
Benefits include:
- Fully dosed Citrulline
- Fully dosed Beta-Alanine
- Fully dosed Betaine
- Fully dosed Caffeine and Theanine
- All Natural Ingredients with ZERO Fillers
AT-4
This all new formula of AT-4 will be replacing the original to bring you the best possible workout imaginable!
It contains trademarked ingredients, as well as blends of herbs scientifically proven to increase your nitric oxide levels sky high!
There is no other formula like this out on the market today and it is my current go-to.
It contains 30 true servings of ALL of the following:
- Vitamin A, Vitamin b3, Vitamin B6, and Vitamin B12
- 4g Citrulline malate
- 3g beta alanine
- 1g Agmatine Sulfate
- 1g beet root extract
- 300mg KSM-66
- 500mg DMAE
- 10mg extracts of the following, tart cherry, tumeric, broccoli, kale, spinach)
- 300mg AlphaSize
- 500mg Coconut fruit water extract
- 50mg Theobromine
- 100mg green coffee bean extract
- 75mg caffeine di-malate
- 20mg BioPerine (black pepper extract or equivalent)
You won’t be disappointed with this one.
The flavors are off the charts and it mixes perfectly. It gets you fired up for a hard workout but I can still go to sleep a few hours later without any issues. The energy surge is just that, a surge in power and focus not a jittery spike then a crash.
The best thing about it is the PUMP! This stuff gets you jacked!
Our Overall Best Pre Workout for Men
Our overall choice comes down to AT-4 from 1776 Sports Nutrition and Legion’s Pulse.
Both have natural and clinically dosed ingredients that are effective.
You can’t ask for much more than that.
Which is why I went out of my way to get discount codes from both of them for you.
Use our discount code “TravisF” for 20% off anything from Legion Athletics.
Don’t forget to use our discount code “strength” for 15% off anything on 1776 Sports Nutrition!
Wrapping it up
Well there you have it. Some of the best pre workout for men. These products are only some of the products out there that are close to fitting the criteria on this page.
If you use a pre-workout supplement, odds are you use it every time you workout which could be everyday. Wouldn’t you want to have the peace of mind knowing you are consuming a product that only includes natural ingredients that have been proven to be safe and effective to build muscle and strength?
The entire reason we all train is to become bigger, stronger and healthier so why not take a supplement to aid in that? Instead of a supplement that is full of junk fillers and preservatives or has under-dosed/unproven ingredients just to make more money off of your desire to become bigger and stronger.
The choice will be up to you in the end, but I hope the information in this article helps you find a product that will give you results!
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