Pre-workout: what is in it and how to take it

A pre-workout is a powder you drink twenty to thirty minutes before training. It is also the category where the marketing is most aggressive and the labels most opaque. So let us do the opposite: open the tub and look at what is inside.

A legal warning first

Caffeine is the central ingredient of almost every booster. Its health claims were assessed favourably by EFSA, then rejected by the European Commission on safety grounds for the general population.

Translation: nobody is allowed to write that a pre-workout “increases endurance” or “improves focus”. Beta-alanine and citrulline are in the same position — no authorised claim. Any brand promising you a quantified result from a booster is breaking the law.

What we can do, on the other hand, is tell you exactly what the product contains and at what dose.

What is in the tub

Caffeine — 149 mg per serving

That is roughly one and a half espressos. The dose is deliberately moderate: many boosters go up to 300 or 400 mg, which quickly exceeds the comfort threshold of someone who already drinks coffee during the day.

EFSA considers that single doses up to 200 mg raise no safety concern in healthy adults, and sets a reference of 400 mg a day from all sources combined. Count your morning coffee in that total.

L-citrulline

A non-essential amino acid, a precursor of arginine. It is the ingredient associated with the “pump” sensation lifters talk about. No European claim is authorised for it.

Beta-alanine

This is what causes the tingling on the face, neck and forearms a few minutes after taking it. The phenomenon is called paraesthesia: it is harmless, temporary, and has nothing to do with how well the product works. Many beginners think “it's working” because it tingles. It is just a cutaneous nerve reaction.

Creatine

It is present in our boosters, but be careful: a pre-workout is only taken on training days. Yet creatine needs to be taken daily, including on rest days. If creatine is a goal for you, take it separately.

How to take it

• 20 to 30 minutes before the session. Caffeine reaches its blood peak in 30 to 60 minutes.
• In 300 to 400 ml of cool water, never hot: heat spoils the taste and makes it foam.
• One serving a day maximum. Doubling the dose doubles the caffeine, not the results.
• Not after 4 pm if you are sensitive. Caffeine's half-life is around 5 hours: a dose at 7 pm still leaves half of it in your blood at midnight. And sleep is part of training.

Tolerance: the point nobody mentions

Tolerance to caffeine builds fast, within one to two weeks of daily use. After a month the same dose no longer produces the same felt effect, and the temptation is to increase it.

A healthier approach: keep the booster for the two or three big sessions of the week, and do the others without. You keep the effect, you use three times less product, and the tub lasts three times longer.

Who should go without

• Pregnant or breastfeeding women.
• Minors.
• People with high blood pressure, heart rhythm disorders, anxiety or sleep disorders.
• Anyone on medication, without prior medical advice.

If you only want support during the effort without a stimulant, our orange EAA contains no caffeine.

What to remember

• 149 mg of caffeine per serving: one and a half espressos, not a bomb.
• The tingling comes from beta-alanine; it measures nothing.
• 20 to 30 minutes before, in cool water, one serving maximum.
• No health claim is authorised on these ingredients in the EU. Be wary of anyone promising you one.

Our two flavours, green apple and tropical, are in the pre-workout & energy range.

Sources

• EU Register of nutrition and health claims — European Commission. Where you can check that claims on caffeine, beta-alanine and citrulline are not authorised.
• EFSA — Nutrition and health claims — the European food safety authority and its scientific opinions, including those on caffeine.
• ANSES — Energy drinks — the French agency's file on caffeine-related risks and the groups that should avoid it.

High caffeine content. Not recommended for children or pregnant or breastfeeding women. Food supplements are no substitute for a varied and balanced diet or a healthy lifestyle.