It’s time for my quinquennial round-up of the best pre-workout supplements in the world.
2020 has been a rough year in general, but not for the supplement industry.
Because while we were all enduring lockdown after lockdown, the boffins at the world’s top supplement manufacturers went into over-drive, releasing several great new products. It really is a shame that gyms were shut!
Those of you who have been reading my website for some time will know that my trademark in-depth supplement reviews have played a huge part in getting my website to where it is today, and nowadays the “best of the best (of the best)” battle it out for a shot at true greatness, and a chance of immortality, by landing a coveted spot on the illustrious “Russ List”! It only happens once every five years, so did your favourite pre-workout snatch a piece of the glory?
Let’s find out below…
10. AML “Dopa Rush Pre-Workout”
Product highlights:
+ 6g l-citrulline.
+ 2g l-tyrosine.
+ 200mg caffeine and 125mg TeaCrine.
+ 100mg Garcinia indica extract.
+ No taurine, BCAAs, or niacin.
Released in 2018, AML’s original Dopa Rush formula was their take on an energy drink. Sales of the product went through the roof, so they decided to innovate and develop a pre-workout version of the same product; the imaginatively named Dopa Rush Pre-Workout.
It takes the original’s clinical doses of l-tyrosine (2g), caffeine (200mg), TeaCrine (125mg), and garcinia indica extract (100mg) and infuses it with a whopping 6 grams of l-citrulline, alongside some beetroot extract and potassium.
This 3-punch combo of l-tyrosine, caffeine and l-citrulline set the stage for some absolutely awesome HIIT workouts. Dopa Rush Pre-Workout is a massive success.
9. RedCon1 “Total War”
Product highlights:
+ 6g citrulline malate.
+ 3.2g beta-alanine.
+ 350mg caffeine.
Total War contains clinical doses of citrulline malate, beta-alanine, and caffeine for a highly effective pre-workout blood rush.
Some people (including me) were immediately put off this brand out of loyalty to CT Fletcher, and that’s understandable when we consider the history between the two, but we can’t deny the fact that this is a good product.
However, it’s RedCon1‘s marketing team who really steal the show. Fleshing out some of the ideas we first saw from the UK manufacturers Grenade, RedCon1 developed their supplement line-up with an Air Force theme, and it looks absolutely awesome. If RedCon1 continue those excellent marketing campaigns then the sky is the limit for them (pun intended!).
8. Muscle Rage “Limitless Pre-Workout”
Product highlights:
+ 6g citrulline malate.
+ 3.2g beta-alanine.
+ 350mg caffeine.
+ 225mg DMHA blend.
+ No taurine, BCAAs, or niacin.
Muscle Rage only began developing their own supplement line in 2015, and they’ve come a very long way since then.
This is their flagship product; Limitless Pre-Workout.
It’s light years ahead of recent releases from much larger brands (Optimum Nutrition, Cellucor, Myprotein, Reflex, Gaspari, and more), and it establishes Muscle Rage as one of the UK’s most exciting manufacturers to watch over the next few years.
You’ll get a full clinical dose of citrulline malate (6g), beta-alanine (3.2g), and caffeine (350mg), and even the controversial exotic stimulant DMHA which was banned in some parts of the world last year. That might throw Limitless Pre-Workout into a bit of a grey area for professional athletes, but for everyone else who just enjoys tackling their workout while feeling like Rambo in a field of Viet-fucking-cong, it’s game on!
7. iSatori “Morph Xtreme”
Product highlights:
+ 7g citrulline malate.
+ 3.2g beta-alanine.
+ 2.5g creatine magnesium chelate.
+ 1.5g betaine anhydrous.
+ 350mg caffeine.
Welcome back, iSatori!
Interesting fact; this brand were behind the popularization of creatine monohydrate, the creation of CEE (creatine ethyl ester), and they were the first company to use beta-alanine in a pre-workout.
MORPH has a history if it’s own, having originally been released way back in 2008 as an unusual pre-workout capsule, only to be shelved soon after when sales weren’t too hot.
It has remained in that warehouse ever since, until the company decided to give it a new lease of life with Morph Xtreme. This is a welcome return to form for one of the world’s most important supplement brands, with full clinical doses of citrulline malate (7g), beta-alanine (3.2g), creatine magnesium chelate (2.5g), betaine (1.5g), choline (500mg), and caffeine (350mg). This will lead to some very impressive pumps and performance improvements.
6. TruFierce Nutrition “PreFierce”
Product highlights:
+ 7g citrulline malate.
+ 3.5g beta-alanine.
+ 2.5g betaine anhydrous.
+ 250mg caffeine and 250mg l-theanine.
+ No taurine, BCAAs, or niacin.
PreFierce is a real “back to basics” pre-workout (in a good way).
The nutrition label is a lot smaller than most of its rivals, but that’s because TruFierce Nutrition decided to focus entirely on the the small handful of ingredients which have been shown to have the largest effects.
That means there’s no place for things like taurine, niacin, and BCAAs, but instead it hits you with full clinical doses of CitMal (7g), beta-alanine (3.5g), betaine (2.5g), caffeine and l-theanine (in a perfectly balanced 1:1 ratio, no less!). It’s a fantastic product.
5. Iron Addicts Brand “Sidewalk Kraka”
Product highlights:
+ 3.2g beta-alanine.
+ 374mg caffeine and 100mg theobromine.
+ 125mg stimulant blend.
+ No taurine, BCAAs, or niacin.
Have you ever wished that CT Fletcher could bottle one of his legendary motivational speeches into a pre-workout supplement?
Well, he has!
Sidewalk Kraka originally appeared in 2016 and was awesome, only to be discontinued when Fletcher and his then business partner had a “disagreement”. CT swore we would see his beloved Iron Addicts Brand “rise from the motherfucking ashes like a phoenix!” and he made good on his word with this spectacular return.
It’s a stimulant-heavy formula which was designed with the sole goal of pumping your energy levels higher than ever before. There’s a clinical dose of beta-alanine (3.2g), a very effective combination of caffeine (374mg!!!) and theobromine (100mg), and a stimulant blend (180mg) which is designed to ignite the body’s “fight or flight” response.
4. JYM Supplement Science “Pre JYM”
Product Highlights Include:
+ 6g citrulline malate.
+ 2g creatine HCL.
+ 2g beta-alanine.
+ 1.5g betaine anhydrous.
+ 1.5g l-tyrosine.
+ 300mg caffeine.
Okay, now we’re getting to the real “cream of the crop”.
Pre JYM is the best-selling pre-workout in the whole world, and it has shattered sales figures since it arrived way back in 2013. It continues to be a big draw all these years later because at it’s core it’s still a very solid product – heck, there aren’t any other 7-year old products on this list!
You will get a full clinical dose of citrulline malate (6g), creatine hydrochloride (2g), beta-alanine (2g), betaine (1.5g), l-tyrosine (1.5g), and caffeine (300mg) for monstrous pumps and a noticeable energy increase, and Dr. Stoppani avoids using exotic stimulants in order to give the product a “green flag” for casual gym-goers and professional athletes. Moving forward, though, we’re going to need an updated formula if Pre JYM is ever going to challenge for the top spot again, as most of the brands it once left in the dust have more than caught up.
3. Alpha Lion “Super Human Pre-Workout”
Product highlights:
+ 4g l-citrulline.
+ 3.2g beta-alanine.
+ 2.5g betaine anhydrous.
+ 1.5g l-tyrosine.
+ 400mg stimulant blend.
+ 325mg caffeine blend.
The only company which can rival the awesome branding of RedCon1 is Alpha Lion.
They’ve chosen to make everything sound… well… alpha! Cue some ridiculously funny supplement names which can’t help but appeal to the side of a man’s brain which just wants to chop wood and eat beef (e.g. “Hulk Juice”, “Lion’s Blood”, “Apex Burn!”).
Of course, none of this would matter if the products sucked, so you’ll be pleased to learn that they more than deliver the goods! Super Human Pre-Workout comes full-dosed with l-citrulline (4g), beta-alanine (3.2g), betaine (2.5g), l-tyrosine (1.5g), caffeine (325g), and a 400mg stimulant blend designed to give you what they call, “The most anabolic workout of your entire life!!!”
2. NutraBio “PRE”
Product highlights:
+ 6g l-citrulline.
+ 3.2g beta-alanine.
+ 3g creatine monohydrate.
+ 2.5g betaine anhydrous.
+ 1.5g l-tyrosine.
+ 350mg caffeine blend.
+ 300mg l-theanine.
If you saw my breakdown of the best whey protein supplements of 2020, then you were probably just waiting for this company to make an appearance on this list, too.
NutraBio have been at the top of the supplement game since the early 1990s, and they take the whole “no proprietary blends!” concept to a higher level than any other brand, even going as far as having a third-part verification test published on their site to guarantee users there are no incorrect claims being made on the label.
You’ve gotta respect that kind of attention to detail, and the abruptly “PRE” delivers all the big guns you’d expect in a premium grade pre-workout supplement. You’ll get clinical doses of l-citrulline (6g), beta-alanine (3.2g), betaine (2.5g), l-tyrosine (1.5g), and caffeine (300mg) for an athlete-friendly, research-backed scoop of explosive energy.
1. AML “Pre-Workout”
Product highlights:
+ 8g citrulline malate.
+ 5g creatine monohydrate.
+ 2.5g betaine anhydrous.
+ 2g beta-alanine.
+ 1g l-tyrosine.
+ 520mg potassium citrate.
+ 400mg caffeine.
+ No taurine, BCAAs, or niacin.
The only company to appear twice on the list, Advanced Molecular Labs look set to dominate the supplement industry over the next few years.
Their flagship product AML “Pre-Workout” is currently head and shoulders above the rest of the competition. You’ll get full clinical doses of citrulline malate (8g!), betaine (2.5g), beta-alanine (2g), and caffeine (400mg!), and they’ve even thrown in a full clinical dose of creatine monohydrate (5g) for good measure, as well as including some often overlooked ingredients which boost the effectiveness of all the key ingredients (potassium citrate and folic acid).
This thing is 26 grams of near perfection, and fully deserving of the top spot!
The Best Of The Best… Of The Best!
So there you have it!
Congratulations to Steve Blechman, Joe Donnelly, and the rest of the team at Advanced Molecular Labs for grabbing the #1 spot on the inaugural “Russ List”.
AML will remain in the top spot until the next list is published in 2025, at which point we’ll see if any of their rivals have been able to topple them (heck, they managed to get two different pre-workouts inside the top ten, so maybe they’ll beat their own product!).
Here are the top 10 pre workouts of 2020 in full:
- AML “Pre-Workout”
- NutraBio “PRE”
- Alpha Lion “Super Human Pre-Workout”
- JYM Supplement Science “Pre JYM”
- Iron Addicts Brand “Sidewalk Kraka”
- TruFierce Nutrition “PreFierce”
- iSatori “Morph Xtreme”
- Muscle Rage “Limitless Pre-Workout”
- RedCon1 “Total War”
- AML “Dopa Rush Pre-Workout”
Further Reading:
If you enjoyed this blog, then you’ll probably also like reading these.
>> The Top 5 Whey Protein Supplements Of 2020 (The Russ List)
>> Russ’ Guide To Supplements
>> Workout Programs Now Available On RussHowePTI.com!
I remember you pointing me in the direction of iSatori wayyyy back in like 2013/14, such a great company! This is a good roundup, and pleased to see they still rank so high, I’ll check out some of these other brands for sure.