Bodybuilding.com Signature Pre Workout
Pros
- Well formulated
- Solid pre-workout supplement
- Reputable company and brand
- Good price
Cons
- Doesn't taste great
- Uses L-Citrulline instead of Citrulline Malate
Bodybuilding.com Signature Pre Workout Review
Most people who break muscle on a regular basis are regular lurkers of bodybuilding.com and its forum, or have at least visited it at some point.
If you haven’t heard of it, then (a) you must have been in stasis, Demolition Man style, for the last two decades?; and (b) go there (after reading this here article of course) and get stuck in to the rabbit warren of information they have on offer.
One of the things that website has always maintained is an extensive online supplement store.
They also have a crowd of very qualified people on their payroll, bashing out videos and articles on a daily basis.
Basically, they sell the gear and they know their sh!t.
That’s why I’ve always wondered when they were going to release their own line of ergogenic supplements.
Until…
Lo and behold!!…the bodybuilding.com Signature Series was created
Cue the opening bars of Carmina Burana.
Bodybuilding.com Signature Pre Workout – What Does it Do?
As you know, not all pre-workouts are made equal. They’re also not all formulated to have the same effects.
Some are intended to be one-scoopers. They tend to include everything but the kitchen sink: nitric oxide boosters for the “pump”, beta-alanine, creatine, BCAAs, other energizers, stimulants, and even nootropic compounds.
Then there’s the “concentrated” pre-workouts that tend to contain a few wishy-washy amounts of the the nutritional ingredients – often with their inclusion rates safely hidden in a proprietary blend – before you track down the label and descend into a stimulant spiked jitterfest.
Others focus almost entirely on the pump, or the thermogenesis, or the sensorial matrix of neuro-thingy-whatsit, spouting bro-science *cough* bullshit *cough* on every available square inch of their neon coloured, hype laden, marketing splurge.
Bodybuilding dot com’s Signature Series Pre is thankfully part of a rare breed of workout supplements that I haven’t mentioned yet: the research-backed workhorses that don’t waste your time or money.
I mean, let’s be honest, they can’t screw this up. Not really. Not with all the knowledge and experience they have at their disposal.
The benefits of their Signature Pre Workout are evident from the transparent labelling. The ingredients have been chosen for specific effects. They are:
- Enhanced Muscle Pumps
- Reduced Muscle Fatigue / Improved Muscle Endurance
- Greater Energy and Mental Focus
- Increased Exercise Performance
- Improved Anabolic Response to training
- Reduced Exercise-Induced Muscle Breakdown
Ingredients – What’s In the Signature Pre Workout?
This pre-workout is open label, meaning you can see exactly what, and how much of what, is inside.
The 14 gram scoop gives you the following:
- L-Citrulline – 5g
- L-Leucine – 3g
- Beta-Alanine – 1.5g
- Taurine – 1g
- Caffeine Anhydrous – 200mg
- Potassium – 100mg
- Calcium – 25mg
- Magnesium – 50mg
- Chloride – 145mg (Potassium, Sodium and Calcium)
1. There’s a heavy and scientifically proven dose of Citrulline, the best muscle pump ingredient available, in there.
Citrulline gets converted to Arginine in your kidneys, arginine being a powerful Nitric Oxide (NO) booster, and NO being the agent responsible for vasodilation, and thus, muscle pumps.
It’s far better than taking arginine itself because arginine gets broken down quickly before it reaches your bloodstream.
2. A good dollop of Leucine is included. Leucine is the chief BCAA, providing your muscles with a direct source of energy, a reduction in exercise-induced catabolism, and a trigger for anabolic growth.
3. CarnoSyn, the patented form of beta-Alanine, is also present. Beta-Alanine, while being a non-essential amino acid (this just means we can synthesize it ourselves), is one of the most proven ergogenic supplements.
Beta-Alanine joins with another amino, histidine, in your body to form Carnosine. When your muscles have elevated carnosine levels they can resist the fatiguing effects of lactic acid for a little longer due to carnosine’s oxide scavenging behaviour during oxidative stress.
In the gym this translates to you being able to go deeper during a volume set and pushing out a few more reps.
4. Taurine works in combination with Leucine to reduce muscle damage and soreness. It can also promote enhanced blood flow and aerobic exercise.
5. Caffeine is almost guaranteed to appear in a pre-workout supplement unless it’s specifically designed to be stim-free. Used correctly, caffeine is extremely helpful during an intense workout.
What’s The Verdict?
So, has the biggest online bodybuilding company made a quality product to reflect their stellar reputation?
They’ve made a very solid pre-workout supplement at an extremely good price. It doesn’t have lots of fancy sounding stimulants, but if you use caffeine correctly then there shouldn’t be any need for all those nerve-janglers anyway.
There’s also nothing dodgy in there. Everything in the formula’s been studied extensively, effective dosages have been nailed down and safety is all but guaranteed.
In a nutshell, they’ve checked all the boxes that you want checked for a pre-workout powder, while keeping costs down by excluding all the fluff.
The only negative point I’ve heard from others on the vine is that it doesn’t taste phenomenal.
Personally, I think it tastes pretty much like most other pre-workout drinks that contain aminos and such, and that’s a cross between radioactive bilge water and lizard barf.
Actually, fruit punch was not bad at all.
Besides, we’re not on a wine tasting trip, here. Get it down your neck, and get to work.