The best pre workout supplements on Amazon represent some of the most effective and popular products on the market.
These dietary supplements provide an extra boost of physical energy, mental focus, and motivation during intense workouts, even on ordinary days when you need something extra to keep you going.
The Pre Workouts on Amazon We RAVE About
But finding pre workout products that actually work (and won’t break the bank) presents a challenge.
Amazon offers a treasure trove of information on these products that we leverage to help you find the best options.
In this article we rank pre workouts that customers love, specifically those that have the best reviews and scores on Amazon.
Key Takeaways
- The best pre workout supplements on Amazon deliver excellent value for the money, thanks to their safety and effectiveness in boosting energy, concentration and attention, and mood and motivation.
- The best pre workouts can be taken on a daily basis and stacked with other dietary supplements, which can aid in achieving your fitness goals faster and better.
- The most effective pre workout supplements contain three vital ingredients in clinically effective dosages – L-citrulline, beta-alanine, and caffeine. Other active ingredients are intended to work in synergy and support the actions of the trifecta of ingredients.
Introduction
Getting your game on for the gym every time isn’t humanly possible because we’re humans – sometimes, lethargy, laziness and loss of motivation gets the better of us!
When you’re in the gym, you may also experience significant drops in energy, focus and motivation that adversely affects your exercise performance, perhaps even cutting your exercise time short.
If this sounds too familiar for you, then we suggest considering the best pre workout supplements on Amazon that we feature in this ranking.
Of course, pre workout supplements aren’t magic bullets that will immediately fire up your mind and body for the grueling challenge ahead.
Proper and regular use, particularly consistent use on a daily basis, is a must to reap the benefits of pre workout supplements.
Key Point: The use of pre workouts must also be combined with healthy lifestyle habits including proper nutrition and personalized exercise plan.
Quick Links
- What Are Pre Workout Supplements?
- What Makes for the Best Pre-workout Supplements?
- List of the 10 Best Pre Workouts on Amazon
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Are Pre Workout Supplements?
Also known simply as pre workouts, pre workout supplements are multi-ingredient dietary supplements formulated to increase performance:
- Higher levels of physical energy
- Better mental concentration and attention
- Increased motivation during exercise
Think of the best pre workout supplements as fuel for your mind and body that will keep you going in the gym, even allow you to last longer and push harder.
Pre workout supplements are designed for a wide range of populations, from ordinary gym goers and fitness enthusiasts to endurance athletes, weightlifters and bodybuilders. So in this ranking, we’ve included options for every type of enthusiast.
But it’s always a good idea to check the pre workout ingredients for whatever pre workout products you’re considering adding to your pantry. High-stim pre workouts, for example, aren’t recommended for beginners and casual gym goers because of their possible side effects from the stimulants (e.g., caffeine in high doses).
Pre Workouts Reviewed and How to Use Them
The pre workout supplements featured here are in powder form, meaning 1-2 scoops should be mixed with 10-12 ounces of tap or cold water.
The mixture should be consumed about 30 minutes before warm-up exercises and, thus, the pre workout ingredients sufficient time to do their work.
Taking the best pre workout supplement on a daily basis is also recommended in sports nutrition for many reasons.
Here’s the fundamentals:
- First, you will benefit from the extra boost in energy, concentration and motivation for your gym session and throughout your everyday activities.
- Second, you’re allowing your body to absorb beneficial ingredients optimally and, thus, enhance your overall health and performance.
In other words, pre workouts offer special value as fitness performance boosters but they also offer holistic benefits of general health and wellbeing.
Key Point: Pre workout supplements can become a valuable part of your daily supplementation program, both on your training days and even on normal days when you want a boost.
What Makes for the Best Pre-workout Supplements?
The safety and efficacy of the best pre workout supplements lie in their ingredients and formulation. This is the reason why it’s always best to check the pre workout ingredients first before making a purchase.
What separates the best from the mediocre is the quality of ingredients and the dose of ingredients per serving.
With this in mind, you want to check that each ingredient comes in the recommended dose and/or clinically effective dose.
Top Three Ingredients in Pre Workouts
Every pre workout supplement has its unique set of ingredients and amount per serving.
But what we consider the best have these three three common pre workout ingredients delivered at their clinically effective dose in grams or milligrams per serving.
In most pre workouts, a single serving equals a single scoop mixed with 10-12 ounces (or less depending on your preference) glass of water.
L-Citrulline
With L-citrulline, a non-essential amino acid, the recommended dose is 6-10 grams per serving.
L-Citrulline is converted into L-arginine in the kidneys that, in turn, acts as a vasodilator (i.e., widens the blood vessels resulting in increased oxygen and nutrient flow into muscle tissues).
Among its benefits in exercise performance are:
- Increase in muscular endurance, strength and power
- Promotes muscle gain through muscle protein synthesis, a process that accelerate muscle repair and recovery
- Delays muscle fatigue
Beta-alanine
The clinically effective dose for beta-alanine in pre workout supplements is 2-5 grams per serving. Among its exercise-related benefits are:
- Aid in decreasing muscle soreness
- Increase muscle stamina and strength
- Improve overall endurance during exercise
- Enhance sprint performance and high intensity interval training or HIIT capacity
Caffeine
The most common form of caffeine in pre workouts is caffeine anhydrous, its dehydrated form, which acts as a central nervous system stimulant.
Research also proves caffeine, which is also found in green tea extract, can improve blood flow.
Also When it comes to athletic performance, caffeine can produce these effects at the clinically effective dose of 250-350 milligrams:
- Boost focus, attention and awareness, thus, increasing reaction time
- Boosts energy production that can be sustained for an hour or two
- Speed up the fat-burning process (i.e., thermogenic property)
Other Important Ingredients
With these three safe and effective ingredients, the addition of other key ingredients makes them work work even better!
These ingredients have been shown to work well with caffeine, beta-alanine, and L-citrulline
- Creatine monohydrate for increase in muscle power and performance as well as improvements in cognitive performance
- Betaine anhydrous can improve body composition and speed up fat loss and muscle growth
- Alpha-GPC aids in the release of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter, which improves memory and learning functions
- BCAAs can improve overall endurance, maintain cellular energy, and support muscle growth through protein synthesis
Look for taurine and B-vitamins in pre workouts, too, since these have vital functions in muscle function and overall health.
Key Point: By understanding the purpose of each pre workout ingredient, you can better evaluate which pre workout formulas offer the best value in terms of your personal goals and needs.
Top Desired Effects
From the above mentioned discussion, we can conclude that the best pre workout supplements provide the following benefits, both almost immediately after use and with consistent consumption:
- Better energy: An increase in overall physical energy and endurance
- Muscle performance: Improvements in muscle strength, stamina and pump that aids in muscle growth
- Focus: Enhanced mental alertness, focus and attention as well as maintenance of a calm mood during intense physical activity (i.e., in the zone)
Our Ranking Methodology
We evaluated the best pre workouts supplements on Amazon based on the following criteria:
- Amazon scores defined as total reviews, average review scores, and customer consensus
- Safe and effective ingredients in their clinically effective doses, as mentioned above
- Delivery of increased energy, focus and alertness, and mood enhancement after consumption and with daily use
- Reasonable price and superior quality that represents excellent value for the money
We also considered factors like delicious flavors, little to no side effects, and overall brand reputation. We also sought to identify a few up and coming brands that offer top tier quality and value (such as was the case for Shifted Maximum).
Now, let’s review the best pre workouts on Amazon!
List of the 10 Best Pre Workouts on Amazon
Shifted Pre Workout Maximum
When it comes to a well-rounded ingredients list in clinically effective doses, no other pre workout supplement can beat the Shifted Maximum pre workout! The transparency of ingredients is apparent with every active ingredient and their amount per serving clearly listed, and these ingredients are also listed according to their effect.
The muscle complex, for example, include L-citrulline (8 grams), creatine monohydrate, betaine anhydrous, beet root extract, and red spinach extract. The synergy of these ingredients contributes to significant improvements in exercise performance, from muscle strength and stamina to post workout recovery and pump. Heart health and cognitive performance are also enhanced.
The energy complex consists of caffeine anhydrous (250 milligrams) and delayed release caffeine (50 milligrams), meaning it’s still within the recommended dose. The stamina complex consists of taurine, beta-alanine (2.5 grams) and B vitamins and electrolytes, which are vital for hydration. The focus complex has ingredients, such as L-tyrosine, L-theanine and Alpha-CPG, which complements the energy complex.
You can find our full review of Shifted Pre Workouts here.
The bottom line: Shifted Maximum is the best pre workout supplement, period! Its optimum formulation hits all the notes in terms of energy, endurance and focus as well as mood-boosting benefits.
Pros
- Best for professional athletes
- Little to no side effects with proper use
- Delivers on the core aspects of pre workouts
Cons
- Comes in a single flavor (Berry) but it’s smooth and delicious
Cellucor C4 Sport
With its NSF certification, the C4 Sport pre workout from Cellucor is among the best pre workouts in our books! This is suitable for use by sports enthusiasts with its well-balanced ingredients including caffeine, beta-alanine and L-citrulline as well as creatine monohydrate and L-arginine. But we must also say that many of these ingredients are under the clinically effective dosage and, thus, hardcore professional athletes may not get the boost they need.
C4 Sport, nonetheless, boosts overall exercise performance by increasing energy and endurance levels, as well as keeping your mind and body alert. Since it’s a low-stim pre workout, there’s none of the sudden up and crash caused by high caffeine levels.
Pros
- Contains the trifecta of ingredients for energy, focus and power
- Sustains energy, pump and focus for the entirety of exercise session
- Delicious flavors
Cons
- Uses artificial sweetener (sucralose)
- Contains proprietary blends (i.e., no transparency about amounts of ingredients)
Nitrosurge
Jacked Factory formulated Nitrosurge for use among beginners and fitness enthusiasts although professional athletes can use it for cycling or stacking purposes. This is a low-stim pre workout – just 180 milligrams per scoop – that still delivers on improved energy, focus and power the muscles. At 2 scoops, the L-citrulline content (6 grams) and beta-alanine (3.2 grams) provide an extra boost of muscle strength and stamina that enables more reps, even more sets.
These effects are felt almost as soon as Nitrosurge is consumed, too, and last for 45-60 minutes, just enough time for an exercise session. There are little to no side effects with the recommended dosage, too.
Pros
- Has all the ingredients for increased athletic performance among fitness enthusiasts
- No stomach upset
- Comes in delicious flavors
Cons
- Requires two scoops to get clinically effective doses
- More clumps and sediments in the mixture than usual
Ghost Legend
The flagship product of Ghost Lifestyle, the Legend pre workout supplement not just provides the extra boost in energy and focus but also aids in faster muscle gain and weight loss! The boost in physical energy and mental motivation can be experienced about 15 minutes after drinking it, and can last for 2-3 hours afterwards. There’s an observable increase in muscle pumping power, too, meaning more reps can be performed.
Ghost Legend pre workout has a 100% transparent ingredients list, too, and it shows L-citrulline, beta-alanine, and Nitrosigine in recommended doses. With just 5 calories and 1 gram of carbohydrates, it can be stacked with other supplements, too, while still delivering on the promise of improved athletic performance.
You can find our full review of Ghost Legend here.
Pros
- Packed with safe, effective and healthy ingredients
- Long-lasting effects
- Easy to mix
Cons
- Some users report tingling sensations on the skin caused by beta-alanine
Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Pre-Workout
Professional athletes and avid gym goers will appreciate the Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard pre workout due to its more intense effects on athletic performance. Aside from the trifecta of L-citrulline, beta-alanine and caffeine in the right doses, it also has other beneficial ingredients that result in above-average pumping action.
Did we mention that it has an Informed Choice seal of approval? This means it’s a third party-tested product with guaranteed safety and purity of ingredients. This can also be stacked with other supplements without adding too much to your calorie (10) and carb (2 grams) intake.
As for results, consistent consumption results in marked gains in energy, focus and mood enhancements, which are also experienced even after the first take. The effects last for about two hours afterwards.
Pros
- Effectively delivers extra energy, concentration and pump
- Contains vital exercise-related ingredients
- Comes in fun, yummy flavors
Cons
- May not be suitable for vegans and vegetarians
Redcon1 Total War
Sometimes, intense workouts can seem like war and the Total War pre workout is up to the task with its all-in-one formulation! Each 15-gram scoop contains 12 grams of active ingredients, meaning it’s packed with safe and effective ingredients. Citrulline malate, beta-alanine, caffeine anhydrous, and di-caffeine malate take the lead.
The positive effects, such as a marked increase in physical energy and mental focus, become noticeable about 15-20 minutes after its consumption. The high, so to speak, lasts for another couple of hours, which should be enough time for warm-ups, intense exercise, and cool-downs for professional athletes.
You can find our full review of Redcon1 here.
Pros
- Full ingredients transparency
- Great value for the money
- Refreshing flavors
Cons
- Some users experience itchiness and tingling sensations
Bare Performance Nutrition Flight
BPN’s Flight pre workout is a safe, effective and nutritious product on its own but it can also be stacked with other supplements if you want to get the best possible results. Suggested products include Intra Flight, Endopump, and creatine monohydrate but be careful about caffeine tolerance, among other safety precautions.
But when used alone, the Flight pre workout is notable for the near-absence of a post-workout, caffeine-related crash. A good boost in physical energy, muscle stamina and strength, and laser-like focus can take your routine exercise session to the next level. L-citrulline, beta-alanine and caffeine ingredients are within the recommended doses, too.
Pros
- Gives above-average results in increased energy and endurance
- Reasonable price
- Good flavors
Cons
- Beta-alanine can cause tingling and itchy sensations
- Some artificial ingredients used
EVL Nutrition ENGN
If you’re looking for a Swiss Army knife equivalent of pre workouts, you may want to consider ENGN. Not only does it increase the levels of physical energy, muscle power and mental focus, but it also speeds up fat loss and muscle gain! With premium ingredients, such as beta-alanine, creatine monohydrate, and amino acids, it’s an all-in-one pre workout for all types of fitness enthusiasts.
The boost in clean energy can be experienced almost immediately after drinking ENGN, while premature muscle fatigue becomes less of an issue during intense workouts. Faster muscle recovery is also a common experience among users.
Pros
- Has an advanced thermogenic formula
- Aids in boosting stamina, strength and energy as well as metabolism
- Reasonable price
Cons
- No ingredients transparency (i.e., proprietary blend)
- Contains artificial ingredients (e.g., flavors)
Bucked Up Pre-Workout
DAS Labs takes pride in the safety and efficacy of its Bucked Up pre workout supplement, which comes in delicious flavors. Every scoop contains natural ingredients including L-citrulline and beta-alanine, as well as other proven ingredients like Astragin and Actigin. But there are no extra calories, sugar and other filler ingredients in every packed-with-nutrients scoop.
The synergy of ingredients results in increased athletic performance during intense exercise and everyday activities. Muscle fatigue and soreness are reduced while muscle strength, stamina and recovery times are enhanced.
You can find our full review of Bucked Up Pre Workout here.
Pros
- Improve both exercise performance and overall health
- Quality ingredients in recommended doses
- Supports fat and weight loss
Cons
- Small serving size
Legion Pulse
The Legion Pulse pre workout has a caffeine free option alongside its caffeine-infused version, thus making it one of the few pre workouts with caffeine free options. The caffeine free option also doesn’t contain L-theanine, but it’s also safe and effective in terms of energy, focus and mood-boosting benefits. Both the caffeinated and caffeine free option are also notable for the absence of artificial sweeteners, dyes and flavors.
The caffeinated option is best for athletes and fitness enthusiasts with high caffeine tolerance and who like the near-instant boost in energy and focus that it brings. The L-citrulline and beta-alanine amounts are within the clinically effective doses so it’s one of the most effective pre workout supplements. Other ingredients are L-theanine and Alpha GPC that increase the efficacy of the other active ingredients.
Pros
- Contains clinically effective doses of natural ingredients including electrolytes
- Has natural flavors and sweeteners
- Mixes well
Cons
- May cause tingling and itchy feelings
- Doesn’t taste as good
Frequently Asked Questions
To decide which pre workouts on Amazon are the best fit for you, we need to answer all your questions.
Below you’ll find answers to most relevant frequently asked questions.
Just click the question in blue for a drop-down answer!
What are the banned substances you should look out for in pre-workout supplements?
Banned substances in pre workouts are prohibited for use because of their possible health risks and unfair physical advantages.
The most common in pre workouts are DMAA (1,3-dimethylamylamine), an amphetamine derivative; ephedrine, an alpha and beta-adrenergic agonist; and other synthetic stimulants like N,a- DEPEA.
If you notice these ingredients in a pre workout, avoid the product and its brand all together!
What precautions should you take before consuming pre-workouts supplements?
Be sure that you’re in good health first and, if necessary, ask for your doctor’s advice. Check the label and website for possible drug interactions and other precautions.
Look for third-party certifications, too, such as Informed Choice or NSF, both of which follow strict vetting processes in verifying the purity, quality and safety of dietary supplements including pre workouts.
And make sure that you stay well-hydrated, otherwise powerful pre workout supplements may overtax your kidneys.
What steps can you do to increase the efficacy of pre-workout supplements?
First, ensure that you have your basics covered – a solid nutrition plan, customized exercise program for your fitness goals, and healthy lifestyle habits that will support your fitness goals. The best pre workout supplements can only do so much!
Second, follow the directions for dosage of whatever pre workout supplement you’re on. You may be tempted to exceed the recommended dosage but you’re not just increasing the risk of side effects but you won’t enjoy more of your desired effects.
Third, be mindful of your caffeine content, too, and with stacking supplements. With pre workouts, the caffeine content is often the most concerning ingredient – too much of it and here comes the jitters, too little of it and you won’t get the desired stimulant effect.
