Pre-Workout - Watermelon

What this is. A pre-workout powder — caffeine and performance ingredients taken 20 to 30 minutes before training for energy, focus and pump. The strongest of our four.

6 g of citrulline malate, 3.5 g of beta-alanine and 200 mg of caffeine per 11.9 g scoop. This is the strongest scoop we sell, and it is the one where the two headline numbers actually reach the amounts the research uses instead of sitting under them.

What you are actually getting, per 1 scoop (11.9 g)

• Citrulline Malate (ratio not stated on the panel) — 6,000 mg
• Beta Alanine — 3,500 mg
• Caffeine — 200 mg
• Vitamin B6 — 1.7 mg
• L-Isoleucine — 500 mg
• L-Valine — 500 mg
• L-Leucine — 100 mg
• Taurine — 100 mg

Citrulline malate is citrulline bonded to malic acid, and the panel does not state the ratio, so the citrulline itself is less than 6,000 mg by an amount the label does not give. The three branched-chain amino acids come to 1.1 g between them, and they are in an unusual order: leucine, which is the one the BCAA research is built around and normally the largest of the three, is the smallest here at 100 mg against 500 mg each of isoleucine and valine. That is what the panel says, so that is what we print.

The eight lines add up to about 10.9 g of an 11.9 g scoop, which leaves roughly a gram the panel does not account for.

Worth knowing before you buy

On citrulline, this is the scoop that gets there. Trials use 6 g to 8 g of citrulline malate about an hour before training, and 6 g is the bottom of that range rather than a fraction of it. Beta-alanine at 3.5 g sits inside the 3.2 g to 6.4 g a day the studies use — with one caveat that matters: those studies dose it every day for four to ten weeks, because the effect comes from what accumulates in muscle rather than from the scoop you drink before a session. Taking it only on training days is not the same protocol.

Caffeine is 200 mg, which is 25 mg more than our other three flavours. Exercise research typically uses 3 mg to 6 mg per kilogram of body weight — 240 mg to 480 mg for an 80 kg lifter — so even this is at or under the low end. It matters mainly if you are already near your own limit.

About the tingling, because people ask. Beta-alanine causes paraesthesia — a prickling or tingling across the face, neck, scalp and hands that usually starts 10 to 20 minutes in and passes within the hour. It is harmless, it is dose-related, and it is not an allergic reaction. At 3.5 g a scoop, most people will feel it, and it is the most common thing we get asked about.

The branched-chain amino acids are the part to be honest about. 1.1 g in total is well under the 4 g to 10 g used in BCAA research, and with leucine the smallest of the three it is not the ratio those studies use either. Our BCAA powder states 4 g in the standard 2:1:1 if that is what you want. The 1.7 mg of vitamin B6 is an ordinary day's amount and is not doing anything heavy on this panel.

What it is: the strongest scoop in the range, with citrulline and beta-alanine at amounts the research supports. What it is not: a kitchen-sink pre-workout — there is no betaine, no alpha-GPC, no theanine and no potassium or salt on this panel, all of which our other three flavours carry. You are trading the extras for the dose.

How to take it

One 11.9 g scoop in water, 20 to 30 minutes before training. Thirty scoops in the tub, so on three or four training days a week it lasts around two months. Do not stack it with coffee or an energy drink without counting the caffeine you have already had.

Other ingredients

The panel we have does not carry an other-ingredients line, so we cannot tell you which flavourings, sweeteners, acids or colours are used to make this taste of watermelon — something is, because unflavoured beta-alanine and citrulline are not pleasant to drink. There is no capsule, so there is no gelatin question and no vegetarian question to answer about a shell. No allergen is declared on the panel. If you avoid a particular sweetener or colour, read the physical tub before you use it.

Cautions

Treat this as the caffeine product it is. Count the 200 mg alongside any coffee, tea, cola or energy drink you have that day, and note that caffeine taken within about six hours of bed can affect sleep. If you have a heart condition or an arrhythmia, high blood pressure, an anxiety disorder, or you take a stimulant medicine, speak to your doctor or pharmacist before using it. Several medicines change how quickly your body clears caffeine, so raise it with your pharmacist if you take anything on prescription. Citrulline interacts with medicines that affect blood pressure, with nitrates, and with erectile dysfunction medicines such as sildenafil and tadalafil. Beta-alanine's tingling is harmless but it catches people out the first time. Keep out of the reach of children. Do not use if the safety seal is damaged or missing. Store in a cool, dry place. Do not exceed the recommended dose. If you are pregnant, nursing, under 18, taking prescription medication or living with a medical condition, speak to your doctor or pharmacist before starting this or any supplement.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.