Without looking at the market stats, I’d have to guess that pre-workout formulas have been the fastest growing segment of the supplement market in the last few years. With so many supplements and studies looking at increasing energy, blood flow, and other factors, it’s no wonder companies are now combining ingredients into pre-workout formulas to elevate your game.
I recently tried out the Xyience Pre-Workout Booster. As pre-workout supplements go, this one has no big surprises, and I mean that as a good thing. With reliable go-to ingredients like creatine, arginine, and caffeine, you won’t see anything on the label that makes you think twice – just the basics put into one container.
Creatine and caffeine are the central components of most pre-workout supplements, since they have been proven to give a boost to your workout. Naturally, Pre-Workout Booster has both of these ingredients. The creatine level is 2.5g, which is half of the standard daily recommendation. This is likely because up to two servings is recommended at a time. I typically took one serving, so I added a little extra creatine on those days, but you could go either route here.
The Pre-Workout Booster also contains only 60mg of caffeine. I say “only,” but you’ll notice I put this in the “Pro” section in the chart above, and for good reason. Athletes (and people in general for that matter) tend to be over-caffeinated. I think most people would benefit, even athletically, with less caffeine use. Not only that, but desensitization can happen for people who consume too much caffeine, which means it won’t have its intended athletic effects. So yes, caffeine is often a backbone of pre-workout formulas, but I say “Bravo!” to Xyience for going against the grain and keeping caffeine low in this product. If you want more caffeine, chances are you’re buying a coffee or energy drink the same day anyway, so you’re all set.
The remaining proprietary mixes in this formula are, again, standards. Xyience includes citrulline and CarnoSyn beta-alanine for endurance, glutamine in various forms for recovery (although I don’t personally love glutamine supplementation), taurine and tyrosine for focus, and arginine and ornithine for blood flow and pump.
If you are sensitive to beta-alanine you may get the tingles from Pre-Workout Booster. This is normal, however, and something you’d experience with any product containing an equivalent dose. The dose is not huge (1g), but was enough for our Managing Editor to feel it. However, even when I took a double dose, it wasn’t enough for me to feel anything out of the ordinary.
I tried the Ice Berry and Fruit Punch flavors, and my reactions to each were essentially the same. They are mildly different flavors, not particularly fruity or natural tasting. They’re pretty standard flavor offerings on a product of this type. Expect a Kool-Aid-esque experience. I’m not sure it really matters which flavor you get. Neither of them tasted bad, but likewise, neither was special. Each of the flavors I tried was sweetened with sucralose.
Now for the bottom line: how well this product works. You’ll definitely get a non-jittery, non-stimulation-based boost to your workout. Outside of normal ebbs and flows in strength, I noticed a solid workout every time I took it, even at only one serving, and others who tried it had the same experience. I’m not sure I noticed any difference in focus, but that’s not a big deal for this particular product.
The Xyience Pre-Workout Booster is a good product for people looking to enhance their workout without getting jacked up on stimulants. And at a fair price per serving, all in all, the Pre-Workout Booster is a product worth checking out if you’re looking for an alternative to overly-caffeinated formulas. If you prefer more caffeine, maybe this is a good time to wean yourself off high-dose self-medication by checking this product out.
Xyience Pre-Workout Booster is available for $34.89 at Bodybuilding.com.
