*Review by Henry Fleming-Smith*
Pink vs Blue – A pre workout review
Working for Men’s health magazine and trying to never miss a gym session, means I have tried and believe me when I say this - hundreds of pre workouts. Some amazing and some... not so much. Pre workouts are a needed energy boost and helps better performance in the gym, especially after a long day when you’re tired.
For this review, it’s a combination of my opinion and a group of testers, all who have hard manual labour jobs during the day and workout during the evening for their honest review on IF supplements pre workout range – Pre workout 2.0.
We sampled the two most popular flavours, Blue Raspberry, and Fruit pastilles. We reviewed these not only for performance, but also for flavour and cost.
Nutritional information
First lets breakdown the nutritional information. Each serving contains 400mg of caffeine, which will be your daily allowance, equivalent to about 3.5 Starbuck flat whites. You know what caffeine is by now, but did you know humans have known its benefits for 1000’s of years?
Taurine, the naturally occurring amino acid, comes in at 1000mg, half of the daily recommended limit - the same amount will be found in one normal sized red bull. The main sources of taurine naturally are from animal proteins. The main function being, maintaining proper hydration and electrolyte balance in your cells.
Finally, 3000mg of citrulline. This amino acid is mainly found in watermelon naturally. It boosts nitric oxide production in the body, which helps your arteries relax and work better, which improves blood flow throughout your body. You can have up to 5000mg per day.
Taste Test
Pre workout 2.0, only contains 0.06g of sugar, thanks to sucralose sweeteners. The main problem I often encounter with other pre-workouts are that they are unbearable sweet. I’m glad to report this isn’t the case with Pre workout 2.0.
Blue Raspberry
All testers agreed, the Blue Raspberry flavour was pleasantly tart. You got a hit of fruits, that didn’t taste synthetic.
Blue raspberry, tasted and smelled like raspberries. Only a hint of sweet and the sourness was blended perfectly. The blue raspberry does have a hint of citrus fruits.
The blue colouring wasn’t frighteningly electric in colour but more of a subtle blue. It did remind me of Fortnite shield potions, however.
Fruit Pastilles
The smell of this pre-workout is divine. It smelt just like a pack of fruit pastilles upon opening.
Again, I am pleased to report the taste was not overly sweet and had a real nice hit of sour. The white powder was easy to mix into water and turned a nice pink, again not scarily electric.
The flavours are hints of cherry, watermelon, and citrus fruit. I used the recommended 250ml of water, and I found this was perfect for taste. If too strong in taste, simply add more water.
Performance
This is the section where most of you really care about and rightly so. You’re not taking this, simply for the taste but what benefits you will receive.
Up first, a tester who doesn’t normally take pre-workout and rarely has caffeine in general. He works up to 12 hours a day welding, and then comes straight to the gym. I have no idea how he doesn’t drink coffee.
He reported that his workout was productive. Energy levels increased but he didn’t experience any jitteriness, which I was wary of due to his low tolerance for caffeine. It kept my tester pushing hard in the most demanding sets.
During my workout, I was pleasantly surprised at my energy levels and feeling more productive then without any caffeine. I really got excited to workout, which is not always the case after a hard day at work when you feel sluggish.
I train mainly with strength and conditioning in mind, and I managed to get a PB for the push up challenge to Flower by Moby. Boxers will know the pain of that song. It was my first time that I managed to get through the entire song, after 3 weeks of trying.
Finally, a tester who is a powerlifter. He is constantly hitting PB’s and has gone from 180lbs to 235lbs in the last two years. He is massive and quite grumpy too. A man of few words, I was worried he wouldn’t say anything of use for the review.
However, I’m pleased to report he stayed for his workout 20 minutes longer than usual and said they next day, he felt hydrated and energised, due in part to the citrulline.
Verdict
Everyone agreed the flavour profiles of both drinks were similar. Easy to quickly drink, citrusy, tart, and tasty. Testers had boosted energy levels, without feeling jittery.
The cons were that servings are high in caffeine compared to some pre workouts on the market. Testers were fine, but if you have a low tolerance for caffeine, we recommend adding less pre workout and more water if this is the case for you.
The cost is great value for money, which each serving coming in at 60p. Pre workout 2.0 contains 30 servings for a very respectable £17.99.
Testers agreed, this is one of the favourite pre-workouts they have tried. Testers voted Blue Raspberry more for the smell and colour, than the taste as both taster similar.