Pre-workout matrices (also known as NO reactors) are relatively new on the market and are definitely one of the most interesting categories when it comes to supplements. We always expect something more from them and we’re always making a big effort to follow new products that come on the market. Our experience with this category of supplements started before the end of 2017. And we have to admit, there were all kinds of products in our hands. Many of them are not even worth mentioning. Fortunately, there are also those who deserve attention and respect. Only these products get reviewed on our site.
This month we’ve been trying out Crazy Nutrition’s Intensive Pre-Train Formula for two reasons. It has been one of the most popular pre-workout supplements on the market for a while now. Also, given that we have tested two of their products so far (100% Tri-Protein and Ultimate CRN-5 creatine formula) and were extremely satisfied with them, we expect a lot from this supplement as well.
So, today, we’re taking you through what we experienced with Intensive Pre-Train Formula from Crazy Nutrition, what the science says, and how we rate it overall. Let’s see if it is worthy of its apparent popularity. We will also compare this pre-workout supplement with other famous pre-workouts such as MusclePharm’s Assault, Cellucor C4, and Optimum Nutrition’s Gold Standard Pre-Workout.
What are pre-workout supplements?
Pre-workout supplements (pre-workouts) are taken before exercise to maximize performance. Studies have found that pre-workout supplements increase power, endurance, alertness, and mental focus. They can contain a combination of stimulants, vasodilators (increases blood flow), nootropics (cognitive enhancers), BCAAs, and endurance-enhancing ingredients. Therefore, commercially sold pre-workout supplements may contain a near infinite combination of ingredients but will commonly contain caffeine, creatine, branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), and beta-alanine as the main active ingredients, along with some additional combination of stimulants, botanicals, plant extracts, and vitamins.
Do I really need pre-workouts?
It depends! Most active individuals don’t use them at all. Those who take them do so in order to ease the fatigue of an intense workout, and boost energy and athletic performance, focus, and mood during workouts. In our opinion, pre-workouts can be a good tool to use, if used as a tool and not something to rely on. Use them during extremely strenuous workouts of large muscle groups. There’s no point in taking pre-workouts just to execute a few biceps and triceps exercises. This is definitely not magic powder. It only helps you get more out of the good that you’re putting in.
Brief product description & key product features
We have gone through many different pre-workouts in order to find the one that we like the best (at least for now) – Crazy Nutrition’s Intensive Pre-Train Formula.
Description
INTENSIVE PRE-TRAIN formula is an excellent pre-workout supplement with a unique blend of 19 powerhouse ingredients to help athletes of all skill levels have the energy, focus, and drive they deserve to achieve their best performance, every time— without jitters, stomach cramps, or digestive issues. Almost instantly you can bring your training to a higher level by increasing your energy levels without the crash, explosive strength, focus, muscle pump, and drive.
Key product features
- INTENSIVE PRE-TRAIN formula is an ingenious new product from Crazy Nutrition.
- It brings a unique combination of citrulline malate, beta-alanine, l-arginine, l-tyrosine, betaine anhydrous, taurine, caffeine, and ashwagandha.
- Contains only high-quality ingredients that are all adequately dosed.
- INTENSIVE PRE-TRAIN FORMULA is ideal for anyone who wants top performance.
- This product is suitable for vegans & vegetarians.
- A decent selection of different flavors: fruit punch, blue raspberry, and green apple.
- No jitters, stomach cramps, or digestive issues you often experience with other pre-workout matrices.
Intensive Pre-Train Formula pros and cons
Key benefits of Optimum Nutrition’s Gold Standard Pre-Workout
- Contains ingredients that have been proven to increase energy (explosive energy booster), and promote enhanced endurance and mental focus so you can go longer and harder with your workouts. You will have the energy necessary to go through an intense workout, even if you’re tired in the morning or after work or school.
- Great steady energy (without crashing mid-workout) to get through the long workouts without feeling like your heart will jump out of your chest.
- Increases attention and concentration, and adds mood to training.
- Made with only premium ingredients (none of which are on the banned substances list). This is very important since the lack of synthetic additives could make side effects less likely.
- Great choice of flavors without any unpleasant artificial sweetener.
- Reputable brand (well-established supplement company).
- Doesn’t have that chemical “rush” feel that some of the other pre-workout powders on the market tend to have.
- Fast and free shipping is available.
Cons (key disadvantages)
- Each container is only 20 servings. If you train more than 5x per week, you’ll need an extra tub each month.
- The price is a bit excessive despite the fact it’s dosed properly with effective ingredients.
- Green apple flavor does not contain caffeine at all. It is well known that creatine and caffeine don’t mix well together – caffeine may counteract the performance benefits of creatine. However, since this flavor doesn’t contain caffeine they should put at least 1.5 g of creatine in this situation to compensate for the lack of one important ingredient missing.
Key product ingredients and their positive impact
Key ingredients in Intensive Pre-Train Formula
It pays to read the ingredients label before you invest in a fresh pot of pre-workout. Crazy Nutrition’s Intensive Pre-Train Formula contains all the ingredients necessary for an effective pre-workout supplement. In our opinion, 95% of judging a pre-workout comes down to the ingredients. Many brands use high doses of caffeine and then underdose effective but expensive ingredients, such as beta-alanine and citrulline malate. The result is a product that lists many of the right ingredients but isn’t much different than a strong cup of coffee. Fortunately, this is not the case with this product.
Let’s start with the main efficacious ingredients you can find in 1 serving size (1 scoop = 25 g)
- Citrulline Malate 2:1 (7 g)
- Beta-alanine (2.5 g)
- Betaine Anhydrous (1.8 g)
- L-Arginine AKG 2:1 (1 g)
- L-Tyrosine (1 g)
- Taurine (1 g)
- Caffeine (200 mg)
- Ashwagandha (300 mg)
Please note that we have selected only the most important ingredients. We can only conclude that Crazy Nutrition’s Intensive Pre-Train Formula contains all the ingredients necessary and that every ingredient is adequately dosed.
Therefore, don’t just believe what you hear on television, or what you hear people say on social media, but actually do your homework and educate yourself about the effectiveness of each individual substance that makes up the final product.
Positive effects of the key ingredients in the formula
Citrulline malate is an amino acid produced in the body and found in watermelon that helps to stimulate the production of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is a natural vasodilator that relaxes blood vessels and increases blood flow to the muscles. More blood flow to your muscles results in improved energy and endurance along with a bigger “pump.”
Beta-alanine supports your intramuscular buffering system to help you train harder and longer. Benefits of beta-alanine supplementation include a boost in explosive muscle strength and power as well as increases in anaerobic endurance and aerobic capacity, thus allowing an athlete to train harder for longer.
Caffeine helps raise energy, mental alertness, and sharp focus before you hit the gym.
Betaine Anhydrous may not have a direct impact on muscle strength or power, but it protects the integrity of your muscle cells by balancing the biological fluids in them. Furthermore, it facilitates muscle hydration so that your muscles stay free from fatigue for prolonged periods during your workout sessions.
L-arginine is often taken as a dietary supplement in sports for 3 main reasons: its role in the secretion of endogenous growth hormone, its involvement in creatine synthesis, and its role in nitric oxide production.
L-Tyrosine is an important amino acid responsible for boosting your mental health.
When and how to take Intensive Pre-Train Formula?
Crazy Nutrition’s INTENSIVE PRE-TRAIN is formulated to be taken on a daily basis 30 minutes before a workout, or whenever you’d like more energy and focus.
Add 1 scoop of INTENSIVE PRE-TRAIN to 16 oz (4,7 dL) of water, either in a shaker or in a glass. Shake or stir.
This supplement is not taken on days of rest. There’s no point.
When you continue to take any pre-workout supplement on a regular basis (daily), your body can build up a tolerance to its effects. Over time, you won’t feel the positive effects as strongly as you did at the beginning. This is why we advise cycling the supplement or coming off it for six to eight weeks at a time to give your body a chance to reset.
Flavors
You can choose between three flavors:
- Fruit punch
- Blue raspberry, and
- Green apple (caffeine free)
All three flavors taste delicious and refreshing.
Which company is behind this pre-workout supplement?
Crazy Nutrition is supplied and manufactured by WOLFSON BRANDS (UK) LIMITED, a trusted name that takes pride in leading the supplements industry for over a decade.
All Crazy Nutrition product formulations are based on the latest breakthroughs in sports nutrition. Their products are made with clean ingredients sourced from whole foods — and no garbage fillers to gunk up your system.
It comes as no surprise that hundreds of thousands of amateur athletes (and a handful of pros) lean on their formulas for boosting motivation, energy, focus, and strength.
How quickly can I expect visible results?
In general, advertisements for pre-workout supplements are some of the most exaggerated in the industry. Take 10 — 20 grams of powder and you’ll experience “highly explosive energy,” “maximum anabolic activation,” and “extreme training endurance,” they say. However, most pre-workouts are NOT as advertised. Are these products actually worth it, though, or are you better off popping a couple of caffeine pills or drinking an espresso instead? The reality is an underdosed pre-workout drink is not worth the money as you won’t get much more out of it than caffeine pills.
A supplement like Crazy Nutrition’s Intensive Pre-Train Formula (or any other on this planet) isn’t going to magically help you to build muscle overnight. Along with supplementation, a healthy diet and lifestyle are also necessary. Regular usage of Crazy Nutrition’s Intensive Pre-Train Formula supports muscle preservation essential in giving you a toned and muscular sculpt in response to your regular workouts (where you really push yourself to the limit) and adequate nutrition over the period of at least one month.
Crazy Nutrition’s Intensive Pre-Train Formula side effects
Crazy Nutrition’s Intensive Pre-Train Formula (just like every product of this type available on the market without exception) produces notable stimulatory effects. Therefore, people who suffer from stimulants or caffeine sensitivity should utilize it with great caution or they should choose green apple flavor – an option that does not contain any caffeine. We all have different thresholds when it comes to ingesting caffeine.
Most of the ingredients commonly found in pre-workout supplements have been studied independently, but the effects of combining these ingredients on blood chemistry, blood pressure, and heart rate are not well understood.
Keep in mind that this is a supplement that also triggers vasodilation (widening of blood vessels). This is a process that might be an issue for those struggling with pre-existing heart conditions.
That’s why it’s always a good idea to consult with your physician before you try this or any other supplement.
The same goes for pregnant or breastfeeding women, as well as those under 18’s and people who suffer from any pre-existing medical conditions.
The safety of pre-workout supplements depends on the combination of ingredients within each. We did not feel any unwanted or unexpected effects while using Crazy Nutrition’s Intensive Pre-Train Formula. In other words, no jitters, stomach cramps, or digestive issues.
Where to buy & pricing?
We recommend buying Crazy Nutrition INTENSIVE PRE-TRAIN from their official website.
They have fast and free shipping.
At the time of writing this review, the price for a single purchase (without a subscription) is $59.99. That’s almost $3 per 1 serving (25 g). But you won’t be wasting money on a glorified cup of coffee.
Comparison with other popular pre-workouts
This product stands out when compared to other popular pre-workouts today such as, for example, MusclePharm’s Assault, and Cellucor’s C4. Even Optimum Nutrition’s Gold Standard Pre-Workout pales in comparison to this product. You simply need to compare the ingredient lists to see where you will really get the properly dosed ingredients that are going to increase your blood flow, increase heart rate, increase focus, increase blood flow to the skin, and give you a little tingle. In reality, 95% of judging a pre-workout comes down to the ingredients. You should be looking for effective but expensive ingredients, such as beta-alanine, l-arginine, and citrulline malate. For example, Crazy Nutrition’s Intensive Pre-Train Formula contains even 7 grams of citrulline malate (compared to only 1.5 g in Gold Standard Pre-Workout), 2.5 grams of beta-alanine (compared to 1.5 g in Gold Standard Pre-Workout), etc. L-arginine and beta-alanine are nitric oxide boosting compounds whose main purpose is to increase blood flow to working muscles and aid in achieving a “pump”.
Summing up (Final verdict): Should you buy Crazy Nutrition’s Intensive Pre-Train Formula?
Yes! Crazy Nutrition’s Intensive Pre-Train Formula is a powerful pre-workout supplement crafted for athletes and bodybuilders with very serious goals. After trying countless pre-workouts and researching different companies and ingredients, we came across Crazy Nutrition’s Intensive Pre-Train Formula and we could not be happier! It’s a popular supplement designed to get you firing at the gym and make sure that you get the very best out of your sessions. If you take your workouts and performance seriously you definitely don’t want to settle for a second-place product. Finally, it’s time to get the legit pre-workout that’s as good as gold – leaving all other pre-workouts behind on performance and taste!
Rating Breakdown: Crazy Nutrition’s Intensive Pre-Train Formula
If you’re one of the millions of men and women who are fed up with cheaply made pre-workout formulas with excessive caffeine and a bunch of filler garbage that’ll have you rushing to the restroom, then this unique pre-train formula from Crazy Nutrition could be your one-stop energy answer for transformative results you deserve. Get this if you want to really hit it hard.
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