If you are still wondering what’s the point of a pre-workout if not to give you a crazy boost of energy (aka Stimulants) then you are not alone (but you will be very soon…). We have to admit that only 18 months ago you would probably be put in a straight jacket for thinking about paying $30 for a Pre-Workout with 0 mg Caffeine. Well, these days are past, and a shiny new category has emerged out of literally nowhere. You’ll hear different adjectives describing products in this category, most commonly you will see references to PUMP enhancer or Nitric Oxide (N.O) booster or just stim free pre workout.
The Promise
With over 50 new products introduced just in the last 12 months into the stim free pre workout stratosphere, it seems that the supplement makers are settling on one main promise “I’ll bring you skin tearing Pumps and make your muscles look full as –BEEP—“
PUMP Me Up Scotty…
There are two major concepts behind the PUMP. The first being, well, it feels and looks great! Yeah, its temporary but still, I can tell you from personal experience that when you see yourself totally swole in the gym mirror with veins popping all over the place, you want to lift more. Now, the second concept is well, more of an urban legend, that when your veins are wider more nutrients flow to your working muscle and you get more anabolic. A word of cautious here, though it sounds like it might be the case, there is very little research that shows that this is the case. But those muscles sure look huge and hard 🙂
Key Ingredients to look for in Pump Boosters
You know we don’t like to go all white robes and start bombarding you with PHD talk. So we’ll keep it simple. Here are the top ingredients you should be looking for and the effective dose for them.
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- Citrulline Malate – Citrulline is a relatively new comer to the supplement industry but has been gaining a lot of traction. Mostly because it actually works. It has shown in (serious) research to increase N.O production, reduce fatigue and increase endurance. Dosage – 3mg-6mg
- Agmatine Sulfate – Has been shown to improve muscle pumps via the inhibition of nitric oxide synthase (NOS). Can provide better intra-workout energy and aid with mental clarity (focus). Dosage – 500mg – 1 gram
- hydromax glycerol – helps to prevent dehydration qnd increase muscular pumps. Specifically, it increases the concentration of fluid in the blood and intracellular tissues to a point of hyperhydration. Dosage -1g – 2 gram
- Nitrates – You’ll see these come as Glutamine Nitrate, Creatine Nitrate or other variations. nitrate converts to Nitric Oxide by various means, which means…yeah you got it, pump. It also has been shown that when binding nitrate with other ingredients it makes them up to 10 times more soluble. Dosage – Varies depending on the form of nitrate.
Other ingredients you’ll find on labels.
Beyond the above, as in most cases in the supplement industry, you’ll find a long list of ingredients on some products, almost as if the more ingredients you have the bigger the pump. As our label Supermodel, you can take a look at Rich Piana’s “Full As F*#K” which not only has arguably the best name ever for a Pump product ever, but also claims to have all the possible ingredients available on Planet Pump.
Indeed, that is a long list. Some of the stars of the list (beyond the must haves we mentioned above) are Beet Root Powder, L-Norvaline, Taurine & more. All of these have shown to have some effect on the muscle cell volume and N.O production but, frankly, not to the point it matters.
The Bottom Line – How Much & Is it worth it?
As far as research goes, the PUMP will come & go, but will not necessarily change anything long term. But yeah, we can tell you from personal experience that darns it, it’s a good feeling!
Prices for Pump boosters range from $15 to $35 for 30 servings. And yep, that’s a big range. We recommend you find a full disclosure label product that has at least 1 or 2 of the must have ingredients and you should be good to go. Buying a product with 10 pump inducers, will not necessarily make your muscles pump to infinity. From our experience, there’s no small pump and big pump…it either delivers or not.
Also, if you want to cycle off stimulants, but still want to ‘take something’ to get you in the groove, then these products can do the work. Otherwise, if you can afford it (or you get it on a deal :)) then stacking up your favorite stimulant pre workout and a pump product will give you the best of both worlds. Of course, you should always check out if we’ve hunted down an amazing deal on one of these and that could be a great way to experiment. And in any case, don’t forget to compare prices for anything Fitness on our site. You know better than to overpay!
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