Choosing the right pre-workout involves aligning key ingredients with your specific training goals, for example strength or endurance training, or fat loss. At the same time, it’s important to understand how the body naturally increases energy and mental motivation and ensure that the product you choose works in alignment with the body and doesn’t cause unnecessary stress or inflammation, which can lead to harm and be counteractive to your training goals in the long-term.
With our medical background, we understand fully how the body naturally produces energy (ATP), the various ways to trigger energy production in the three ATP-creating pathways (viz. Glycolysis, Beta-Oxidation and the Citric Acid Cycle), and the physiological cost of each of these pathways. We have formulated both Workout Fuel products to respect your inherent physiology and capitalise on these natural energy generation systems.
So you’ve decided you want to use a pre-workout, you’ve identified your training goals, and you’ve decided to use a pre-workout from Phyto Pro because of our medical approach to formulation… How do you choose between the two clean-formula Workout Fuel products we offer??? One has caffeine, one is without, is the impact similar?
A Shared Performance Base
Let’s start by looking at their similarities. Both Workout Fuel products share the same performance base:
- Beta-Alanine, to buffer lactic acid during intense exercise. Lactic acid is created as your muscles convert glucose into energy and is related to the burning sensation felt in muscle tissue during workouts. But it also helps trigger healing and repair in the exercised tissue. We don’t want to stop lactic acid production, but we want it to only happen once the muscles have given everything they have! Beta-Alanine delays the lactic acid burn, creating a 60-240 second window for your muscles to push through high rep sets, circuits or intervals. NB lactic acid does not impact burning felt in connective tissue (stop exercising if this happens) or muscle soreness felt after a workout (this is from inflammation – our SPORT Active Recovery Protein helps with this!)
- Creatine, to actively and rapidly recycle empty energy cartons into full one’s ready to be used to power movement and activity. It does this by adding a phosphate group to ADP, converting it to ATP, the form of energy muscle cells recognise. As the cell uses up the energy in ATP, it turns down to ADP and needs phosphate (from Creatine) to power up again. Creatine in a pre-workout means more available power for better performance on short, intense efforts, and faster recovery between sets.
- L-Carnitine, to encourage alternative fuel use by muscle cells, i.e. use fat as fuel! L-Carnitine helps source fat cells in the body, transport them to muscle cells, where they can be used by mitochondria to oxidation. During high-intensity training, L-Carnitine also helps buffer against chemical byproducts that could cause mitochondrial dysfunction and derail energy production.
- Taurine, an essential cofactor that ensures the environment in which energy is produced and used is kept stable, clean and optimised for peak performance. Taurine provides antioxidant protection and calcium regulation, and ultimately reduces muscle fatigue and recovery time, helping you get back in the gym faster and feeling more rested.
- Malic Acid, a crucial part of the Citric Acid cycle, the main ATP (energy) production pathway of the body. Malic Acid directly fuels ATP synthesis, actively contributing to cellular energy levels and better mitochondrial efficiency.
- Shilajit Extract, to enhance the transport of nutrients required for energy production into the cell, into the mitochondria and through the electron transport chain. Shilajit Extract is a clean, natural and optimised source of essential minerals and cofactors required to keep all these energy production processes running optimally and smoothly.
As you can see, both Workout Fuel products are built on a solid base of clinically effective nutrients, that work individually and together to maximise energy production without harming your body. No trendy ingredients that bulk up the marketing game but add little value to the end goal of the product.
Next up, how do the two Workout Fuel products differ?
Workout Fuel with Caffeine
Workout Fuel with Caffeine contain 200mg of natural caffeine per full serving. Caffeine works by triggering adrenaline, the fight or fight neurochemical, and by blocking adenosine brain receptors, that receive signals of fatigue from the body. You feel more alert, more motivated and more capable for longer. Workout Fuel with Caffeine is perfect if you:
- Train in the morning and need a kickstart,
- Have fluctuating motivation levels,
- Have a high intensity workout planned, e.g. HIIT, Hyrox, or Crossfit, or
- If you respond well to caffeine, without triggering anxiety or jitters.
Workout Fuel with Caffeine does not use excessive amounts of caffeine to push more adrenalin out into the blood stream for longer. This has a steep cost, physically and physiologically. The performance base described above helps create a strong foundation that enables a moderate dose of caffeine to go a long way without leaving you wired for six hours or staring at the ceiling at midnight!
NB: when using Workout Fuel with Caffeine, take into consideration other caffeine you may be using through the day. One double espresso has up to 150mg of caffeine.
Workout Fuel with Nitric Oxide
Workout Fuel with Nitric Oxide, on the other hand is a caffeine-free pre-workout. It uses nutrients that trigger nitric oxide production to drive increased blood and oxygen flow into muscle tissue, leading to enhanced performance.
Nitric oxide is a molecule your body naturally produces to help relax the walls of blood vessels, widening them and allowing more blood, oxygen and nutrients to flow through to muscle and connective tissue. Better access to oxygen and nutrients means better endurance, stronger contractions and performance, faster clearance of waste products and improved recovery between activities.
Nitric oxide does not trigger the flight or fight response like caffeine does, and neither does it block the fatigue receptor. Energy feels different – less kickstart, more sustained readiness. And Workout Fuel with Nitric Oxide does not interfere with sleep. Use this product if:
- You train in the afternoon or evenings and sleep is non-negotiable,
- You have a caffeine sensitivity, e.g. anxiety, heart palpitations or jitters,
- You already use caffeine strategically elsewhere in your day and don’t want/need to double up, or
- If you’re an endurance athlete and want sustained output.
Can You Use Both?
Absolutely! A lot of people cycle between Workout Fuel with Caffeine for morning session or on heavy training days, when you need maximum drive, and Workout Fuel with Nitric Oxide for afternoon sessions and when they want performance without the stimulant load.
The two Workout Fuel products are not competing, they serve different moments and goals in your training week.
Both are built on a base of clean, physiologically harmonious nutrients, selected for their clinical functionality and ability to help your body process internal and external stimuli optimally. Trust that whichever one you choose, your pre-workout needs will be met and exceeded.