Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Pre Workout Review

Optimum Nutrition is one of the longstanding names in the supplement world, they develop and produce quality products, everything from pre-workout to whey protein. Their reputation is solid and some of the stuff they sell is the best around, like there Gold Standard BCAA’s.

We are going to have a look at their pre-workout from the ‘Gold Standard’ range. Their stuff is normally a leader so we thought we’d give them a try and see if it meets our Gold Standard.

Ingredients and Nutrition

One scoop of this is 10 calories, that is 2g of carbohydrates.

Caffeine content in this is at 175mg. That’s about the equivalent of 2 cups of coffee, that is not too bad a start for a pre-workout.

Acetyl-L-Carnitine HCI have been linked to improved blood flow and alertness

N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine is a highly absorbable form of tyrosine which may help with stress and alertness.

So those are the ingredients related to the Energy and Focus portion of the pre-workout. Now, 175mg of caffeine isn’t the top of the spectrum for a pre-workout, this all comes down to the user and how he is affected by caffeine more than anything. High amounts of caffeine can bring about jitteriness and a longstanding hyper effect even after your workout has been and gone. That isn’t something you might want to be dealing with all day.

For the performance side of things. Beta-Alanine and l-citrulline are linked with improving blood flow and also endurance during high-intensity exercise. Creatine Monohydrate will also help with energy and provide more energy.

Asparagus root and ginseng root is most likely linked with immunity, this is a big part of the Gold Standard products with their BCAA’s also focusing on this. I feel like this is a good thing, focusing on the health of people taking the products will ensure you are in better condition to keep up your workouts.

What more and more pre-workouts are offering now is the inclusion of vitamins. I guess this comes down to more work to ensure the deficiencies that someone taking the product could be experiencing. B-vitamins and Vitamin D are linked to better energy levels, this is a pre-workout not just focusing on stimulants to pick up your energy but also deficiencies to help you have all-around energy.

My Experience Taking Gold Standard Pre Workout

I actually had a whole tub of the stuff and tried a couple of the taster sachets for different flavours. I am genuinely impressed with the product but to be honest I feel like it is a bit of a halfway house for a pre-workout and frankly a bit lacking.

I had actually had a week off the pre-workout due to a holiday so although my Vitamin D levels would have been through the roof thanks to a European heatwave I had held off any stimulants and pre-workout because there wasn’t a gym for a good 15 miles and it was a holiday. When I did try this I found that to have any impact I really needed to have at least the top dosage and sometimes more. The 3g of creatine per serving is a great idea though, i really found that the pump experienced with this is much more than others. But ultimately i think my requirements are for slightly more buzz from a pre-workout.