How well do homemade pre-workout supplements work?

[jrey20]

I am thinking about mixing 5g creatine, 5g beta alanine, 6-7g l-arginine, and possibly caffeine. How well will this work? How would its effects compare with a store bought preworkout, in terms of focus, pump, endurance, etc.? I have never made my own preworkout before, but I want to buy the ingredients in bulk to save money. Thanks!

[urg862]

Most likely you won't save a lot of money in the end and it will taste bad.. Also 5g of BA is not needed.. 3.2g per day would be better. I would drop the l-arginine and there is nothing in your pre-workout for focus..
The Creatine and BA are nice ingredients (esp Creatine) but aren't a must pre-workout.
I usually reccomended to just buy a pre that contains the ingredients you want

What pre-workouts have you used before and which ones did you enjoy?

[WaxyMaize]

just buy a tub of white rapids and call it the best month of workouts.

[desslok]

To save money just drink coffee or buy at costco.

[DamonX]

Depends on what you put into home made pre workout vs. the quality of pre-made pre workout you buy/ price point.

Some I'd gladly the full price for as they're properly dosed with everything I like.

If making my own pre it would contain this

200-300mg caffeine
One additional stimulant
2g ALCAR
250mg cdp choline, or alpha-gpc (these two are expensive, but you could also do choline bitartrate in a higher dose.. I just don't feel anything from bitartrate)
1g agmatine
3-4g L Citrulline
2g GMS or Hydramax Glycerol
2-3g beta alanine just for placebo

[jrey20]

Most likely you won't save a lot of money in the end and it will taste bad.. Also 5g of BA is not needed.. 3.2g per day would be better. I would drop the l-arginine and there is nothing in your pre-workout for focus..
The Creatine and BA are nice ingredients (esp Creatine) but aren't a must pre-workout.
I usually reccomended to just buy a pre that contains the ingredients you want

What pre-workouts have you used before and which ones did you enjoy?

I have used C4, ENGN from Evlution Nutrition, and I have been using MusclePharm Assault lately and really liked it, but I saw there was a lawsuit against them regarding amino-nitrates and their safety so I am afraid to continue using it. That's why I started looking into making my own, so I know exactly what's in it.

[DoIevenEat75]

i think double espresso works well with piece of black chocolate.

[BULLED]

i think double espresso works well with piece of black chocolate.

You're a smart guy, my friend, a very smart guy. Coffee and chocolate have a major drawback though, they does not provide a placebo effect.

[llahhsoj]

It will work fine but not taste good as long as you are hitting each recommended amount of every ingredient.

[SkyFlight23]

It will work fine but not taste good as long as you are hitting each recommended amount of every ingredient.

This. If you can, find some flavor drops to add to your mix to enhance the flavor.
When I was on a budget, I would have a cup of coffee to wake me up before I hit the gym.

[mtownballer20]

It depends on what ingredients you put in it.

[RVAPump]

they work as well as the ingredients they contain

so in your case...not that great

take Damon's advice...stims, focus ingredients, agmatine, citrulline, GMS

[WillBrink]

I am thinking about mixing 5g creatine, 5g beta alanine, 6-7g l-arginine, and possibly caffeine. How well will this work? How would its effects compare with a store bought preworkout, in terms of focus, pump, endurance, etc.? I have never made my own preworkout before, but I want to buy the ingredients in bulk to save money. Thanks!

Work compared to what? Obviously, it allows you to control what's in it, doses, etc. It may also save some money. Depending on what you use, it could work well to not at all. How well it works compared to a pre mixed product depends on the product.

There's no reason to add CM to a pre workout drink and it may cause stomach upset taken before a workout.

[omer46]

I have experimented with making my own preworkout.

How well does it work? Pretty good because you can decide what dosage you want. If you know your body and how it reacts, you can decide how much to put and what is the best for your body(I like a lot of caffeine and not a lot of L-Arginine)

Taste? HORRIBLE. Doesn't matter if I put Gatorade powder, crystal light, it still is sour and don't recommend it.

I just go back to buying preworkouts. It was a fun experiment, but not worth it IMO

[schneppy07]

I would just buy a good reputable pre workout. You will be better off in the long run then chasing your tail and trying to figure out what may work best and probably save money in the long run.

[XCriticalBenchX]

I am thinking about mixing 5g creatine, 5g beta alanine, 6-7g l-arginine, and possibly caffeine. How well will this work? How would its effects compare with a store bought preworkout, in terms of focus, pump, endurance, etc.? I have never made my own preworkout before, but I want to buy the ingredients in bulk to save money. Thanks!

Honestly.. that is a horrible combo imo.. go back to the drawing board bro.. srs. Creatine good, to high of a BA dose.. l-arginine is garbage.

Mike

[hossjob]

I would just buy a good reputable pre workout. You will be better off in the long run then chasing your tail and trying to figure out what may work best and probably save money in the long run.

Homemade pres are nice, but in the long run, probably won't save you money, and may cost you more. Products like Freak Maker Shock, Core Fury, and Al****en have excellent profiles.

If you are going the homemade route, like mentioned, drop the arginine, you'd be better suited adding a gram of agmatine and 3-5 grams of citrulline. Also, 3.2 grams of BA is ideal.

If I were designing my own I'd:
3 grams krealkalyn
3.2 beta alanine
1 gram gram agmatine
5-6 grams citrulline
300 grams caffeine

There are some other nootropics you could add, but at that point you're going price yourself out.

[stealth_swimmer]

Creatine isn't necessary preworkout. You can put it there for convenience, but it doesn't matter what time of day you take it. Beta alanine same thing, but I like taking some preworkout because I like that tingling feeling as I'm going to work out. However, 3.2g of beta alanine is your full day's worth, so no need to go more than that.

Like other folks are saying, citrulline would probably be more effective than arginine for pumps. I'd go with citrulline malate since it can help with strength endurance as well because of the malate. 6-8g of citrulline malate is the full dose. Personally, I like taking citrulline malate a little before my preworkout if possible because it takes longer to kick in than the stimulants. I usually take my preworkout right as I'm leaving for the gym. Takes about 20 minutes to get there so it's perfect. I find that for me, citrulline malate is best taken 45 minutes or so before I train. Taking it at the same time as my preworkout still works, but it'll start kicking in somewhere around the middle of my workout rather than at the beginning.

2g of Hydramax glycerol could be good as well to pull water in to the muscle for an extra pump on top of the citrulline. Also helps on leg day. One of the other posters on the forum mentioned how it can help stabilize blood pressure a little bit during sets of squats and deadlifts. I feel it has helped with that when i used it on leg day. I don't get lightheaded, and of course it feels awesome to get the legs pumped, lol.

[NattyBoyzz]

To save money just drink coffee .

/Thread

[EndoX]

simple and to the point.... and you get A LOT of bang for your buck! I love this pre workout stack...