Dozens of pre-workout supplements and you don't know which one to choose.

You look at the ingredients and it gets even more confusing.

Some work, others not at all.

We decided to come up with a formula to create your own homemade pre-workout supplement.

This combination is intended to be simple, effective, economical and versatile.

It had to be useful regardless of the objective, be it gaining muscle mass, losing fat or achieving better sports performance.

We only selected four ingredients, so don't worry, you won't need any laboratory, the kitchen will do.

But first of all, why create your own pre-workout?

3 reasons to create your own homemade pre-workout

Choose the ingredients that work

While in the case of a pre-workout supplement you are subject to the ingredients used by the brand, when creating your own, you decide the ingredients.

This means that you can put aside the ingredients that don't matter, and use only those that are really effective, and that adapt to your goals.

Furthermore, it is much easier to discover those that work with you, and those that do not.

You can adapt the doses to your measure

When opting for a pre-workout already done, you are subject to the doses used by the brand, and many times, these are not the best.

If the supplement you purchased has only 2.5g of Citrulline per dose, and you decide to increase it to two doses to get the ideal amount, you will increase all the other ingredients.

In most cases this means two things.

That the supplement will end quickly, and that you will have an excessive dose of caffeine.

In addition, you can adapt not only the dose, but also the ingredients to be used.

For example, if you have days that you train at night, you can (and should) easily remove the caffeine from your pre-workout, and keep the rest that does not harm your sleep.

Do I train in the morning the next day?

Just add Caffeine, in the ideal dose for you.

Cheaper

Finally, your homemade pre-workout is cheaper than any of the pre-workouts on the market.

You will hardly find a supplement that uses the right ingredients, in the right doses, at a price that equates to buying the ingredients individually.

You will be able to confirm this further down.

The four ingredients

Now that you have some reasons to create your own homemade pre-workout, it's time to move on to the ingredients to use.

Here are four suggestions to use before training.

Caffeine

We start with the most known and obvious ingredient, Caffeine.

Caffeine is found mainly in coffee and has a stimulating effect.

It is the main energy ingredient in this formula, and will allow you to get more out of your training.

It also has a slight thermogenic effect, which will lead you to burn more fat if that is your goal.

As for the dose to be used, if you don't drink coffee, choose to start with 100mg, if you are already used to using coffee, use between 150mg to 200mg of caffeine.

You can, of course, use coffee as your source of caffeine.

The ideal is to adjust the dose according to your sensitivity to caffeine.

Tyrosine

Tyrosine is an amino acid naturally present in foods, and is currently extremely common in pre-workout supplements.

Because?

Tyrosine makes an excellent synergy with Caffeine, and expands its positive effects.

You can train with greater concentration and energy, and thus get more out of training.

Use 1g to start, and if it is not enough, go up to 2g.

You have here some more information about Tyrosine.

Citrulline

If you read ours guide on Citrulline, you already know what you're doing here.

It is an ingredient present in almost all pre-workouts on the market, but unfortunately, few use an effective dose.

This amino acid will reduce fatigue and improve your performance in training, allowing for more sets, repetitions and loads.

In addition, it will also reduce post-workout pain and increase vasodilation.

Use between 6g to 8g in the form of Citrulline Malate or between 3g to 5g if you choose L-Citrulline.

Prepare yourself not only for more intense workouts, but also for a much more obvious pump.

To learn more about Citrulline, see here our guide on this amino acid.

Beta-Alanine

Finally, Beta-Alanine.

This supplement improves your performance in the gym, and therefore you will get more reps, more sets and consequently better results.

If you are in the fat loss phase, Beta-Alanine is very good for increasing resistance in cardio training.

This supplement, unlike Caffeine and Citrulline, should be taken every day and not just pre-workout, and the dose should be between 2g to 5g daily.

It starts with the smallest dose, and divides into two doses, since higher doses taken at once usually cause the famous tingling, which although harmless, is unnecessary.

You have a complete article on Beta-Alanine here.

Pricing

The formula is simple, with only four ingredients, and all of them are effective.

It remains to be seen whether the objective of creating a pre-workout not only effective, but also economical, has been achieved.

We used the values practiced by Myprotein for these supplements, without discounts, to calculate the price of this formula.

The weekly value of this combination if you train four times a week is 3.23? and monthly you get around 13?.

Yes, your homemade pre workout supplement will only cost you 3.23? weekly, less than a Happy Meal at McDonalds.

This includes 200mg of caffeine per workout, 1g of tyrosine per workout, 6g of Citrulline Malate per workout and 2.5g of Beta-Alanine daily.

That is, the recommended doses for each of the ingredients.

Products used for calculation

Caffeine

Tyrosine

Citrulline

Beta-Alanine

What to expect from this formula?

This combination of ingredients is primarily intended to improve your training performance.

You will feel more energy, concentration, resistance and strength.

You will notice a more pronounced pump and the loads you used last week will look lighter.

Now, you need to make an effort in training, and take advantage of this combination.

None of these ingredients will give you muscle mass if you don't do it.

When you get better workouts, more intense and with higher loads, you will have better results.

This is what this pre workout will do for you, give you better workouts.

So what about Creatine ?!

Creatine could have been included, but it wasn't.

Because?

First, because it is more advantageous to use it post-workout and not pre-workout, especially in the short/medium term.

Second, because in the fat loss phase, fluid retention caused by creatine can be unpleasant, especially in people who are more susceptible to this type of effect.

Does this mean that Creatine is bad?

Do not.

If you're looking to gain muscle, Creatine is probably the best supplement you can use, so adding 5g after training is a good idea.

You will find our complete guide to Creatine here.

Conclusion

As promised at the beginning of the article, the formula is simple, economical and there are several studies proving the effectiveness of all the ingredients.

Attention, effective does not mean miraculous.

If you do 60kg of bench press today, you will not switch to 100kg of bench press tomorrow.

It can be used at any stage you are in, and they are safe ingredients, as long as you respect the recommended doses.

You can of course add more ingredients, if necessary, or remove, if you want something more basic.

Oh, and of course, don't forget the most important.

Training, diet and rest.

Only then does supplementation come.

Did you add any ingredients to this formula? Tell us which one in the comments below.