What Makes PRE Special?

CREATINE

Creatine is one of the most studied and proven supplements to date. (1)  It works by giving your muscles the byproducts they need to rapidly turnover energy supplies. This allows for increased strength and power output as well as oxygen input. (2) Studies have shown creatine is also extremely effective at increasing performance for high-intensity, short-duration exercise. (3, 4, 5, 6)  

GREEN TEA EXTRACT 

Our green tea extract contains 50% of naturally sourced caffeine. Caffeine alone has been shown to increase physical performance and work output. Studies show that when caffeine combined with green tea extract in the most natural form, the body is able to burn more fat for fuel and improve body composition more than caffeine alone. (7, 8)  

You also have the benefit of added polyphenols and antioxidants that you normally wouldn't get with isolated, lab derived caffeine. These can act as anti-inflammatories and repair tissues. 

BETA-ALANINE

The "burn" you feel in the middle of an intense workout is not lactic acid as many believe. This burn comes from the build-up of hydrogen ions within the muscle cells from the byproduct of energy metabolism. Not only is this uncomfortable, it leads to unnecessary damage to the muscle tissue. Beta-alanine works to buffer out these hydrogen ions so you can power through the toughest high-intensity, maximal effort workouts. (9, 10) Researchers have shown beta-alanine as extremely effective in delaying the onset of neuromuscular fatigue. (11, 12)

BRANCHED CHAIN AMINO ACIDS (BCAAS)

When you start your workout, your body begins using stored energy (glycogen) in your muscles for fuel. When it runs out, your body will look toward your muscles for fuel. BCAAs help to bridge the gap and provide your body with usable energy so it uses the amino acids for fuel, not your muscles. (13) This leads to preservation of lean tissue mass and increased performance. (14) 

BCAAs also increase the rate of protein synthesis of lean tissues, helping you recover quicker and get back to workouts as soon as possible. (15)

ARGININE ALPHA KETOGLUTARATE

When your workouts get intense, your muscles are working hard. You need to rapidly clear the excess waste the muscles produce and bring in fresh oxygen for your tissues to maintain a high level of performance. Arginine AKG acts to increase the size of the blood vessels, allowing for easier transport of waste out and nutrients into tissues. (16) Researchers have shown supplementation of arginine AKG leads to a dramatic increase in both stength and the fatigue threshold of high intensity exercise, meaning you can burn hotter for longer. (17, 18, 19) 

L-CARNITINE

For your body to use fat as fuel for a workout, it needs L-carnitine. L-carnitine helps shuttle fat into the mitochondria, the energy factories in your body. This means you use fat for fuel, and not your lean tissues. (20, 21) Studies have also found L-carntine to be effective at increasing recovery from maximal effort workouts. (22, 23) 

DEHYDRATED COCONUT WATER

Sweating is a natural process of dealing with tough workouts, however you lose certain minerals in sweat that are needed for critical tissue functioning. Coconut water contains natural sources of electrolytes to keep you from losing excessive nutrients critical to tissue functioning when the workouts get tough. (29) This keeps you hydrated when you're working too hard to take a water break. (30)

VITAMIN C

Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant in the body which has been shown to speed up recovery time in between workouts. (31) Studies have also shown that vitamin C reduces oxidative stress within the tissues. (32) Less oxidative stress means less need for the muscle to recover. 

ALL-NATURAL FRUIT POWDER

The flavoring is a mix of all-natural powders derived from fruit. Using fruit powder not only is a much more natural alternative than other gut-irritating, cancer-causing supplement flavorings, it also offers natural phytonutrients that help act as antioxidants to reduce muscle soreness and inflammation post WOD. 

STEVIA

Stevia is a naturally occurring plant that when extracted, is 300 times sweeter than sugar when compared pound to pound. This is a completely natural source of sweetener, with no observed side effects. Sucralose, acesulfame-K, and splenda, used in other brands, have been shown to increase chances of tumor growth and impair gut function. Stevia is calorie free and has no effect on blood sugar. 

REFERENCES:

1. Terjung, Ronald L., et al. "American College of Sports Medicine roundtable. The physiological and health effects of oral creatine supplementation." Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 32.3 (2000): 706-71 http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/10731017

2. Rico-Sanz, J. E. S. Ú. S., and Marco MT Mendez. "Creatine enhances oxygen uptake and performance during alternating intensity exercise." Medicine and science in sports and exercise 32.2 (2000): 379-385. http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/10694120

3. Balsom, P. D., et al. "Creatine supplementation and dynamic high‐intensity intermittent exercise." Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports 3.3 (1993): 143-149. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0838.1993.tb00378.x/abstract 

4. Casey, A., et al. "Creatine ingestion favorably affects performance and muscle metabolism during maximal exercise in humans." American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology And Metabolism 271.1 (1996): E31-E37. http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/271/1/E31.short

5. Balsom, P. D., et al. "Skeletal muscle metabolism during short duration high‐intensity exercise: influence of creatine supplementation." Acta Physiologica Scandinavica 154.3 (1995): 303-310. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1748-1716.1995.tb09914.x/abstract 

6. Volek, Jeff S., et al. "Creatine supplementation enhances muscular performance during high-intensity resistance exercise." Journal of the American Dietetic Association 97.7 (1997): 765-770. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002822397001892

7. Dulloo, Abdul G., et al. "Efficacy of a green tea extract rich in catechin polyphenols and caffeine in increasing 24-h energy expenditure and fat oxidation in humans." The American journal of clinical nutrition 70.6 (1999): 1040-1045. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/70/6/1040.short

8. Westerterp‐Plantenga, Margriet S., Manuela PGM Lejeune, and Eva MR Kovacs. "Body weight loss and weight maintenance in relation to habitual caffeine intake and green tea supplementation." Obesity research 13.7 (2005): 1195-1204. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1038/oby.2005.142/full

9. Culbertson, Julie Y., et al. "Effects of beta-alanine on muscle carnosine and exercise performance: a review of the current literature." Nutrients 2.1 (2010): 75-98. http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/2/1/75/htm

10. Sale, Craig, Bryan Saunders, and Roger C. Harris. "Effect of beta-alanine supplementation on muscle carnosine concentrations and exercise performance." Amino acids 39.2 (2010): 321-333. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00726-009-0443-4 

11. Stout, Jeffrey R., et al. "Effects of twenty-eight days of beta-alanine and creatine monohydrate supplementation on the physical working capacity at neuromuscular fatigue threshold." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 20.4 (2006): 928-931. http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/2006/11000/Effects_of_Twenty_Eight_Days_of_Beta_Alanine_and.33.aspx

12. Hoffman, J., et al. "Beta-alanine and the hormonal response to exercise." International journal of sports medicine 29 (2008): 952-8. http://www.researchgate.net/publication/5307470_Beta-alanine_and_the_hormonal_response_to_exercise

13. Shimomura, Yoshiharu, et al. "Exercise promotes BCAA catabolism: effects of BCAA supplementation on skeletal muscle during exercise." The Journal of nutrition 134.6 (2004): 1583S-1587S. http://jn.nutrition.org/content/134/6/1583S.short

14. Matsumoto, K., et al. "Branched-chain amino acids and arginine supplementation attenuates skeletal muscle proteolysis induced by moderate exercise in young individuals." International journal of sports medicine 28.6 (2007): 531-538. http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/17497593

15. Blomstrand, Eva, et al. "Branched-chain amino acids activate key enzymes in protein synthesis after physical exercise." The Journal of nutrition 136.1 (2006): 269S-273S. http://jn.nutrition.org/content/136/1/269S.short

16. Maxwell, Andrew J., et al. "L-arginine enhances aerobic exercise capacity in association with augmented nitric oxide production." Journal of Applied Physiology 90.3 (2001): 933-938. http://jap.physiology.org/content/90/3/933

17. Camic, Clayton L., et al. "Effects of arginine-based supplements on the physical working capacity at the fatigue threshold." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 24.5 (2010): 1306-1312. http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/2010/05000/Effects_of_Arginine_Based_Supplements_on_the.21.aspx 

18. Bailey, Stephen J., et al. "Acute L-arginine supplementation reduces the O2 cost of moderate-intensity exercise and enhances high-intensity exercise tolerance." Journal of Applied Physiology 109.5 (2010): 1394-1403. http://jap.physiology.org/content/109/5/1394 

19. Campbell, Bill, et al. "Pharmacokinetics, safety, and effects on exercise performance of L-arginine α-ketoglutarate in trained adult men." Nutrition 22.9 (2006): 872-881. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899900706002425

20. Wutzke, Klaus D., and Henrik Lorenz. "The effect of l-carnitine on fat oxidation, protein turnover, and body composition in slightly overweight subjects." Metabolism 53.8 (2004): 1002-1006. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0026049504001647

21. Bremer, Jon. "Carnitine in intermediary metabolism The metabolism of fatty acid esters of carnitine by mitochondria." Journal of Biological Chemistry 237.12 (1962): 3628-3632. http://www.jbc.org/content/237/12/3628.short

22. Vecchiet, L., et al. "Influence of L-carnitine administration on maximal physical exercise." European journal of applied physiology and occupational physiology 61.5-6 (1990): 486-490. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00236072 

23. Karlic, Heidrun, and Alfred Lohninger. "Supplementation of L-carnitine in athletes: does it make sense?." Nutrition 20.7 (2004): 709-715. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899900704000942

24. De Bock, Katrien, et al. "Acute Rhodiola rosea intake can improve endurance exercise performance." International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism 14 (2004): 298-307. http://www.researchgate.net/publication/8452283_Acute_Rhodiola_rosea_intake_can_improve_endurance_exercise_performance

25. Noreen, Eric E., et al. "The effects of an acute dose of Rhodiola rosea on endurance exercise performance." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 27.3 (2013): 839-847. http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/2013/03000/The_Effects_of_an_Acute_Dose_of_Rhodiola_rosea_on.37.aspx

26. Abidov, M., et al. "Effect of extracts from Rhodiola rosea and Rhodiola crenulata (Crassulaceae) roots on ATP content in mitochondria of skeletal muscles." Bulletin of experimental biology and medicine 136.6 (2003): 585-587. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:BEBM.0000020211.24779.15

27. Darbinyan, V., et al. "Rhodiola rosea in stress induced fatigue—a double blind cross-over study of a standardized extract SHR-5 with a repeated low-dose regimen on the mental performance of healthy physicians during night duty." Phytomedicine 7.5 (2000): 365-371. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0944711300800550

28. Parisi, A., et al. "Effects of chronic Rhodiola Rosea supplementation on sport performance and antioxidant capacity in trained male: preliminary results." The Journal of sports medicine and physical fitness 50.1 (2010): 57-63. http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/20308973

29. Saat, Mohamed, et al. "Rehydration after exercise with fresh young coconut water, carbohydrate-electrolyte beverage and plain water." Journal of physiological anthropology and applied human science 21.2 (2002): 93-104.  https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jpa/21/2/21_2_93/_article

30. Ismail, I., R. Singh, and R. G. Sirisinghe. "Rehydration with sodium-enriched coconut water after exercise-induced dehydration." Southeast Asian journal of tropical medicine and public health 38.4 (2007): 769. http://www.researchgate.net/publication/5960194_Rehydration_with_sodium-enriched_coconut_water_after_exercise-induced_dehydration

31. Thompson, Dylan, et al. "Prolonged vitamin C supplementation and recovery from demanding exercise." International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism 11.4 (2001): 466. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11915781

32. Alessio, Helaine M., Allan H. Goldfarb, and Guohua Cao. "Exercise-induced oxidative stress before and after vitamin C supplementation." International journal of sport nutrition 7.1 (1997): 1-9. http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/9063760