Best 5 Pre-Workout Supplements – 2017 Edition

#1. ALTIUS

ALTIUS earns our #1 ranking because it’s simply a no BS preworkout compared to the rest of the competition. Lots of preworkouts focus too much on getting attention, making eye-candy visuals, and maybe even a bit of deceptive marketing and unfortunately, people often fall for those kind of companies. With Altius, the core of their product is their carefully researched ingredients and dosages.

ALTIUS supplies several noteworthy and staple ingredients in the preworkout industry: Citrulline, Beta-Alanine, Creatine, Betaine, and Caffeine. They even an added nootropic effect with the likes of Alpha GPC, a potent focus enhancer and all around brain booster. They top it all of with arguably the best absorption enhancing ingredient in the supplement industry: black pepper as BioPerine® and with every potent supplement, black pepper is always a welcome icing on the cake.

With all these great ingredients circulating through your system, don’t be surprised if you end up losing track of time and realize you accidentally doubled your training time because it’s really hard to stop once you’re in the zone and you’ll be in that zone a lot.

Quality Points

Premium ingredient forms, black pepper extract as BioPerine, and label transparency which clearly shows clinical dosages.

Unique Advantage

Formulation. Simple, synergistic, and super potent, what makes ALTIUS stand out is how it made use of seemingly common ingredients and made them work together for an awesome gym time.

Best For…

Smart lifters. People who purchase ALTIUS are those who know exactly what to look for in a preworkout and can see through the fog of colorful advertisements and exaggerated claims.

#2. RAVAGE

GNC is not really known to produce the good stuff but every now and then a little diamond in the rough comes out of the heap and RAVAGE is definitely sparkling. What made us love this preworkout is how it’s like one of those complete supplements that suck except this one doesn’t.

Among the many ingredients, RAVAGE has the likes of black pepper, caffeine, betaine, citrulline, creatine, and beta-alanine, ingredients known to pack a preworkout punch. We usually turn our backs on the idea of packing in more than a handful of ingredients per scoop but RAVAGE paired it up with decent dosages, something similar supplements fail at.

Each ingredient also serves a specific purpose and not just mish-mashed together for no reason and they did it through the use of blends for muscle growth, pumps, explosive power, and even a blend for the brain. Now if that’s now well-rounded we don’t know what is.

Quality Points

Good ingredients with potent dosages, complex but not complicated formula structure.

Unique Advantage

Covers all bases. Not many supplements succeed in having your back from start to finish but this one does and more.

Best For…

People who just want to drink one brand. Let’s face it: Supplements aren’t cheap and we often have to buy separate brands for separate purposes and sometimes we worry one will offset the other or will cause nasty side effects. With RAVAGE, you only need to remember to wash your shake bottle with every use and you’re good to go!

#3. Bucked Up

Bucked Up is what you become once you get this stuff into your system. Just like a charging buck with its really cool antlers, Bucked Up offers you nothing but the feeling of going for heaviest weight right off the bat! It does this with just nine incredibly potent ingredients, each one made to get you pumped for each workout.

Bucked Up makes use of potent ingredients for explosive power, pumps, and recovery but the main theme is what we call the “Mind to Muscle” effect as it also provides a decent serving of a branded form of Alpha-GPC called Alphasize®. We like this because being alpha is so much more than just having a bulky body but also involves having an equally bulky brain.

To maximize each ingredient’s effects is AstraGin which is a pretty potent absorption booster, similar to that of black pepper.

What makes it special among other preworkouts, and perhaps the main reason why it’s literally named after a horny animal, is Deer Antler Velvet extract. This extract is known for its T-boosting effects but we have to tell you some sports institutions consider this a banned substance. What we’re saying is if you just want to lift it’s alright but competing will be risky.

Quality Points

Alphasize, AstraGin, ActiGin, and a pricey Himalayan Rock Salt.

Unique Advantage

Mind to Muscle effect. Explosive lifts, massive pumps, and brain activation are all covered to make sure you sculpt your brain and body together.

Best For…

Modern day bodybuilders. When you say preworkout, the last thing you’d think of is having a potent brain booster as an ingredient but today’s bodybuilders are no longer the bros who always wear spaghetti straps to show off their huge gains. No, today’s bodybuilder recognizes the benefits of having a bigger brain and makes Bucked Up a noteworthy preworkout.

#4. PULSE

Legion is a company favorite when it comes to our supplement rankings, having at least one product in our Best 5 Fat Burners 2016 for Phoenix and now in our Best 5 Preworkouts 2017 for PULSE.

What makes PULSE great are really just three things:

1. Minimalist formula
2. Potent ingredients
3. Big ass serving

The first two are impressive enough but it’s the dosages that really made us say “Hot damn, Legion. You did it again.” One look at the ingredients and you know PULSE was made for just two things: Pumps and Performance.

The ingredients alone will make you tear up with joy but the dosages will surely bring back memories of seeing gifts under the Christmas tree on Christmas day. Yes, it’s that good.

Citrulline holds more than half the serving for maximum pumps supported by a good dose of Ornithine to make sure the pumps lasts until your done for the day. Beta-alanine and betaine will bring out the power in your muscles. This all rounds up with the best looking couple in any preworkout: Caffeine and Theanine. Both ingredients have equal dosages so you can get hyped up without worrying about crashing. The chaos meets the calm. Yin & Yang. That’s balance, bro.

Maximum pumps, explosive performance, and a balance between excitement and calm, PULSE is one of the most well-rounded and balanced preworkouts out there and has rightfully earned its place in our list.

Quality Points

Self-sustaining pumps that can last until the very last rep.

Unique Advantage

Balanced formula. No spikes or dips, each ingredient works harmoniously with each other.

Best For…

Stim junkies that hate crashing. Caffeine is a favorite stimulant but the crashing is a huge flaw so theanine here helps curb that flaw.

#5. Juggernaut X 

Supplements have pretty cool sounding names but the most awesome name belongs to Juggernaut X! I mean, who wouldn’t get psyched up after gulping down a bottle of that?

We originally reviewed its predecessor and we loved it for what it was but this new version just raises the volume even further. We’re talking about hitting 11 and the sound system only has 10 measures. Yeah bro, it’s that loud. 

Citrulline and Agmatine work together for big pumps, Beta-alanine as CarnoSyn combines with Histidine and Creatine as Creapure for optimum performance, muscle growth, and recovery. A good serving of Caffeine is here as a battery source while Tyrosine helps you get laser focus.

Each serving is guaranteed to make you feel like the Juggernaut himself so we urge you to be careful not to charge at walls because that’s what this preworkout will exactly make you feel like doing.

Quality Points

Creatine as CreaPure, Beta-alanine as CarnoSyn, and its Citrulline-Agmatine combo.

Unique Advantage

Vitamins and minerals.  If you didn’t already know, lifting heavy stuff makes us prone to disease since our body is devoid of most nutrients after heavy exercise so these minor ingredients are pretty thoughtful.

Best For…

Those looking for lifts and recovery. The science to getting gains is to maximize muscle recovery after tearing them down during training and Juggernaut X has outdone itself by adding a premium form of creatine and a good roster of vitamins and minerals.

There it is: Our Best 5 Preworkout Supplements for 2017.

As you reach this part of the list, you might have noticed a trend: Preworkouts are no longer all about raw muscle power.

The age of stim + peformance enhancer is all but over. The new age of preworkouts still revolve around improving muscular performance and endurance but the science has evolved to a point where a holistic approach has been preferred over an overwhelming spike on one end and with just a nice-to-have on the other. You get muscle power and stamina but you can double your results if you’re mind is also as alert and focused and the list we made reflects that fact.

Today’s formula trends also show the demand for complete stacks or multi-tasking formulas. Unfortunately, most companies struggle with this idea and end up with a lackluster supplement but there are those who somehow figure out how to cram 10+ ingredients in one serving while balancing costs and no matter how expensive they get, you know you’ll get your money’s worth.

ALTIUS earns our #1 slot due to how it provides clinically effective dosages on the get go while simultaneously providing a well-rounded and synergistic formula that will struggle with you under the weight of the iron.

Whether you decide to go with our #1 or #5, all of the preworkouts featured on our Best 5 list are worth their salt and have been strictly scrutinized based on quality, science, and even pricing economics. We do this so you can get all the gains you want in 2017.