There are a lot of pre-workout products on the market – what does Bowmar Nutrition bring to the table? How does it stack up? Should you even care?
We’re going to answer all these questions and provide you with a clear picture of the pros, cons, and what you should use it for. You’ll be able to get your own idea of the product and if it suits your fitness goals.
Table of Contents
About Bowmar Nutrition Pre-Workout
There’s a lot going on in this product, but it sets out by following in the footsteps of tons of other decent pre-workouts, with caffeine, vitamins, minerals, and then compounds that are included to improve mental or physical performance.
The label gives a clear picture of this with a number of blends that are designed to meet each of these criteria. There’s a lot of variety, so let’s look at the source itself:
Bowmar Nutrition Pre-Workout Supplement Facts
Directions for Use
Bowmar is offering you two levels of use – one scoop or two scoops. In an interesting turn, a scoop and a half is about the perfect amount for a serious user.
However, we recommend starting with the one scoop and seeing how you tolerate it. You can increase intake over time if you want to and you can tolerate the dose. Take it with water – and preferably with carbohydrates – in the 30 minutes prior to a workout.
What’s in It?
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Vitamin Complex
Vitamins and minerals are good. That’s pretty obvious and they should be taking up significant parts of your diet. In a pre-workout supplement, they’re a good bonus but not central to the role of the product.
This product focuses on 3 key micronutrients: vitamin B3, Sodium, and Potassium. This isn’t the best combo around, but it’s a damn good one.
B3 is a metabolic regulation compound and we’re glad to see it because it can be useful for metabolism during exercise. It’s a little tricky to get in your diet, so this top-up can be useful.
Sodium is the classic electrolyte and it’s lost in huge quantities in sweat. Replenishing sodium is one of the ways you reduce the risk of cramping and support exercise performance – making it a great compound for endurance, once again.
Potassium directly balances with sodium, so the pairing of them is very important. Potassium is also useful for reducing cramping, so it’s clearly a great choice. We’d like to see the inclusion of calcium, too, however.
Calcium is one of the most important electrolytes, one of the most under-consumed, and it is directly related to muscle excitability. You can’t move your muscles if you don’t have calcium, and intake of supplementary calcium is also shown to re-balance the muscle chemistry after exercise, reducing muscle damage.
This is a good combo, but we can’t help but feel like Calcium would be a simple solution, especially when other compounds could easily be replaced. Speaking of which, let’s get into the other compounds in the different blends…
Pump and Volume Blend
This is where most of the benefits are likely to come from: it’s a combination of compounds that are already respected individually. It’s fair to say that around 80% of the overall effect from Bowmar is found in these four simple ingredients.
We start with Citrulline Malate. Citrulline is the most powerful nitric oxide booster on the market, which improves the delivery of oxygen and key nutrients to the muscle cells.
The benefits of this include better pumps, improved endurance, and likely better muscular recovery after exercise. These are significant in the short- and long-term.
Malate comes from malic acid – which is a cool compound all by itself. It seems to help with absorption, so you know you’re getting the best possible effect per milligram.
Beta-alanine is also a great endurance compound. It’s a significant player in the way you combat fatigue. It’s been shown to improve time-to-exhaustion and also has some general benefits to cellular and metabolic health.
Combined with citrulline, this is an even more fantastic choice. The combination of quality ingredients here is a good indication you’re dealing with a supplement that has a clear and effective plan.
Betaine is also pretty cool. It’s a form of hydration aid in its own right, but is also beneficial at a health level for improving methylation. This is a ‘general wellness’ effect and we’re always fans of those!
Agmatine is perhaps the least effective compound in this matrix. It’s a common choice – and especially in relation to the choice of Citrulline. However, its benefits are more closely related to pain and anxiety.
As a pre-workout supplement, probably not the best nor most exciting choice.
Energy Blend
This is a pretty standard combination of ingredients for improving mental energy and focus, so we’re neither impressed nor disappointed. It’s a solid approach to the ‘caffeine and friends’ blends you’re going to see in almost any good stimulant-led pre-workout supplement.
The caffeine is clearly the main compound in this blend. It does all the heavy lifting: it is closely associated with physical and mental performance. It’ll perk you up if you’re tired and get you more mentally aroused.
It’s about as well-studied as any pre-workout compound and does a lot of good. Manage your overall intake, but the use of caffeine is key in managing fatigue, improving power output, and actually wanting to train.
Tyrosine is an amino acid that is most closely associated with improving mood and combatting fatigue, which is pretty cool. It’s also an important part of the regulatory process surrounding anxiety control and mitigation.
This makes it a pretty good compound for bringing you to the right mindset for training. It’s easy to get over-stimulated if you’re just slamming stimulants. Tyrosine brings a little nuance to the proceedings.
Theobromine is another compound that has similar effects to caffeine, but isn’t affected as much by caffeine tolerance. This makes it a pretty cool counterpart to caffeine and one of the ways that you can get a lot from this product even if you’re not affected much by the relatively low 225mg caffeine intake.
One problem with this blend is that it lacks theanine, the ideal complement to reduce the negative side of caffeine, such as anxiety and jitters. This would be the perfect combination with caffeine and tyrosine, but it’s conspicuously absent. This is annoying, since there are definitely less useful compounds included in this product.
Bowmar are doing well with this product overall, but this is an easy change that’d provide a lot of extra value.
Focus and Absorption Energy Blend
This is a pretty underwhelming blend. It’s got a combination of really worthwhile compounds and some that are absolutely dull. This is an odd place to be, since we’ve already established Theanine would confer far more benefits.
Hordenine is where we start, but we’re not sure why. There’s not quite enough evidence to say that it’s effective for anything worthwhile – though it’s probably included because people seem to think it burns fat. You know, despite a lack of evidence on this.
DMAE is a good little cognitive performance booster and may help combat fatigue. These aren’t huge benefits, but they’re pretty decent when looking at it in the context of other compounds like tyrosine.
Choline is another compound that plays well with the mental support compounds in this product. It’s a building block of Acetylcholine which is a key mood and energy neurotransmitter. Choline helps, but it’s not a huge change if you’re eating a balanced diet already.
Evodiamine is a good extract for general wellbeing, but not very potent. It’s a pretty underwhelming choice when the space it takes up would be better used for other compounds – this is the problem of ‘meh’ compounds. It’s not bad, it’s just a worse alternative to other cool compounds.
Speaking of cool compounds, Piperine is our favorite part of this matrix. It’s a pro-absorption compound that is a great sign for almost anything, since it improves the permeability of the intestines to ensure your other compounds are being absorbed.
From a cost/value perspective, this makes Piperine the gram-for-gram champ of synergistic compounds. This is because it makes everything better – and especially when Citrulline Malate is benefitted by improved absorption and uptake.
The final compound in this product is just a generic plant extract that has generic plant extract benefits: mild antioxidant benefits, but nothing to shot about. “okay, sure” is our only opinion on this one.
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Bowmar Nutrition Pre-Workout Formula Analysis
At a macro level, this is a pretty good product. It makes some silly mistakes and questionable choices which could be the result of what better choices would cost. However, that’s not your problem as the customer.
The result is that it presents a great endurance supplement, but falls short as a general-use pre-workout supplement. That’s obviously a concern since it’s not clear that the intended demographic is endurance enthusiasts, and you may not be interested in that style of training.
If this IS you, then it’s a good place to be. It’s a quality choice and it’s going to fulfil a lot of the key roles you want from a pre-workout supplement. Thus, it can be useful in niche conditions – which makes it a great supplement or a really sub-optimal one.
The formula is good if it squares with your goals, but that’s something you have to decide for yourself!
We’d like to see theanine feature, and see some of the uninspiring ingredients adjusted out for something more useful. It’s a decent product but a few changes could make it a great one!
Bowmar Nutrition Pre-Workout Benefits
The benefits of Bowmar Nutrition’s pre-workout are generally tied to the endurance benefits of the product, as well as the benefits to energy and focus. They’re not extreme, but they’re notable and they can add up rapidly if your intended focus is endurance performance.
The main benefits are preparation for long workouts or training after long days. The mental performance compounds are a significant contributor to this product, as the performance-enhancers aren’t amazing. They’re useful, but not as comprehensive as others on the market.
It’s good but not the best.
Any Potential Side Effects with Bowmar Nutrition Pre-Workout?
The only real concern for side effects in this product is caffeine. However, the doses are closely controlled, and you should be fine with one scoop. The two-scoop intake is a lot higher, but it isn’t a problem if you’re high-tolerance.
You should always start with one scoop and assess your tolerance. If you have a known heart condition or caffeine-related problems, obviously you want to give this one a miss.
If you’re unsure or want extra peace of mind, consult a relevant medical professional.
Who Takes It?
Have we mentioned this product is good for endurance? Because that tells you that the people who should use this product are those who want to improve their stamina. It’s a product that suits runners, cyclists, rowers, and those in mixed sports.
This is even more true for those who are training at the end of long days – or on early morning training sessions. The strong cognitive focus makes it a product for perking you up and ensuring you’re ready for the exercise in the first place!
It can be a tolerable all-purpose pre-workout if you’re not bothered by strength and power. These aren’t catered to much in the product and shouldn’t be the focus if you’re considering this product – it’s just not that good for it.
Bowmar Nutrition Pre-Workout Summary
Pros:
- Effective basics, with some high-quality ingredient choices
- Some specific benefits for endurance with synergists and clear planning
- Generally useful and at a good price
Cons:
- Some near misses with better compounds
- Could do with a few less ‘meh’ compounds
- Doesn’t work well as a general-use pre-workout
- Doesn’t seem to compete well with alternatives on the market
Overall, a good product within the niche of an endurance pre-workout, but not a ground-breaking one. We like it, but we don’t love it, and we could comfortable recommend some alternatives, as in our top pre-workout supplements.
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Bowmar Nutrition Pre-Workout Price & Buying Advice
The cost isn’t huge on this product, but it’s not doing great on opportunity cost. It’s a product that struggles to provide value for money simply because it’s not keeping up with the things you could choose instead.
In isolation, it’s a good choice and provides value. But you’re never buying in a vacuum: you’ve got the freedom to choose and we’re just not sure what this product could do to make itself the best choice.
The price is good, the quality is decent, but the market alternatives are juggernauts. If you really like this one, then it’s a fair choice and you’re not going to get short-changed, which is reassuring.
- One-time purchase: $49.99
- Subscribe and save 5%: $47.49
Bowmar Nutrition Pre-Workout Review: Final Word
Our general opinion on this product is a measured approval. It’s not the best thing we’ve ever worked with, but it’s far from the worst. The very least we should say about this is that it falls on the right side of average.
It’s a better-than-average product, but that’s not enough to get us excited. The standards on the market are very hit and miss, which makes this a tolerably good choice but not the most enthusing one on the market.
This is a pretty great choice if you’re looking for something to support your endurance training. This is the main benefit of the product so it’s important to put it as your top priority, for the best possible returns.
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