Crazy Nutrition Intensive Pre-Train Review (2024)

July 16, 2022

There are many people promoting the Crazy Nutrition Intensive Pre-Train, including myself. If you’re a regular Lift Big Eat Big reader, you’ll know I only promote products I use, like, and has sound scientific backing.

This Crazy Nutrition Pre-Workout is one of them. And I’m always surprised when a pre-workout is properly dosed.

Who Are Crazy Nutrition?

Crazy Nutrition is a supplement brand under the Wolfson Brands company. They are relatively new launching their first product in 2021 with a whey protein supplement. Since then, they have formulated a mass gainer and pre-workout supplement which will be reviewed here.

After talking with the staff at Crazy Nutrition, they haven’t put together supplements willy-nilly with random ingredients. They have a team of nutritionists on staff that formulate these supplements.

While this doesn’t automatically mean the supplements are good, Crazy Nutrition have done their homework and developed a pre-workout that is dosed adequately. Let me show you below.

Crazy Nutrition Intensive Pre-Train Pre-Workout Review

Crazy Nutrition Pre Workout Review

Ingredients

In my opinion, 95% of judging a pre-workout comes down to the ingredients. Let’s start with the main efficacious ingredients:

Ingredient

Dose

Citrulline Malate 2:1

7 g

Beta-Alanine

2.5 g

Betaine Anhydrous

1.8 g

Taurine

1 g

Caffeine

200 mg

Ashwagandha

300 mg

What sets this pre-workout apart from others is every ingredient is adequately dosed. Many pre-workouts underdose ingredients just to state they have them in there or hide doses behind proprietary blends.

Starting with citrulline malate 2:1, 6-8 g is the efficacious dose with the higher end better for acute performance enhancement and the lower end for chronic supplementation [1][2].

For example, 8 g of citrulline malate taken 60 minutes before exercise increased reps to failure, reduced muscle soreness 24 to 48 hours after, and improved maximal grip strength [1].

When 6 g is taken over seven days, time to exhaustion increases with moderate intensity cycling [2]. Further, less muscle fatigue was felt after exercise compared to placebo [3]. How does citrulline malate increase your endurance and potentially your pumps in the gym?

It’s a vasodilator. Also known as a nitric oxide booster. You may remember the good ol’ days with NO Explode pre-workout. They tried to make a supplement that would result in the improvements in the studies above.

However, they had one big flaw. Using L-arginine. L-arginine is converted into nitric oxide in the gut. Unfortunately, nitric oxide is not well absorbed in the gut and you don’t get the vasodilation of the blood vessels.

Nitric Oxide

L-citrulline is converted to L-arginine in the kidneys therefore bypassing the gut and raising nitric oxide. Leading to increased blood flow to the working muscles.

But why citrulline malate and not L-citrulline? Research suggests citrulline and malate may work synergistically increasing ATP production and reducing lactic acid build-up prolonging fatigue. Therefore, Crazy Nutrition dosed this much higher than most pre-workouts.

Crazy Nutrition Pre Workout

Beta-alanine is another endurance supplement that gives you the tingly and itching skin feeling. This is a harmless side effect when taking 800 mg and above as it stimulates the creation of carnosine [4].

This increased carnosine concentration enhances the ability to remove acidic waste products accumulated in the muscle as a by-product of regenerating energy. Resulting in improving short high-intensity endurance.

For example, a meta-analysis shows a 2.85% endurance performance improvement when 179 g of beta-alanine is taken [5]. Not all at once! This is over 3-10 weeks. Endurance improvements are most effective in the 1–4-minute range which can translate to very high rep sets in the gym or long sprints on the track [6].

The recommended dose is 2.4 – 6.4 g with the 2.5 g dose in this pre-workout falling in the bottom of this range. But it’s not about the single dose size. It’s the accumulation over extended periods. So, if you workout 4 times per week and take pre-workout before each session, it’d be smart to find a pure beta-alanine supplement to take on your off days to build the chronic dose.

Betaine anhydrous is a newer supplement being added to modern pre-workout formulations that shows promise. It may potentially increase the anabolic environment after exercise by reducing the involvement of the AMPK pathway [7].

In layman’s terms, the AMPK molecular pathway turns on the endurance adaptation processes which turns off the muscle building pathway known as mTOR. Therefore, downregulating the AMPK pathway may increase the time spent in an anabolic environment.

The recommended dose ranges between 1 and 6 g with the 1.8 g in Crazy Nutrition Intensive Pre-Train fitting in this range.

Caffeine and taurine are typical energy drink ingredients that do well in pre-workouts. Most interesting is they work synergistically. A taurine dose between 71-3105 mg reduces the need for high doses of caffeine to gain a performance enhancing effect [8].

The greater the taurine dose, the greater the performance regardless of the caffeine dose. Typically, a 3 – 6 mg of caffeine per kilogram of bodyweight is the efficacious dose for strength enhancement leading to a 6.5% and increases the number of reps performed when lifting by 9.4% [9].

If you weight over 65 kg, you may see Crazy Nutrition is under the 3 mg threshold. However, with taurine added, only doses of 40 – 325 mg of caffeine are needed [8].

Finally, there’s Ashwagandha. While Ashwagandha is typically used for stress and anxiety relief, two meta-analyses have suggested there is potential for a 300 - 1250 mg dose to potentially improve strength, power, and VO2max [10][11].

If you are caffeine sensitive or train in the evening, they have now released a caffeine free version of the Intensive Pre-Train. However, they only have one flavor in the caffeine free version.

Taste

I have the fruit punch flavor which surprisingly tastes great. I say surprisingly because some fruit punch flavors can taste like cough medicine which I hate. Instead, this tastes like a tropical punch. Also, I’m not a fan of very sweet energy drinks and pre-workouts.

The Crazy Nutrition Intensive Pre-Train is in the middle of the sweet and sour scale leaving a pleasant taste that doesn’t make you feel like you’re drinking candy.

Mixability

Anything mixes if you use a blender or milk frother. So, I wanted to test it how you may mix pre-workout when you’re on the go. That is, in your shaker bottle without a blender ball and shaken, not stirred.

Crazybulk Intensive Pre-Train Ingredients

I used approximately 250 ml of water with half a scoop of Intensive Pre-Train. 450 – 500 ml is recommended for a full scoop so I scaled it back since I wasn’t training after drinking this. It mixed perfectly with no lumps or powder taste when drinking it.

Price

For a well formulated pre-workout, the price is great. Especially if you take a subscription which is worth it if you train regularly. A once off order will cost $39.99 if you want to try before you subscribe.

They have a unique 60-day money back guarantee so you can buy with no risk to you. If you decide to subscribe, you can save $8 per order if you train up to 5 days per week costing you only $31.99. Considering many underdosed pre-workouts are in the $25-35 range, you’re getting great value.

Pros

  • Dosed properly so you can reap the benefits of each ingredient.
  • A 60-day money-back guarantee, so you're essentially trying it for free.
  • Easy on the stomach.
  • Not too sweet or sour

Cons

  • Only 20 servings per container so if you train more than 5x per week, you'll need an extra tub each month.
  • Only two flavors

Crazy Nutrition Intensive Pre-Train Pre-Workout

Frequently Asked Questions About Crazy Nutrition Intensive Pre-Train

Intensive Pre Train Review

Is Crazy Nutrition Pre-Workout Safe?

Crazy Nutrition Intensive Pre-Train is safe when taken sensibly. That is using a single serving before you workout and not abusing the pre-workout and taking multiple servings each day. If you experience jitters or anxiety after taking pre-workout, L-theanine is a way to “take the edge off” from the caffeine.

Another way to reduce jitters is to have a high carbohydrate meal before taking your pre-workout which you should be doing anyway before you train.

Is Crazy Nutrition Intensive Pre-Train Worth It?

Crazy Nutrition Intensive Pre-Train is worth it if you want a pre-workout that will enhance strength, power, and endurance within the gym. It also makes a great pre-workout for cardio with endurance enhancing ingredients.

Crazy Nutrition Intensive Pre-Train Pre-Workout

References

1. Gonzalez, A. M., & Trexler, E. T. (2020). Effects of citrulline supplementation on exercise performance in humans: A review of the current literature. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 34(5), 1480-1495.

2. Bailey, S. J., Blackwell, J. R., Lord, T., Vanhatalo, A., Winyard, P. G., & Jones, A. M. (2015). l-Citrulline supplementation improves O2 uptake kinetics and high-intensity exercise performance in humans. Journal of Applied Physiology.

3. Suzuki, T., Morita, M., Kobayashi, Y., & Kamimura, A. (2016). Oral L-citrulline supplementation enhances cycling time trial performance in healthy trained men: Double-blind randomized placebo-controlled 2-way crossover study. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 13(1), 1-8.

4. Trexler, E. T., Smith-Ryan, A. E., Stout, J. R., Hoffman, J. R., Wilborn, C. D., Sale, C., … & Antonio, J. (2015). International society of sports nutrition position stand: Beta-Alanine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 12(1), 1-14.

5. Hobson, R. M., Saunders, B., Ball, G., Harris, R. C., & Sale, C. (2012). Effects of β-alanine supplementation on exercise performance: a meta-analysis. Amino acids, 43(1), 25-37.

6. Saunders, B., Elliott-Sale, K., Artioli, G. G., Swinton, P. A., Dolan, E., Roschel, H., ... & Gualano, B. (2017). β-alanine supplementation to improve exercise capacity and performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 51(8), 658-669.

7. Apicella, J. M., Lee, E. C., Bailey, B. L., Saenz, C., Anderson, J. M., Craig, S. A., ... & Maresh, C. M. (2013). Betaine supplementation enhances anabolic endocrine and Akt signaling in response to acute bouts of exercise. European journal of applied physiology, 113(3), 793-802.

8. Souza, D. B., Del Coso, J., Casonatto, J., & Polito, M. D. (2017). Acute effects of caffeine-containing energy drinks on physical performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis. European journal of nutrition, 56(1), 13-27.

9. Astorino, T. A., & Roberson, D. W. (2010). Efficacy of acute caffeine ingestion for short-term high-intensity exercise performance: a systematic review. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 24(1), 257-265.

10. Bonilla, D. A., Moreno, Y., Gho, C., Petro, J. L., Odriozola-Martínez, A., & Kreider, R. B. (2021). Effects of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) on physical performance: systematic review and bayesian meta-analysis. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 6(1), 20.

11. Pérez-Gómez, J., Villafaina, S., Adsuar, J. C., Merellano-Navarro, E., & Collado-Mateo, D. (2020). Effects of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) on VO2max: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrients, 12(4), 1119.

About the Author

I am a professional strength & conditioning coach that works with professional and international teams and athletes. I am a published scientific researcher and have completed my Masters in Sport & Exercise Science. I've combined my knowledge of research and experience to bring you the most practical bites to be applied to your training.

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