Preworkout is pretty awesome, but it’s always really expensive. Unless it’s homemade!

Making your own preworkout is a great way to save serious cash while knowing everything that goes into your body and getting amped for a killer workout.

Here’s a quick breakdown of:

• how to make your own preworkout
• where to buy the necessary ingredients
• a cost comparison of popular supplement brands

Not ready to make your own? Buy great preworkout on Amazon.

How to Make Your Own Preworkout

The best researched ingredients to make your own preworkout are:

1. Caffeine – 200mg
2. Beta Alanine – 8 grams
3. L-citrulline – 4 grams

(see the scientific research for each ingredient here)

Creatine, which is sometimes included in PWO, is not included on the list because it is not necessarily useful as a strict preworkout supplement. Instead, it should be taken whenever is convenient for athletes as a dietary supplement that supports power output and fatigue reduction.

Where to Buy Preworkout Ingredients

Here are the cheapest and most reliable places to buy caffeine, beta alanine, and l-citrulline:

• Caffeine
  • Amazon – Bulk Supplements: 200mg capsules (300 capsules) – $13.96 (5 cents per 200mg)
• Beta Alanine
  • Amazon – Bulk Supplements: Beta Alanine Powder (500 grams) – $18.96 (4 cents per gram)
• L-Citrulline
  • Amazon – Bulk Supplements: L Citrulline DL Malate 2:1 Powder (500 grams) – $22.96 (5 cents per gram)
  • Amazon – Bulk Supplements: L Citrulline Powder (500 grams) – $22.96 (5 cents per gram)
    • While most of the cited research only studied L Citrulline without malate supplementation, some claim that the malate addition boosts blood flow, enhancing energy. If you’re confused over which to buy, the truth is that it probably doesn’t make much difference for most athletes.

Scientific Research Supporting Recommended Ingredients

I highly recommend using Examine to help understand the published research for a given supplement.

The following snippets are all sourced from that site.

Caffeine Research:

(source)

Beta Alanine Research:

(source)

Citrulline Research

(source)

Cost Savings of Homemade Preworkout vs. Major Brands

Based on a recommended dosage of 200mg of caffeine, 8 grams of L-citrulline, and 4 grams of beta alanine, making your own preworkout costs about $0.65 per dose while almost always providing more of the ingredients that are proven to work!

Compare that to the leading brands:

• Cellucor C4 – $29.99 for 30 doses ($1.00 per dose)
  • 62% less beta alanine
  • 81% less L-Citrulline equivalent (1.5 g of Arginine AKR, similar to L citrulline)
• ProSupps Dr. Jekyll Intense Pump – $25.82 for 30 doses ($0.86 per dose)
  • 50% less caffeine
  • 38% less beta alanine
  • 81% less L-citrulline
• Jacked Factory NitroSurge – $24.99 for 30 doses ($0.83 per dose)
  • 62% less beta alanine
  • 25% more caffeine
•  ($0.62 per dose)
  • Even though this is cheaper, it has 10% less caffeine, 68% less beta alanine, and 75% less L-citrulline than the above recommended doses.

Not ready to make your own? Buy great preworkout on Amazon.

Conclusion

Making your own preworkout is cheapest and most reliable way to get the most out of your workouts.

Make your own today!