The 7 Best Natural Pre-Workouts in 2023

If you are dedicated to your training regime, you will likely be concerned about what you are putting in your body. This will likely steer you away from pre-workout supplements that are loaded with caffeine and sugar.

However, pre-workout supplements can seriously improve your athletic performance, so you’ll almost be holding yourself back by not using them. Thankfully, there are some pre-workout supplement options that include more natural ingredients and are almost just as effective.

In this piece, we will discuss the best natural pre-workout options that can help you improve your physical performance.

The 7 Best Natural Pre-Workouts

1. Lean – Transparent Labs
2. Stim-Free – Transparent Labs
3. Green Tea Extract
4. Beetroot Powder
5. Pre-Workout – Naked Nutrition
6. NitroSurge Natural – Jacked Factory
7. Altius – Jacked Factory

Best Overall Natural Pre-Workout – Transparent Labs – Lean

If you are looking for an organic pre-workout, then Transparent Labs’ Lean pre-workout supplement will be your best bet. It features 21 active ingredients, with many of them acting as fat burners that will help when you are cutting.

If you’re in a caloric deficit, then this pre-workout can also give you a much-needed energy boost if you’re being affected by brain fog. Nearly all of the ingredients included in this pre-workout powder should ensure you have a solid workout and develop lean muscle mass over time.

This makes it one of the best pre-workout supplements on the market if you want to go the natural route. We even included it in our list of the best clean pre-workout supplements!

Key Ingredients

• Citrulline Malate – 6,000 mg
• Beta-Alanine – 2,000 mg
• BCAA – 2,500 mg
• Betaine Anhydrous – 1,500 mg
• Acetyl L-Carnitine – 630 mg
• Choline Bitartrate – 500 mg
• L-Theanine – 360 mg
• Caffeine Anhydrous – 180 mg
• Theobromine – 50 mg
• Dicaffeine Malate – 40 mg
• BioPerine – 5 mg

Best Natural Pre-Workout Without Caffeine – Stim-Free – Transparent Labs

You might think that caffeine is one of the most important components of pre-workouts. However, there are a few caffeine-free options that work just as well.

This stimulant-free pre-workout features healthy doses of creatine and betaine to help boost power, tyrosine and taurine to improve focus, and beta-alanine to improve endurance exercise performance. This offering from Transparent Labs might be a little pricey, but you’ll be getting your money’s worth.

This pre-workout supplement might be a little intense for beginners, so it is better to start with a smaller dose if you are new to pre-workout.

Key Ingredients

• Citrulline Malate – 6,000 mg
• Beta-Alanine – 4,000 mg
• BCAA – 4,000 mg
• Betaine Anhydrous – 2,500 mg
• Taurine – 1,300 mg
• L-Tyrosine – 1,000 mg
• Choline Bitartrate – 500 mg
• Ancient Peat and Apple Fruit Extract – 150 mg
• BioPerine – 5 mg
• Huperzine A – 50 mcg

Best Unflavored Natural Pre-Workout – Naked Energy

Trying to find vegan pre-workouts is no easy feat, as some pre-workout supplements have long lists of ingredients we’ve sometimes never heard of.

If you’ve found yourself in this predicament, then Naked Energy has you covered. This pre-workout supplement contains no animal products but can help with better exercise performance, mental focus, and faster recovery.

It is able to achieve this through its blend of B-complex vitamins, beta-alanine, and caffeine.

Key Ingredients

• Beta Alanine – 2,000 mg
• Creatine Monohydrate – 1,000 mg
• L-Arginine – 1,000 mg
• Vitamin C – 333 mg
• Caffeine – 200 mg
• Vitamin B3 – 40 mg
• Vitamin B6 – 667 mcg
• Folate – 333 mcg
• Vitamin B12 – 47 mcg
• Calcium – 27 mcg

Best Natural Pre-Workout Ingredient For Energy – Green Tea Extract

If you still want caffeine in your organic pre-workout supplement, but don’t want it to come from an unnatural source, then this tea is your best bet. It is loaded with natural caffeine that will give you all the energy you need for a workout.

Green tea is also known to improve recovery after a training session, as it can help reduce muscle soreness. It will also be suitable for vegan and vegetarian diets. If you are looking for a vegan-friendly pre-workout that is about as natural as can be, you needn’t look any further than this all-natural pre-workout.

Key Ingredients

• Green tea (50% polyphenols) – 500 mg

Best Natural Pre-Workout Ingredient For Endurance – Beetroot Powder

If you want to improve blood flow and increase your endurance so you can train harder and longer, then beetroot powder is the answer. Beetroot is extremely high in antioxidants and can give you the natural energy boost you need while still being caffeine-free.

It also has the added benefit of being great for your cardiovascular health and can help keep your blood pressure down. This is why beetroot powder can also help you sustain energy for longer as well.

Beetroot does this by providing nitrate, which is converted into nitric oxide by our bodies. Nitric oxide causes blood vessels to expand, lowering blood pressure and improving blood flow in the process.

Key Ingredients

• Beetroot powder – 3,500 mg

Best Budget Natural Pre-Workout – NitroSurge Natural – Jacked Factory

This Jacked Factory pre-workout supplement differs from other pre-workout supplements on the market, as it provides bang for your buck and doesn’t overdo it with any ingredients.

It still includes all of the best pre-workout ingredients that you would expect to find. These include beta-alanine, betaine, caffeine, and theanine. These amino acids help with strength and power, while the caffeine can provide you with energy.

Thankfully, none of these ingredients are included in excessive quantities, so you won’t feel too wired after taking a dose, but it will still help boost energy levels.

Key Ingredients

• L-Citrulline – 3,000 mg
• Beta-Alanine – 1,600 mg
• Betaine Anhydrous – 1,250 mg
• Organic Caffeine – 1,800 mg
• L-Theanine – 90 mg
• SenActiv – 25 mg
• Astragin – 25mg

Honorable Mention – Altius – Jacked Factory

While this Jacked Factory offering might not be the best organic pre-workout on the market, it does provide quite a few benefits.

Like the other pre-workout supplements on this list, it contains no artificial sweeteners or flavors but can still provide you with the energy you need for a successful workout. Many consumers noted that it provided them with a boost in strength and helped reduce fatigue.

This pre-workout powder is able to achieve this with its excellent blend of amino acids, B-complex vitamins, and caffeine.

Key Ingredients

• Citrulline Malate – 8,000 mg
• Beta-Alanine – 3,200 mg
• Creatine Monohydrate – 3,000 mg
• Betaine Anhydrous – 2,500 mg
• Caffeine Anhydrous – 325 mg
• Astragin – 30 mg
• Alpha-Glyceryl Phosphoryl Choline – 300 mg

What You Should Look For When Choosing A Natural Pre-Workout Supplement

If you’re in the market for an organic pre-workout supplement, there are some factors you should consider before you make your purchase.

Fully disclosed ingredient label

If you are specifically looking for an organic pre-workout, it will be incredibly important for the product you choose to have a fully disclosed ingredient label.

This will help you determine if any artificial sweeteners have been used in a product, which can help you gauge just how natural a product is. The ingredient label can also give you an idea of what the pre-workout supplement is meant to be used for.

While there are many standard pre-workouts on the market, some are also designed to act as fat burners as well.

Clinical doses of key ingredients

Another important factor to consider when choosing between different pre-workouts is how much of each key ingredient they include.

While it is important to include all the right ingredients, it is just as important to include them in the correct doses. Otherwise, you could experience adverse effects or notice no effects at all.

We will list some key ingredients below, as well as their ideal doses.

Branched-chain Amino acids

These essential amino acids cannot be produced by our bodies naturally and, therefore, need to be consumed by eating protein-rich food. They are also commonly found in many supplements and pre-workouts due to some of the benefits they offer.

They have been scientifically proven to decrease muscle soreness, delay muscle fatigue, and even improve liver health.

The recommended dose of BCAAs is 3 grams if you weigh less than 150 lbs or 5 to 10 grams if you weigh more than that.

L-Citrulline or Citrulline Malate

L-Citrulline is a non-essential amino acid that produces nitric oxide. Nitric oxide causes your blood vessels to dilate, which increases your blood flow. This increase in blood flow makes it easier for oxygen and other nutrients to get to your muscles.

Citrulline Malate is L-Citrulline combined with malic acid, which further increases bioavailability and absorption rates.

The recommended dose for L-Citrulline is 4 grams, but the recommended dose for Citrulline Malate is 6 grams.

Betaine Anhydrous

Betaine Anhydrous is a substance that is found in the body, and when supplemented in the correct doses, it can improve hydration, power and stimulate water-based pumps.

The recommended dose for Betaine Anhydrous is 2.5 grams.

Creatine hydrochloride

Creatine Hydrochloride is the salt form of the amino acid Creatine Monohydrate, which makes it more soluble and bioavailable. It is known to reduce fatigue during a workout and also improve both power and strength.

The recommended dose for Creatine HCL is 750 mg.

Creatine Monohydrate

Creatine Monohydrate functions in the same way that Creatine HCL does. However, you will need to consume a higher dose to get the same results, as it is less bioavailable.

The recommended dose for Creatine Monohydrate is 3 grams.

Agmatine Sulfate

Agmatine Sulfate helps produce nitric oxide and, therefore, increases your energy levels and improves your overall workout performance. It can also help if you are looking to get a pump from your pre-workout as well.

The recommended dose for Agmatine Sulfate is 1 gram.

Caffeine

While caffeine is not an essential ingredient for an organic pre-workout. Supplements that contain it will stimulate you more than caffeine-free supplements. Caffeine is also known to reduce muscle soreness, help with fat burning, and can improve your metabolism.

You shouldn’t consume more than 400 mg of caffeine per day. This means if your pre-workout contains caffeine, you should go easy on the coffee during the day, or you could end up crashing mid-workout.

Beta-Alanine

Beta-Alanine is a compound that can reduce lactic acid buildup in your muscles. This means that it can allow you to train harder without being affected by muscle fatigue. It is also known to increase muscle growth.

You should only consume between 1.5 to 5 grams per day. Consuming more than this may make you feel a tingling sensation that can be uncomfortable to some.

This will be due to your blood flowing rapidly as a result of the compound.

B vitamins

If you want a holistic pre-workout supplement that won’t just give you a boost of energy, then you should check to see if B Vitamins are part of the ingredients.

The most common examples you will find are niacin and Vitamin B12. These vitamins won’t just help you out with a burst of energy but will also help build up your long-term energy and metabolism.

The recommended dosage of B vitamins is 2.4 mcg. However, you can easily take a lot more than that without doing any harm.

Choose a well-known brand that people trust

If you’re going to take a pre-workout supplement, it will be best to choose a brand that is well-known and respected in the industry.

Transparent Labs lives up to its brand name in this regard. The manufacturer posts all of their certificates of composition and analysis online. This allows prospective consumers to see what is actually going into their pre-workout.

What Does “Natural” Mean When It Comes To Nutritional Supplements?

The word natural is highly overused in the food and supplement industry as it has a positive connotation. The term often causes people to think that the word natural makes a product more healthy.

Unfortunately, the FDA has been unable to establish solid rules regarding the term “natural.” However, the organization does have a longstanding policy regarding the use of the word “natural” in human food labeling.

The policy states that the term “natural” must mean that no artificial ingredients have been included in a product. This includes color additives regardless of where they have been sourced from.

While the term “natural” has not been properly defined, if you are looking for a pre-workout that is more natural than other products on the market, then you should look out for these terms:

• No artificial sweeteners
• No artificial flavors
• No artificial preservatives
• No artificial colorants
• No artificial ingredients
• Sugar-free
• Stimulant free

If you notice any of these terms on the ingredient label of a pre-workout supplement, then this is a good sign that the product will be more “natural.”

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About Kyle Risley

Kyle Risley founded Lift Vault in 2016 to make finding great powerlifting programs easier. Since then, the site has grown to include hundreds of programs for strength, bodybuilding, Olympic weightlifting, and more. He currently lives in Massachusetts and continues to compete in powerlifting.