Want the world’s cheapest pre-workout supplement?
I’m going to tell you how to make your own for about 10% of what the supplement companies are charging you! I’ve even made a video (below) to show you exactly what to do. I highly recommend you use this in conjunction with my Targeted Hypertrophy Training program for fast muscle gains. The workout is free – click here to download it.
Furthermore, it works incredibly well! I’ve had countless readers come back and tell me that this is the best pre-workout supplement they have ever taken. Their pumps, strength, and size gains have all accelerated since starting to take this.
You’ll be able to:
- Lift more weight
- Do more reps
- Recover quicker in between sets
- Work at maximum intensity for the whole workout, and…
- Feel Awesome!
You’d normally pay about £30 to £40 for a month’s supply of a pre-workout like No-Xplode. I’m going to tell you how to get up to a YEAR’S supply of a home-made version for a fraction of that.
I first published this article in 2010 but have updated and improved the formula for 2013!
As you know, I’m no fan of bodybuilding supplements. I’ve stated numerous times that the only ones I recommend are:
- Whey Protein (for convenience, not any special muscle-building properties)
- Creatine (it works and is safe)
- L-Glutamine
Over the years I’ve tried a lot of supplements and they didn’t do jack! With all the hype around NO Xplode, I decided to check it out.
The result? drum roll…
I have to admit that I did see a positive result on my workouts.
- More rep increases than normal
- More mental intensity
- More energy during the workout
- An increase in body temperature about 15-20 minutes after taking it.
I can’t put this down to placebo because I didn’t expect it to have any beneficial effect.
So my next question was, what makes it work? Obviously these supplement companies are making a killing off of this stuff. Like most other supplements, there had to be 1 or 2 active ingredients and a bunch of useless fillers. So let’s have a look…
NO Xplode Ingredients
Here are the NO-Xplode Ingredients as of 2010:
- L-Arginine AKG
- L-Citrulline
- L-Histidine AKG
- Betaine
- Glycocyamine
- Calcium
- Potassium
- Magnesium
- L-Tyrosine
- Taurine
- Phosphates of Calcium, Potassium, and Sodium
- Caffeine
Nitric Oxide supplements claim to work by increasing blood flow to working muscles and increasing mental and physical energy during your workout.
From the above list of ingredients, the only ones that I can see that could have any real effect in this regard are:
However, many other pre-workouts now include Beta-Alanine. As I’ve stated before, there is solid research regarding the efficacy of beta-alanine and it SHOULD play a regular role in your supplementation. This study [1] showed beta alanine supplementers gained an extra 1lb of muscle over 8 weeks as compared to the placebo group.
In addition, the Arginine AKG (AAKG) increases nitric oxide production – the whole basis that these pre-workout nitric oxide supplements are marketed on. The blood vessels dilate meaning more blood can reach muscle tissue, giving you bigger PUMPS and providing more nutrients and hormones responsible for muscle growth.
Lastly, I’ve already stated in a previous post that pre-workout caffeine works. Why caffeine works should be pretty self-explanatory.
However, don’t believe anyone (including me) when it comes to bodybuilding supplements. Try this out for yourself and either prove or disprove it to your own satisfaction.
The great thing is that these active ingredients are incredibly cheap!
The Best & Cheapest Pre-Workout Supplement
I’ve found the CHEAPEST prices for these anywhere online here. If you can find them cheaper, let me know so I can share with everyone else…
(1) You can get 100 x 200mg pills of caffeine for just $5.69 – that’s enough for 100 workouts!
(2) You can get a whopping 500g of AAKG for $24.96! Since I recommend you take 4g of AAKG 30mins before a workout, that’s enough for 125 workouts!
(3) And you can get 250g of Beta-Alanine for the stupid price of just $9.99! I recommend 2g of beta-alanine in this pre-workout cocktail.
[All prices correct as of 15th July 2015]
Even if you train 5 times a week, that’s 25 weeks (125 workouts). If you train 3 times per week, that’s 42 weeks. With a week off every 10 weeks, that comes to 6-months or almost a year’s supply (for a 3-day training routine) of an awesome pre-workout for $40.64!!
Since a 2.45lb tub of NO-Xplode currently retails for $44.64, and if you use 2 scoops per workout, you only get 25 workouts per tub! Compare that to my 125-workout formula and you can see how ridiculously cheap this homemade alternative is!
NOTE: If you live in UK/Europe, go to MyProtein and get your caffeine, AAKG, and beta-alanine for dirt cheap prices.
How To Take It
Mix 4g of AAKG and 2g of Beta-Alanine in water (or whatever you like) about 30 minutes before you train. Take your 200mg caffeine pill while drinking it for a very POTENT pre-workout cocktail!
[Edit: As of 2015, I now advise that you can take up to 300mg caffeine per cocktail if you feel you need it]
If you want it to taste like NO-Xplode, mix in a little sugar-free cordial to the water to make it taste great (AAKG is a little nasty on the taste buds).
Go hook yourself up with this powerful cocktail and let me know how it impacted your workouts and muscle gains below and via the Fan Page.
Train With Intensity!
Mark
P.S. If you find 4g of AAKG doesn’t have much of an effect, or you weigh over 200lbs, try a 5-6g serving.
Ref: [1] Effects of β-alanine supplementation on performance and body composition in collegiate wrestlers and football players. Kern BD, Robinson TL. J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Jul;25(7):1804-15.
Musclehack for the fucking win!!
Dude you just saved me hundreds of dollars. I regularly use no-x. Can’t wait to try this. 🙂
Just ordered some from your link! I’m excited to try it out… a buddy of mine was raving about NO-xplode yesterday, but I was hesitant to pay that much for a lot of seemingly insignificant ingredients.
This came a day to late, I registered with myprotein on the weekend purely on ur recommendation, an put my order in, mite I suggest u let us know what your referral code is as I only bought from there from your refferal, I’m pretty sure others would like to give u at least something to show their appreciation if only to get u more mp points
@Ethan & @Sean. Thanks guys. You’ll love the results I’m sure.
You were wise not to, Sean. Make sure you get both the AAKG and the caffeine for the full effect. Maybe your buddy will switch over too.
Awesome Man.
@Mark. That’s very kind of you. However, they aren’t running an affiliate program at the minute so there’s no option to get credit for referring people.
Thanks anyway.
@Samuel. Thanks.
Please remember to share this article (or any article) on social networking websites, forums, your own website etc. if you found it helpful. It really does help and I would very much appreciate it guys.
Mark
I am anxious to give this a try. Would the pill form of AAKG work just as well?
I’ve been following your site on and off over the last few years and think you have a lot of useful and effective info. I recently took an anatomy class this past summer and was taught that taking things like creatine could be potentially harmful in the sense that after awhile your body may decrease output or completely rely on an artificial/secondary source which will become an issue once you’re off these supplements.
Your thoughts or any research to support supplements besides protein? I’ve taken creatine in limited quantities in the past and will verify its efficacy.
Thank you!
Thanks Mark… you’ve done it again. Valuable info at reasonable cost. Can you mix the AAKG with your coffee? I drink black coffee on my half hour drive to work, so this would be ideal.
@Mik, you’re going to have to one strong cup of coffee. The pills are in concentrated form and are much cheaper.
@Dale. I don’t see why not as long as it’s purely AAKG and contains at least 4g.
@Han. The Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition published a position statement on creatine in 2007. Yes it’s safe, read about it here…
https://musclehack.com/creatine-the-most-effective-ergogenic-nutritional-supplement/
Regarding long-term usage, the debate on this has never been settled. To be on the safe side, I recommend trainees cycle their creatine supplementation. 8-9 weeks on with 2-3 weeks off. The body does make the type of unwanted adaptations you mention above with other substances, so it makes sense to me that this may apply to creatine as well. So cycle your creatine.
@Mik. Yes you can. But the point is to take this pre-workout, unless you train when you get to work (nice job if you do 😉 ).
Mark-
I see you have identified the active ingredients from N.O. Xplode, but have you tried this cocktail? IF so, how did it compare to N.O. Xplode? Finally, if caffeine doesn’t affect me too much, can I up the dosage? (I’m 6’5″ and about 205 lbs.)
As always, good stuff here. Thanks again!
Hey mark, thanks so much for your great efforts and highly informative articles. I have one question re the use of caffeine and creatine: I know caffeine is a great pre workout stimulant and that creatine certainly has the scientific backing for increased muscle volume, however these papers also suggest that caffeine antagonizes the creatine uptake!!!
Can you please help me ascertain the correct dozing and time spacing to ensure gains from both and revert the antagonist effects of each on another.
Thanks mark
dani
Awesome Mark will give this a try.
@Nathan, I tried the combo today and the pump was amazing. I was using Jack3d for two weeks prior and I never experienced a pump like that.
Hi Mark,
Thanks for this article! I’ve been looking into getting myself some N.O supplements since I’ve read about it and a friend of mine also raved about it.
Here in South Africa supplements are rather expensive when comparing to the rest of the world. In any case, this is a lot cheaper than buying any branded N.O.
I was wondering if it would be wise to mix a whey protein shake with a spoon of coffee and AAKG? I usually get home from work and have a protein shake with some glutamine before hitting the gym 20 minutes later.
Hey Mark, have you encountered Arginine Ethyl Ester HCL? I’ve read reviews that claim it’s better than AAKG. Unfortunately I can’t find any peer reviewed studies proving the claims of any Arginine product, well, the AAKG is pretty cheap from myprotein so not a lot to lose really, Arginine Ethyl Ester HCL is more expensive £16.95 / 250g but if it works with an active dose of 2g as people say, this works out at under 14p a dose!
Mark- I train after my half hour drive into town, then I start work, so the timing would be perfect. I’m wondering about what Antonio said however- will the combination of AAKG and drinking coffee freak me out to the point of needing a straight jacket, or will I be able to function properly? Thanks again…
I’d also mention that l-tyrosine may be worth looking into in combination with caffeine and l-arginine; I’ve been taking it for other reasons, but noticed that it definitely improves my workout stamina and focus. Tossing a little in the homemade NO-xplode might be worth a shot for certain people.
Thanks for all the info,if you had sold all the bodybuilding tips,i am sure you would be rich by now.Also for the cheap home made NOxplode details,nice to have you for a friend
@Nathan. Yes you can try 300mg. I wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending any more than that in one sitting.
@Dani. There’s no good evidence for that. Just one poorly designed study. I won’t believe it until there’s better evidence. On paper, they shouldn’t “cancel each other out” at all. Anyway, take your caff pre-workout and creatine post-workout.
@Antonio. That’s great to hear!
@Shaun. A spoon of coffee wouldn’t give you 200mg of caffeine. Take whey, AAKG, and a 200mg caffeine pill pre, and take your creatine, whey and glutamine post-workout.
@Simon2. They also claim that creatine Ethyl Ester is better too but it’s actually much worse. See here
https://musclehack.com/creatine-facts-what-is-the-best-creatine/
So stick with regular AAKG
@Mik. No it won’t. You’d be better off with the caffeine pills though since 200mg of caffeine from 1 cup of coffee would be seriously strong.
Mark, you’re doing exactly the same as me. Buying in bulk and making my own PWO and other supplements. You can tweak them to suit your specifics requirements and goals.
I suggest you look up “pure bulk” on amazon as well. And I use “smart powders” as a vendor as well. Both have great products in bulk. The later is a website while the first mentioned can be purchased on amazon.
Matt
@Matt. Yeah I’ve always made my own cocktails 🙂
HI Mark, how are you?
I follow you for years now.
I am in love with the HIT on THT 5.2 system.
Always tried to follow the 5day split system with some resistance to the HIT Cycle
but now I really enjoy HIT more than the Volume Cycle.
My question on that is: Would it be possible to have
a HIT cycle with one day hitting the upper body and the other Legs? So I could still have 5 or 6 days a week
of training… I really like going to the gym everyday, so it would make sense for me.
What are you thoughts on that?
Another issue is that I am seeking for a focus on Biceps, is there anything I could add on HIT fora that
or you think it is unnecessary?
Thanks a lot!!! Hope to hear from you soon!
Best,
Cesar, from Brazil.
Great article Mark
I also think L-Citruline to be a worthy addition, as it converts to L-Arginine and then nitric oxide.
Not only that L-Citrulline also helps to reduce the amount of lactic acid build-up you experience during your workouts, which can reduce the amount of fatigue you feel.
L-Citruline is abundant in watermelon, the word actually comes from the Latin for watermelon Citrulus from which it was first isolated.
I challenge you to eat 3 to 4 large slices of watermelon pre workout and see for yourself. I do this regularly and the pump you get is immense and lasts for hours.
Hey Mark,
Great plan you’ve come up with. I am, however, in the U.S. and TheProteinWorks won’t ship to the US. Do you have any recommendations for international shippers or a US company?
Thanks,
Mike D
Just ran out Of my ASSAULT and haven’t had the money to want to buy another 30 day supply. I’ve noticed since I haven’t had it my workouts haven’t been as Intense, I will definitely be trying this….can you tell me your thoughts on b12 supplements. When training for the police academy my dr gave me a b12 shot and it seemed to really help my endurance. I’ve seen many pre workout supps include b12 and if I stop using them inlieu of this, I may want to add another source of it. Thanks for everything, so far you haven’t steered me wrong
Hi Mark,
Was quickly wondering if you could mix this with a protien shake and acheive the same effect or would the shake dilute the performance of this pre workout?
@Cesar. On a HIT split like that you would end up doing too many sets and not be recovered 48 hrs later. You might get away with it for the first week, but not for long. So you would stall your progress because of overtraining.
Cable preacher curls to failure is the best thing you can do for your biceps.
@Mark. The question is would it do anything additional that you won’t get with beta-alanine (it delays fatigue fantastically) alone? I don’t think it would.
@Mike D. In the article I link to recommended supplements for US readers. See above The Protein Works section.
@Dan. I’ve only seen b12 appear beneficial when taken as a cocktail with other ingredients, so it’s difficult to know of its true efficacy in isolation. I’d recommend you come off it, so you know once and for all if it’s doing any good. Try my cheap cocktail instead.
@Scott. You can mix it with a protein shake no problem. It wouldn’t be diluted so long as the active ingredients are there in the specified amounts.
Mark,
Do you take any kind of protein for preworkout or just your concoction?
Thank you very much for all your articles.
@jae. No I don’t. I just have a meal, maybe an hour or two beforehand.