What Makes the Best Pre-Workout Formula? A Research-Based Analysis

Intensity! When it comes to training success, it’s everything. It’s a state of mind supported by a body capable of blasting through the most intensive pain barriers. It’s imperative to shifting significant tonnage in the quest for physical supremacy. If you’re not training with maximum intensity, you can forget about building superior slabs of shredded muscle. Mind power is at the heart of high-intensity training. In fact, it’s the single most important training factor. Striving for that last rep, all the while brushing aside the burning pain of lactic acid accumulation is what forces the greatest amount of positive stress upon the targeted muscles; stress that produces the adaptive response needed to ultimately secure impressive lean muscle gains. Increasingly heavier workloads coupled with sufficient volume and the willingness to push to the absolute limit is what training intensity is all about.

MIND POWER IS… THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT TRAINING FACTOR.

To stimulate growth you simply must recruit a maximum number of muscle fibers on each set. This is impossible to do when you are training at anything less than 100-percent. Are you training at a level of intensity high enough to spark the anabolic processes that will lead to impressive muscle gains? If you are like most people and often stop short of full muscular overload, then it’s time to reevaluate your training and learn embrace the pain. But first you’ll need some assistance. 

A Willing Mind Is Not Enough

Most people approach their training with good intentions. But good intentions are not enough. While most people know that to gain muscle they must work harder each session, the body does not always comply with your good intentions. We can approach our training hell-bent on progressively overloading the muscles from workout-to-workout, but if the body and mind are not working together for this singular aim we will always fall short of full intensity. Yes, despite the best of intentions and a battle-ready mindset, the body/mind connection, in many cases, proves to be the limiting factor. By establishing the right physical and mental conditions for maximum training intensity, the mind’s ability to harness the incredible physical potential we all possess can be fully achieved. Each of us has a basic level of mental and physical potential that can be used to produce effort. By enhancing this potential via a range of specific intensity-inducing compounds, only then can we demolish the mental and physical barriers to high intensity training that have prevented you from achieving your training objectives.

…DEMOLISH MENTAL & PHYSICAL BARRIERS TO HIGH-INTENSITY TRAINING…

Until the exact conditions that govern high-intensity training have been fully established, there is no real way of knowing just how hard our training can, and indeed should be. Pre-workout supplementation has come as close as anything else to producing these conditions. However, pre-workout supplementation has reached a certain point in its evolution. What is currently on the market has largely tapped its own full potential. In supplying huge doses of caffeine and a few additional assorted ingredients (often as part of a proprietary blend), most pre-workouts can only achieve so much. The best pre-workout supplement should have it all. Now there’s an exciting new pre-workout product that promises to revolutionize intensive training. Its singular mission is to extract every last bit of effort from its users. This effort, best described as full-force intensity, will allow you to train harder than ever before. Called IMPACT Igniter, this product is considered the new standard in the best pre-workout technology. Containing all the mechanisms of action needed to produce maximum mental and physical effort, IMPACT Igniter is guaranteed to bolster intensity better than any other product of its kind ever produced. Now, with the aid of a hypothetical workout, a full description of what to expect when using IMPACT Igniter will follow. Buckle in.

 

Supercharging Your Workout Experience   

Stimulate to Annihilate the Weights

One of the most important factors in producing superior workout intensity is mental arousal and the right amount of cognitive stimulation to ensure that motivation, clarity, mood and mental stamina are fully optimized. By taking IMPACT Igniter immediately prior to hitting the iron you will have successfully established the right mental foundation. Now you’re ready to move some serious steel. By flooding your neurons with extremely high dosages of ALPHA-GPC (150mg), caffeine (400mg), and Lion’s Mane Extract (300mg), you will have primed your neural processes for peak workout performance. As with each of the ingredients in IMPACT Igniter, this three-punch combo of powerful energizing compounds is backed by solid scientific research. It’s been shown that caffeine significantly increases alertness prior to strenuous activities.^{16, 23, 27} Mood can make a big difference in whether a lifter is able to exert maximum force during a workout or falls flat, as is so often the case. It’s often the difference between getting the job done and slacking off mid-set.

…HIGH DOSAGES OF ALPHA-GPC (150MG), CAFFEINE (400MG), AND LION’S MANE EXTRACT (300MG), YOU WILL HAVE PRIMED YOUR NEURAL PROCESSES FOR PEAK PERFORMANCE.

Whenever a chemical called adenosine attaches to its receptors in the brain, neural activity begins to slow down, thus promoting the onset of sleep and/or extreme tiredness and lethargy. By blocking adenosine receptors, caffeine immediately causes these cells to speed up. With highly bioavailable supplemental caffeine the tiredness experienced by many otherwise committed lifters is suppressed and, in turn, alertness is significantly increased.^{3, 23, 27} Working in conjunction with the caffeine is Lion’s Mane extract is an extremely powerful catalyst for brain cell regeneration and mental optimization.24 Long term, this highly advanced nootropic factor can stimulate the repair and creation of new brain cells. However, with an intense workout looming you need immediate mental energy. Lion’s Mane Extract readily assists by eliminating brain fog, decreasing anxiety, and increasing mental alertness. In one study, a group of Lion’s Mane extract subjects showed significantly increased scores on a cognitive scale compared to a placebo group.²⁵  The mental energy you’ll need to take your training efforts further than ever before is additionally bolstered by a mood-enhancing compound called Alpha-GPC (Alpha-glycerolphosphorylcholine). Upon ingestion, Alpha-GPC is rapidly metabolized into a combination of choline and a byproduct called glycerophosphate, with together instantly increase alertness and clarity of thought.

 Fast acting and highly bioavailable when taken orally, you’ll feel the full effects of Alpha-GPC as your workout commences. As a precursor to the powerful energizing neurotransmitter acetylcholine, choline improves memory formation, recall and a host of additional cognitive functions such as learning ability and concentration and focus. While each of these functions is integral to productive workouts, it’s the enhanced focus and concentration that’ll prime you for the workout ahead. Ironically, other important pre-workout stimulants like caffeine can deplete choline levels in the brain. Thus it’s doubly important that serious bodybuilders supply their neurons with a hefty complement of choline prior to lifting off.  Most importantly for you as you get your mind in the game in preparation for the first set is the beneficial interaction of choline and caffeine. By combining these two ingredients a significant synergistic effect in which acetylcholine concentrations are greatly increased will get you amped for the most intense workout of your life.¹⁵

FAST ACTING AND HIGHLY BIOAVAILABLE WHEN TAKEN ORALLY, YOU’LL FEEL THE FULL EFFECTS OF ALPHA-GPC AS YOUR WORKOUT COMMENCES.

Finally, your mood and motivation levels are further boosted with the inclusion of L-Carnitine L-Tartrate, the most biologically active form of this carrier molecule, known for its fat oxidizing properties and ATP producing benefits. Researchers recommend it as a mental performance booster for athletes preparing for intense competition.^{12, 28} Courtesy of IMPACT Igniter, you are now more mentally energized than ever before. Your mood is elevated and your neurons are supercharged. It’s time to get started! 

Making the First Set Count

For many well-meaning lifters, the workout experience often ends before it even begins to provide an optimal growth stimulus. The fatigue, soreness and perception of extreme effort that’s encountered during set one can physically and psychologically influence the remainder of the workout. That’s why setting the right tone for each workout is imperative. Right away, IMPACT Igniter’s 6g of Citrulline Malate (at a 2-to-1 ratio) will give you up to a 34% increase in the rate of oxidative ATP production during your first set and all sets thereafter.²⁹ Combined with a 20% increase in the rate of phosphocreatine recovery after exercise (and between sets) your ability to recover fast will have you blasting through the initial phase of your training. An increase in the very substance that promotes anaerobic energy will also give you the ability to lift more weight, with a greater degree of force. As well, more resultant staying power will ensure that those additional growth-inducing reps are achieved with each successive set. You are off to the best start. But it doesn’t end there.

GREATLY IMPROVE POWER AND STRENGTH WHILE ENHANCING WORKOUT INTENSITY AND MUSCULAR ENDURANCE.

The fatigue fighting amino acid Beta Alanine has been shown to greatly improve power and strength while enhancing workout intensity and muscular endurance.¹⁹ The massive 3.2g of Beta Alanine contained in IMPACT Igniter will enable you to generate maximum intensity without the usual high rate of perceived exertion that accompanies most bodybuilding-style training sessions. Beta Alanine supplementation is also heavily correlated with increased lean mass gains via its profound impact on workout performance.²² It’ll give you the push you need to establish a formidable benchmark for the rest of your session.

 

Create the Best Conditions During your Workout

During your workout, your usual tenancy to become more lethargic and less willing and able to exert 100 percent effort will be greatly minimized with the addition of IMPACT Igniter. Aside from optimizing strength-endurance and enhancing mental processes such as cognition, focus and mood. IMPACT Igniter’s three unique sources of caffeine will significantly increase your reaction time and your ability to respond to varying levels and angles of resistance.^{3, 21} This will ensure that your training form does not waver and that your muscles cope better with and adapt to a range of growth producing stressors. By maintaining strict form throughout your workout you’ll keep the tension where it belongs: specifically on the targeted muscles. Another problem encountered during intensive training is decreased ability for your muscles to contract. The less our working muscles contract, the less stimulation these muscles receive and the less growth we may ultimately experience. Caffeine consumption greatly increases the contractile force of the working muscles by inducing calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (a system of membrane-bound tubules that surround the muscle fibrils) while inhibiting its reuptake.^{9, 27} By enhancing the release of calcium ions into the muscle interior via the sarcoplasmic reticulum, a more forceful binding of the actin and myosin filaments is achieved. This creates a more powerful muscular contraction.

THE LESS OUR … MUSCLES CONTRACT, THE LESS STIMULATION THESE MUSCLES RECEIVE…

In addition, sub-maximal power output within a 6-12 rep range is also significantly increased with the intake of caffeine. Increased work volume due to caffeine-induced sub-maximal power increases will enable you to attack your muscles with continued intensity when others are faltering under the strain of muscular fatigue.^{13, 16} In fact, at around 60% of your one rep max you may, with the addition of caffeine, experience an increase of 11-12% in your training output.⁴ Training-induced muscle fatigue can have a detrimental effect on the ability to apply sufficient intensity all the way through to the final set of a workout. In fact, a major limitation to ongoing bodybuilding progress is the inability to complete enough work via increased training volume from set-to-set.

 Research indicates that four weeks of beta-alanine supplementation can significantly improve muscular endurance during resistance training in experienced resistance-trained athletes. Therefore, by using IMPACT Igniter you will have given yourself the greatest chance of completing each of your high-intensity workouts with energy to spare. The Citrulline circulating in your blood will also enable you to avoid the dreaded mid-workout slump by eliminating the usual feelings of training-induced fatigue. Ongoing increases in ATP production due to Citrulline intake are positively correlated with the amount of work a lifter can perform, with over 50% more repetitions and 100% of response in the last set typically experienced.^{7, 29, 31} What’s more, by accelerating ammonia clearance, another of Citrulline’s benefits, you can postpone the inevitable decrease in muscle pH that occurs with continued training intensity. When the pH balance drops, muscles become more acidic and fatigue rapidly sets in. You’ll want to avoid this at all costs. A “best pre-workout” like IMPACT Igniter will help you to do just that.³¹

…INCREASES IN ATP (ENERGY) PRODUCTION DUE TO CITRULLINE INTAKE ARE POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH THE AMOUNT OF WORK A LIFTER CAN PERFORM.

Among Citrulline’s many additional functions is its ability to increase plasma levels of the Nitric Oxide (NO) boosting amino acid Arginine within the body.¹¹ Even better, it appears to do so to a greater extent than taking supplemental Arginine itself. By greatly increasing Arginine endogenously, Citrulline produces a profound pumping effect by enhancing blood flow, oxygen delivery, and the uptake of glucose into the working muscles.¹¹ It’s one of the main reasons why, when using IMPACT, you’ll experience some of the best muscle pumps of your lifting career. As your workout progresses, L-Carnitine L-Tartrate, a proven fatigue fighter, will give you the edge in staying power.³⁴ The accumulation of lactic acid greatly reduces work capacity while stifling training performance. L-Carnitine L-Tartrate lowers lactate buildup by over 40% following workouts performed at 80% of maximum effort.  This, combined with the Carnitine’s fat burning/metabolic enhancement properties, can increase your power output and work capacity by more than 30%.³⁴ Your goal is to continue training with maximum intensity for the full duration of each workout. You must not allow mid-workout muscle depletion, a very real occurrence for many lifters, to derail your efforts. By significantly increasing both maximal oxygen uptake and power output while significantly reducing carbon dioxide production, pulmonary ventilation and plasma lactate, your aerobic and anaerobic processes will, thanks to this highly bioavailable form of Carnitine, remain optimal as your workout approaches the halfway mark.

 Another phenomenal endurance enhancer is Taurine. The 1g contained in IMPACT Igniter will give you an edge in training performance. To underscore its endurance benefits it’s worth noting that Taurine has been implicated in improving performance on a 3km time trial in trained athletes.⁶ In this study, times were improved by 1.7% without any significant heart rate or oxygen uptake effects. The same holds true for resistance training. With Taurine, you’ll be hoisting hefty poundages for a greater number of reps and at a higher level of intensity. Cellular hydration is crucial to high-level physical output. In fact, it’s the single most important nutritional factor in human survival. Proper hydration enhances glycogen storage for maximum muscle performance; processes and transports nutrients while removing waste products; reduces fatigue by preventing dehydration; and, more specifically for muscle-training success, helps regulate electrolyte balance, strengthens the nervous system response and, in turn, enhances muscular strength and endurance.  A well-researched regulator of cell volume, Taurine acts as an osmolyte (it regulates fluid balance), thus drawing fluid into muscle cells.¹⁸

THE LONGER WE TRAIN, THE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE WE BECOME TO SIGNIFICANT FLUID LOSSES. WITH IMPACT IGNITER YOU’LL EXPERIENCE THE FULL BENEFIT OF OPTIMAL CELLULAR HYDRATION.

Derived from the amino acid L-cysteine, N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine (NAC) is astonishingly effective in promoting fatigue reduction and EPO/blood volume increases. As a key component of IMPACT Igniter you’ll enjoy its many performance benefits. When it comes to grinding out those last all-important reps, you’ll need all the supplemental support you can get. Fortunately, NAC optimizes anaerobic performance in high-volume training protocols.³³ One study showed that with NAC supplementation, a significant improvement in repeated cycle sprint performance was achieved when compared with a placebo in well-trained triathletes. This beneficial state occurs via increasing levels of the potent antioxidant and detoxification compound glutathione, which in turn improves lipid metabolism and acidification in skeletal muscles while countering oxidative stress.^{1, 26}

ONE STUDY SHOWED THAT WITH NAC SUPPLEMENTATION, A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN REPEATED CYCLE SPRINT PERFORMANCE WAS ACHIEVED WHEN COMPARED WITH A PLACEBO IN WELL-TRAINED TRIATHLETES.

For sustained physical performance, increased blood volume, signified by high EPO levels, is essential. EPO (Erythropoietin) is a glycoprotein that elevates haemoglobin concentration by increasing red cell volume and depressing plasma volume. The more haemoglobin we have, the more oxygen we can transport to the muscle cells and the greater the improvement in muscular endurance.⁸   NAC supplementation has been shown to improve blood plasma levels of EPO (+26%), haemoglobin (+9%), haematocrit (+9%) and erythrocytes (−6%) at rest and after exercise.³⁷ As your workout enters its final stages the 500mg of NAC contained in IMPACT Igniter will enable you to continue your intensive efforts unabated. Combined with the above-listed performance ingredients, you’ll have as much energy going into the dying stages of your workout as you did from the outset.

 

The Final Set

As you prepare to tackle the final set of your workout, your intensity will be as high as it was during the first set. Your muscles will contract with more force than ever before, greater mental alertness and motivation to conquer the iron will have you focused on the task at hand, and the endurance needed to complete the final reps with perfect form and energy to spare will guide you to completion. With the full array of IMPACT Igniter’s performance ingredients coursing through your blood, there will be no lessening of intensity, no quitting before every ounce of effort is extracted from your muscles. Though higher than normal levels of training intensity will have exhausted your muscles, you’ll have stayed strong to the end.

 

Post Workout Recovery

While high intensity workouts provide the spark for continued muscle-building progress, it’s what happens after training that translates reps into results. The kind of training you’ve just experienced creates great oxidative stress and inflammation. While both these processes are not entirely detrimental to muscle growth, they may, if left unchecked, lead to insulin resistance and rising blood sugar levels. Both of these conditions interfere with nutrient assimilation and muscle growth. IMPACT Igniter addresses this post-workout dilemma with highly bioavailable NAC.14 NAC boosts blood levels of the body’s master anti-oxidant glutathione. A stronger post-workout response enhances muscle anabolism, in part by scavenging for muscle-damaging free radicals. It’s been shown that NAC administration can significantly influence the resting and post-exercise level of glutathione (+31%).¹

A STRONGER POST-WORKOUT RESPONSE ENHANCES MUSCLE ANABOLISM, IN PART BY SCAVENGING FOR MUSCLE-DAMAGING FREE RADICALS.

Taurine has also been shown to ameliorate the adverse effects of muscle damage and oxidative stress resulting from intensive training.³² By reducing inflammation associated with cellular damage, Taurine speeds recovery and enhances muscle growth post workout.¹⁰ Fortunately, you’ll have plenty of this amino circulating in your blood as your workout concludes. 

Metabolic Enhancement and Fat Loss

Most bodybuilders rely on cardio and or/strict dieting for fat loss. While both these approaches have worked for eons, seldom does one associate intense resistance training with advanced-level shredding. With IMPACT Igniter, you’ll not only be training with more intensity than ever before, but you’ll also be burning significant amounts of adipose to reveal your newfound muscularity. IMPACT Igniter’s key ingredients also work synergistically to boost the metabolic rate. This means not only more energy to get the job done, but also a greater fat burning effect. Caffeine has well known thermogenic and lipolytic effects, both of which lead to an enhanced fat burning response.^{5, 9} Caffeine combined with the Carnitine contained in IMPACT Igniter will ensure that fat losses are increased to a much greater extent than would occur when taking one ingredient over the other. In fact, IMPACT Igniter’s specialized carnitine can drastically increase the amount of fat used for fuel. It was found that following an exercise bout at 50 percent of maximal output, a group using carnitine used 55 percent less muscle glycogen than the control group. This suggested that the Carnitine subjects were able to alter muscle fuel metabolism by burning a greater percentage of fat for fuel while improving energy production.³⁵

IMPACT IGNITER’S KEY INGREDIENTS ALSO WORK SYNERGISTICALLY TO BOOST THE METABOLIC RATE.

Finally, you’ll experience pronounced metabolic benefits via IMPACT Igniter’s generous inclusion of the powerful lipolytic and metabolism-boosting agents Synephrine HCI, Higenamine HCI and Hordenine HCI.^{2, 17} Working together, these compounds will greatly enhance the amount of fat that can be used for energy while spiking the metabolism to increase the after-burn effect of intensive training.^{17, 20}

 

Key IMPACT Takeaways

Research-Backed

Each of IMPACT’s powerful ingredients is solidly backed by science and is thus of the highest efficacy.

 

Ultra-High Potency

Each scientifically-proven ingredient is included in optimal amounts. Including an ingredient and doing so in dosages strong enough to have a positive effect are two entirely separate things. IMPACT is not only stacked with performance compounds but is also highly potent.

 

Rapidly Assimilated

Each of IMPACT’s ingredients is the most bioavailable of its kind. In addition, IMPACT is further comprised of two ingredients that work synergistically to greatly enhance its uptake, assimilation and bioavailability. While Cinnulin PF (a highly bioavailable Cinnamon Extract) has been shown to increase the activity of a key insulin-signaling pathway to potentiate the action of insulin (without the sugars needed to do so under normal conditions), Black Pepper Extract (with 95% active Piperine) reduces the enzymatic breakdown of nutrients while increasing the bioavailability of nutrients at the gut level.^{30, 36}

 

Multi Purpose

Much more than simply a superior pre workout energizer, IMPACT also burns bodyfat, increases metabolic efficiency, enhances post workout recovery, and improves health and wellbeing on multiple levels.

 

Train with Maximum Intensity

While many feel they know what it’s like to train with white-hot intensity, few have ever encountered this supreme growth-inducing state. It’s believed that we only learn what we already know. In other words, until we truly experience something it’s difficult to discern its many subtleties and impossible to know the value it holds for you. Sure, many people train hard. But few have learned the real meaning of full-force intensity. It’s time to truly know intensity and how it can influence your muscle gains. Rather than merely dabbling your feet in the pools of pain, you can now dive in head first and go all-out in your muscle-building mission. With IMPACT, you’ll finally be able to train for continuous results. With 100 percent effort!

 

References

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