Taking pre-workout may sound self explanatory. After all, the name tells you when to take it.
But there’s a lot of nuance to getting to absolute most out of your pre-workout. We know from nearly ten years and through talking to thousands of customers, you may respond to a pre-workout differently than somebody else.
In this article, we wanted to provide you with all you need to know and answer every question possible, so you can get the absolute most from your pre-workout.
Let’s jump right into it.
How to Use Your Pre-Workout: The 4 Pre-Workout Pro-Tips You Need to Know
About 90% of the questions we get about how to use our pre-workouts can be split into these 4 categories: does, flavor, timing, and consistency. So we’ll start there.
1) DOSE:
New to Pre-Workout? Take Half a Scoop and Space Out The Dose
Everybody has a different tolerance to various ingredients. If you’re new to taking pre-workout we recommend you start with half a scoop. If you take half a scoop and feel good, then you can taper up to the full scoop.
You’ll also want to sip it over the course of 30-60 minutes for easy absorption. This is especially important if you’re taking Kaged Pre-Workout or Pre-Workout Elite. Our pre-workouts are known for their big scoops, which provides you with more ingredients and more benefits
But it does mean that your body may have a hard time absorbing it all at once, which is why we recommend sipping it.
Prepare for the “tingling" sensation
If you’re not familiar with the tingling sensation pre-workouts are famous for, it’s a harmless side effect of the amino acid Beta-Alanine.
Some people find it uncomfortable, which is also why we recommend starting at half a scoop and sipping slowly.
You can read more about this ingredient and “the itch” in this article on Beta-alanine in your pre-workout.
2) FLAVOR:
Too Sweet? Not Sweet Enough?
This is an easy solution. Add more or less water to your ideal sweetness. As you’ll see, the back of the bottle provides recommendations, but it’s okay to mix it in even more water.
If you’re taking Pre-Workout Elite, you’ll need more water to mix all the ingredients compared to Pre-Workout Sport.
In any case, always drink plenty of water around your workout to support hydration.
3) TIMING
Start to Sip 30 Minutes Before Your Workout
The ingredients will kick in at various times. Start to sip it ~30 minutes before your workout.
If you drive to the gym, a simple rule of them is to sip it in the car.
4) CONSISTENCY
Take It on All Your Training Days
How often should you take your pre-workout? We recommend taking it each time you hit the gym, which for most people is 3-5 days per week.
That's because it's not just about the benefits it gives you that day. Ingredients like creatine and Beta-Alanine have demonstrated the best results after 4-6 weeks of consistent use.
What’s The Difference Between Each of the Kaged Pre-Workouts?
We offer five different pre-workouts, all of which come in several flavors. Counting each of the different flavors, you have 22 different choices.
There’s Kaged Pre-Workout, Pre-Workout Sport, and Pre-Workout Elite.
Pre-Workout and Pre-Workout Elite are both available in stimulant-free options.
This is a big topic alone, so we have a separate article on it, where we get into the nitty gritty, right down to the miligram of each ingredient. Read more here:
KAGED PRE-WORKOUTS: THE FULL BREAKDOWN
What if I didn’t love this flavor of pre-workout?
We have distinct flavors for each of our pre-workouts. If you didn’t love this flavor, we have many more to choose from. Luckily, all of our orders have a 60-day money back guarantee. So if you didn’t like a flavor, reach out to our customer service team, and they’ll hook you up with a new flavor to try, on us.
Can I take pre-workout in the evening?
Except for our stimulant-free pre-workouts, they do contain caffeine. If you take it in the evening, it may disrupt your sleep.
This is why we have Pre-Workout Stimulant-Free and Pre-Workout Elite Stimulant-Free.
They’re perfect for late afternoon and evening lifts.
If you train in the evening, we have our original Pre-Kaged and Pre-Workout Elite in stimulant-free.
PRE-WORKOUT STIMULANT-FREE
PRE-WORKOUT ELITE STIMULANT-FREE
Can I take pre-workout every day?
Yes. You can take our pre-workouts every day.
It’s common in the health and fitness space to see people recommending taking time off pre-workout. In some cases, this is appropriate, like if you’re trying to reduce your caffeine intake. In other cases it’s appropriate because not all pre-workouts focus on using clean ingredients like Kaged Pre-Workouts.
A common concern of supplements is the extra artificial junk. Our pre-workouts are non-GMO, vegan, and contain ZERO colors or flavors from artificial sources.
If you’d like to cut back on caffeine, go for the lower caffeine Pre-Workout Sport or our stimulant-free options.
In fact, it’s important to take pre-workout consistently for best results.
We recommend you take it every training day for best results.
The art and the science of pre-workouts is that some ingredients are designed to help you that day, others are designed to build up in your body and have their benefits increase over time. So it’s not just about taking it once and having a great workout.
Beta-alanine, has shown best results when taken consistently for 6-8 weeks. Creatine also takes about 28 days to accumulate in the body.
Notwithstanding this, one awesome workout is great, but results are built when you compound these great workouts.
Can I take pre-workout on an empty stomach?
You can, but there are some things to keep in mind before you do. Learn more in this article on taking pre-workout on an empty stomach.
What should I stack with my pre-workout?
Since you’re training hard, you’ll want to put an extra emphasis on recovery. That’s why we recommend taking a Kaged protein powder post-workout to jumpstart muscle recovery.*
SHOP PROTEIN
Another option is to stack with creatine. Pre-Workout Elite already has a 5g creatine matrix, so you’ll only benefit from extra creatine on the off days when you don’t take pre-workout. If you’re taking Pre-Workout or Pre-Workout Sport, you can add some creatine to your pre-workout.
SHOP CREATINE
Learn More About The Ingredients In Kaged Pre-Workouts
While out of the scope of this article, we invite you to dive deeper to get educated on supplementation.
L-Citrulline
Learn why we choose plant-based L-Citrulline over citrulline malate.
WHY L-CITRULLINE
Creatine
In our original pre-workout, we choose patented Creatine HCl. Learn about the benefits of this form of creatine.
BENEFITS OF CREATINE HCl
Pre-Workout Elite contains 3g of creatine monohydrate and 2g of creatine nitrate. You learn more about why we use this combination in this article on creatine monohydrate vs nitrate
CREATINE MONOHYDRATE VS NITRATE
Beta-Alanine
The “tingle” ingredient. It’s been shown to support muscular endurance and delay fatigue.*
BETA-ALANINE DEEP DIVE
