Welcome to the most comprehensive Beachbody Performance Energize pre-workout review on the web.
Energize is a pre-workout supplement from the company Beachbody performance. Makers of Energize claim it will help to increase performance, boost energy, focus, and increase endurance. One serving of Energize is 6-grams and only 1.5 grams of that dosage comes in the form of active ingredients. Energize pre-workout contains three active ingredients in low doses: Beta-Alanine, Quercetin, and Caffeine.
This Energize pre-workout review will go over all the details you need to know about this supplement.
What ingredients are included and their dosages, and how these compare to what the latest scientific research says?
Where to buy it from, how much it should cost, what flavors it comes in, and lots more!
Regardless of your training experience there is a pre-workout out there to suit your needs. Whether you’re just starting your fitness journey, or you’ve been a regular gym goer for a number of years, the right pre-workout supplement has the power to take your training to the next level.
The nutritional supplement market is an absolute minefield to negotiate, particularly for the uninitiated. For every pre-workout product that contains optimal doses of scientifically proven ingredients to boost your physical performance, hundreds of others will be of zero benefit to you whatsoever. Distinguishing between the two can be tricky, but fortunately for you, that’s where we come in.
What is Beachbody Performance Energize?
According to the official Beachbody website, Energize is formulated with key ingredients that are scientifically shown to help give you energy, suggesting that taking it before workouts can help to:
- Increase energy and endurance
- Improve intense exercise performance
- Sharpen focus and reaction time
- Increase muscle power output
- Delay exercise-induced muscle fatigue
The product is described as “a powerful combination of ergogenic (performance-enhancing) ingredients and phytonutrients that are scientifically shown to help improve exercise performance…” with “No synthetic colors, and no artificial flavors, sweeteners or preservatives.”
Beachbody Performance Energize ingredients
Serving size: 1 Scoop (6 g) | Amount Per Serving | %Daily Value |
Calories | 15 | * |
Total Carbohydrate | 4 g | 1% |
Sugars | 2 g | * |
Calcium | 5 mg | <1% |
Magnesium | 20 mg | 5% |
Sodium | 115 mg | 5% |
Potassium | 40 mg | 1% |
Performance Blend | ||
Beta-Alanine | 800 mg | |
Quercetin | 500 mg | |
Caffeine | 100 mg |
When it comes to analyzing the merits of a pre-workout product in terms of its ingredients, the Supplement Facts Label, a panel of information on the back of the tub, details exactly what’s in it and hopefully in what quantities. It is the most logical place to start!
It will become apparent very quickly as to whether all the information you want is present or whether the product in question makes use of something known as proprietary blends…
If you’re into your training and have experience with pre-workout supplements in general then the chances are you know exactly what a proprietary blend is, but for the newbies among you… It’s when a supplement manufacturer chooses not to disclose the precise weight of each individual ingredient per serving, instead giving you a total weight for a blend of ingredients. Why is this so important?
If you don’t know how much of each ingredient you are consuming, there is no way of knowing whether you are taking on board an optimum serving!
Not a great place to be when it comes to supporting your training.
Despite what manufacturers might try to tell you about keeping their secret formulas away from the prying eyes of competitors, there is actually only one reason why they choose to use proprietary blends, and that’s to hide underdosed ingredients from YOU!
The good news for this product is that there isn’t a single proprietary blend insight, a good start to our Beachbody pre-workout review!
Beta-alanine (800 mg)
Beta-alanine is the most widely researched and clinically effective nutritional supplement on the market for exercise performance outside of creatine.
Dosed correctly for a long enough period, it is capable of improving your anaerobic capacity. It does this by increasing your muscle stores of something called carnosine, which is directly involved in the buffering of lactic acid in your muscles during intense activity.[1] Given that lactic acid buildup is one of the primary causes of muscular fatigue, this seems like a pretty useful effect!
Most scientific studies suggest that a 4-6g serving per day for a period of at least 2 weeks is sufficient to increase your carnosine levels adequately to have a tangible effect on exercise performance.[2] That means the 800 mg per serving of Beachbody Performance Energize is quite frankly embarrassing, and will have absolutely no exercise performance benefit whatsoever.
Not a good turn of events for our Performance Energize pre-workout review!
Caffeine (100 mg)
Caffeine is almost certainly the most commonly used stimulant ingredient in pre-workout supplements, and for a good reason. After all, a substantial amount of research into the ingredient supports its efficacy for exercise performance.
Not only is there good evidence to suggest that it can help to achieve an optimal physical and mental state before and during your workouts, but it is also believed to help you burn more fat during exercise!
Most of the research agrees that caffeine can be effective at doses as low as 100 mg and is safe for consumption at levels as high as 400 mg per day.[3]
That means the 100 mg found per serving of Beachbody Performance Energize may well be of benefit to users. It is a little way short of our preferred dose of 250 mg, but for those looking for a mild introduction to pre-workouts, or those who would rather not consume such a large caffeine dose, this could be quite an attractive option.
Quercetin (500 mg)
Quercetin is a plant pigment (flavonoid) found in many plants and foods, such as red wine, onions, green tea, apples, and berries. It is most commonly taken orally to treat conditions of the heart and blood vessels and prevent cancer whilst also being used for arthritis, bladder infections, and diabetes despite limited scientific evidence to support such uses.[4]
As far as exercise performance is concerned, there is absolutely no corroborative evidence to suggest that taking quercetin before exercise limits fatigue, reduces muscle soreness, or decreases swelling as some have purported.[5]
As a result, we consider its inclusion in this product largely irrelevant.
Not a great end to the ingredients section of our Beachbody Performance pre-workout review!
Beachbody Performance Energize side effects
Whilst there are a couple of ingredients included in this pre-workout, in beta-alanine and caffeine, which have the potential to cause some minor side effects, neither of them is dosed anywhere near the level required to elicit such symptoms.
If you literally don’t consume any caffeine in your day to day life, and never have done, then yes, 100 mg may be enough to cause loose bowels, but the diarrhea, vomiting, jitters and anxiety which can be associated with extremely high caffeine consumption, shouldn’t be anything for you to worry about!
The infamous beta-alanine tingles only really kick in with a dose above 3g, which means the 800 mg contained in Beachbody won’t even register. Even if it does, however, this symptom only lasts around 20 minutes and is completely harmless!
Is Beachbody Performance Energize plant-based?
Yes, it is! The two little plant leaves within a hexagon, which appear on the front of the product tub, are the universal sign of vegan-friendly nutritional supplements!
Pros and cons of Beachbody Performance Energize
Pros | Cons |
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Where to buy Performance Energize pre-workout?
Performance Energize is available on the official teambeachbody.com website and at global online retail giant Amazon!
There are only 2 flavor options available in Lemon and Fruit Punch, so if you are particularly fussy about the taste of your pre-workout supplements, then you may struggle to find something to your liking!
Can you take Beachbody Performance Energize while breastfeeding?
Whilst there isn’t necessarily anything in this Beachbody pre-workout that stands out as harmful to babies, we would always recommend consulting a medical professional before consuming any supplements or medication whilst pregnant or breastfeeding!
Beachbody Performance Energize alternative.
Given that the only ingredients within this Beachbody pre-workout that are scientifically proven to benefit your exercise performance are beta-alanine and caffeine, you may as well source pure forms of each ingredient separately.
Not only is this is a much more financially viable option, but it also means you are in complete control of how much of each ingredient you are consuming every day, which is of particular importance to beta-alanine and its purported benefits!
For instance, you can buy 100g of pure beta-alanine for $4.49 at bulkpowders.com, which works out at $0.22 per 5g serving.
Iherb.com sells ProLab caffeine pills at 8 cents per 200 mg serving.
That means you could be taking an optimal dose of both beta alanine and caffeine for as little as 30 cents per serving! In comparison, Beachbody Performance Energize works out at an extremely pricey $1.56 per serving, and that’s not even for anywhere near optimal doses of either key ingredient!!!
Summary: Beachbody Performance Energize review conclusion
There is only one word to describe our Beachbody Performance Energize pre-workout review, and that is DISAPPOINTING!
The 800 mg dose of beta-alanine per serving is quite frankly laughable. While the 100 mg dose of caffeine may suit those new to the pre-workout world or those looking for a stimulant light product, there are far more economical ways of achieving the same goal, as described above.
The choice of just 2 flavors, whilst by no means a dealbreaker, is yet another disappointment.
The only saving grace for this product is that Beachbody hasn’t used any proprietary blends, which means you know exactly what you are NOT getting for your money!
Our advice, if you are looking for a pre-workout which will actually be of benefit to your exercise performance then Beachbody Performance Energize is not for you. The two key ingredients included are not difficult to find as pure sources so you can easily achieve what this product aims to on your own and for a LOT LOT less money!
References:
[1] beta-Alanine supplementation augments muscle carnosine content and attenuates fatigue during repeated isokinetic contraction bouts in trained sprinters- J Appl Physiol (1985). 2007 Nov;103(5
[2] Stellingwerff T, Anwander H, Egger A, Buehler T, Kreis R, Decombaz J, et al. Effect of two beta-alanine dosing protocols on muscle carnosine synthesis and washout. Amino Acids. 2012;42(6):2461–72. doi: 10.1007/s00726-011-1054-4 and Harris RC, Jones GA, Kim HJ, Kim CK, Price KA, Wise JA. Changes in muscle carnosine of subjects with 4 weeks of supplementation with a controlled release formulation of beta-alanine (CarnoSyn), and for 6 weeks post (Abstract) FASEB J. 2009;23:599.4.
[3] Fat burners: nutrition supplements that increase fat metabolism- Obesity Reviews 2011
[4] https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-294/quercetin
[5] https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-294/quercetin
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