Find out if Crush pre-workout can really get you results with our in-depth review
Introducing Crush pre-workout
On first glance, the main draw of the Crush pre-workout for us was the claims of a side effect free formula, without any proprietary blends or ‘tingles’. On top of that, it seems to be hugely popular with those who use it, so we took a closer look with a Crush pre-workout review.
As women who work within the health and supplement industry, we know how important it can be to find the right kind of pre-workout. We’re more susceptible to the effects of stimulants like caffeine, and as it’s such a prominent ingredient in this kind of supplement, we need to identify something that’s responsibly dosed. Anything with too much caffeine in the mix could very easily leave us dehydrated, with headaches and shaky hands.
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With this in mind, we’re looking for a product that provides a lower, yet still effective dose of caffeine, so our readers can get an effective, yet safe lift.
As we review Crush pre-workout we want to know if, rather than just pumping their supplement with caffeine, they’ve used a number of other highly-researched ingredients. A good supplement should provide a range of approaches that work together to support a bigger, better workout.
On top of that, we’ll be examining every element of the supplement facts to ensure it’s free of proprietary blends and synthetic ingredients. This helps us determine how safe the supplement is.
While we do this, we’ll also compare each ingredient to the latest scientific research, which gives us a firm idea of just how well dosed and effective the Crush pre-workout is.
Once we’ve got an idea of how well the formula works, we review a number of Crush customer testimonials. This allows us to look both at the good and the bad, and find out how people rate it en masse.
Once we’ve gathered all of this information, we can confidently tell you how effective the product is, based on the potency of the ingredients, the dosages, overall safety and real-life results.
We then compare these findings to the actual cost of the pre-workout. This allows us to assess whether or not Crush pre-workout is worth spending your money on. We call this the value. We’ve developed this element to allow you to make an educated decision on which pre-workout supplement you should buy.
Here at SpotMeGirl.com, we’ve reviewed a huge number of products and spent countless hours immersing ourselves in the world of fitness and supplements. Rest assured we have all the expertise and experience to find out if Crush pre-workout is a good option for women.
Here’s what we discovered in our Crush pre-workout review.
What are the benefits?
As it should be, the main benefit of Crush pre-workout is that it helps you achieve a better workout. That means more reps, higher power output and, subsequently, muscle gains.
Our Crush review found it does this in a number of complementary ways, just as you’d expect from an intelligent, effective formula. These are the benefits you’ll see from this pre-workout:
Enhanced energy
The caffeine within the formula stimulates both your body and mind. This means you’ll have the physical and mental energy to complete a bigger workout. During a workout, more energy translates as hitting those extra few reps.
Boosted power
By having the energy to hit a few extra reps, combined with some performance enhancing ingredients, this formula should help boost your power output. That means more work and eventually, more gains.
Heightened endurance
Several ingredients in this mix work together to delay your point of exhaustion by fighting fatigue. This allows you to power through more exercises, boosting your overall performance and endurance.
Muscle pumps
There are vasodilators within this mix, that increase the size of your muscles by allowing more blood to flow through the vessels. This can boost confidence in your appearance, but it can also lead to increased endurance too.
Is Crush pre-workout safe?
The safety of this formula is a huge focus of the marketing behind Crush pre-workout, and it seems like they’ve achieved this for the most part.
One area of concern for us is around the caffeine dosage. They’ve used a responsible, if verging on too high, 200mg of caffeine anhydrous. This should be fine for most, unless you’re particularly sensitive to the effects of stimulants.
They may have slightly overdone it with the addition of PUREnergy. This patented mix is a combination of caffeine and a potent antioxidant found in blueberries. It’s been proven to increase the amount of caffeine you absorb into your body on consumption. Crush contains only a small amount of the compound, but it may heighten the effects of the stimulant, which could be overpowering if you are sensitive.
To counteract this, we recommend you reduce your overall caffeine intake throughout the day by cutting down on coffee and tea where you can. We’d also suggest staying hydrated, as this can help you to dodge dehydration and the symptoms that come with it.
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It’s also a good idea to leave at least five hours between taking this supplement and going to bed. Anything less and it could affect your sleep. You should also be aware that the PUREnergy could prolong the affects of caffeine in this mix, so you may have to factor in even more time.
Consult a physician before taking a caffeine-based supplement if there is a chance you could be pregnant.
Crush pre-workout is also completely free of proprietary blends, so you know exactly what you’re taking with every scoop. This transparency puts Crush leaps and bounds ahead of other, more dangerous products in our eyes.
Crush pre-workout ingredients
This pre-workout formula contains 11 ingredients, each one designed to add to your overall workout experience.
In terms of the number of ingredients, we find 11 is at the top of our range. Much more than that and the dosages within could lower, and the effectiveness of the overall formula could be reduced. They’ve just achieved the right amount.
Although the majority are highly potent and proven to bring the results we’re after, we also found some ingredients within this mix aren’t optimal. However, overall it delivers on it’s promises.
Check out these ingredients to get a better idea of how Crush pre-workout does its thing.
Caffeine Anhydrous
The cornerstone of a good pre-workout is the powerful energy boost. Caffeine is one of the most widely used and highly researched options for this. It’s been proven to boost physical and mental energy, along with strength and athletic performance in numerous studies [1].
With 200mg of caffeine in the mix, you should feel energized to complete a big session. Research has shown it does this by encouraging your body to recruit stores of fat as fuel [2].
On top of that, it also improves your mood and focus, so you’re more motivated to hit the gym and complete a challenging workout.
Betaine Anhydrous
What scientific research there is on betaine anhydrous shows it appears to improve athletic performance by increasing muscle power and endurance.
By delaying the point of exhaustion, it allows you to add a few extra reps to your workout, which should leave you with better results from your session. From what we can see based on the limited research available, the dosage of this ingredient in Crush is aligned with the best results found in the studies.
Despite this, we’re concerned there isn’t enough significant proof out there to warrant this ingredient being in the formula over something highly researched and effective, such as creatine monohydrate.
Acetyl L-Carnitine
Conversely, this ingredient is very well known to us and widely used in natural pre-workouts – for a good reason too. Acetyl l-carnitine has been proven to slow the onset of fatigue during a workout to improve your endurance [3].
On top of that, this amino acid is proven to promote both physical and mental energy [4], to provide you with a bigger, more powerful workout.
Post-workout, it reduces overall muscle damage. This means you’ll feel ready to hit the gym again the next day and give it your all.
Beet Root Extract
This is another powerful natural pre-workout must. Found in beetroots, this extract is proven to be a highly effective vasodilator [5]. It increases the amount of nitric oxide in the body, allowing the vessels in your muscles to expand for more blood flow.
This results in larger muscles, giving you those much-sought-after muscle pumps.
Aside from the aesthetic benefits, muscle pumps have been proven to increase endurance, so you can last longer in a challenging workout. If you can work harder for longer, you can reap more reward from your training session.
Carnitine Tartrate
Research on the effects of carnitine tartrate reveal it can enhance physical performance in a number of ways [6].
First up, it can reduce the production of muscle lactate, which can quickly lead to fatigue. With a reduction of this acid, you can fit in more reps before you become tired and take away more reward from your workout.
On top of that, it can help you create energy in a more efficient way. It increases the rate of fat oxidization. This means you’ll be using body fat for fuel, so you’ll feel more energized as you work out and improve your body composition along the way.
| Ingredients | Amount per serving |
|---|---|
| Betaine Anhydrous | 2g |
| Arginine AKG 2:1 | 1.5g |
| Carnitine Tartrate | 1g |
| Citrulline Malate | 500mg |
| Acetyl L-Carnitine | 500mg |
| Taurine | 500mg |
| Beet Root Extract | 500mg |
| Caffeine Anhydrous | 200mg |
| N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine HCI | 100mg |
| Grape Seed Extract | 100mg |
| PUREnergy | 25mg |
How do you take Crush pre-workout?
As this contains well dosed ingredients and a substantial amount of caffeine, we recommend you follow the instructions of the manufacturer when it comes to taking Crush. This is to guarantee effectiveness and safety.
Therefore, we recommend one scoop of the supplement, with around 10-12 fl. oz or 300-350ml of water or juice. Drink the pre-workout around 30-15 minutes before going to the gym to get the best results from it.
Remember to leave enough time between taking the supplement and going to bed to avoid it interrupting your sleep.
How much is Crush pre-workout?
A single tub of Crush pre-workout offers 30 servings.
One container of Crush costs: $33.99
The verdict
As far as pre-workouts go, Crush is up there with the best of them. However, although it delivers on so many of the key areas, there are still a few things that can be improved on.
Crush pre-workout will give you an energy boost, increase your endurance, delay fatigue, enhance power output and what’s more, it does it all quite safely. On the whole, you can expect a bigger workout from this product.
It should also work well for the majority women too. The caffeine dose is reasonable and should only have a negative impact on sensitive users. To be cautious, we’d recommend just a slightly lower serving of the stimulant, but overall, you can expect a clean lift from Crush.
The issues we have with Crush surround the caffeine dosage, as although it’s reasonable it could still be too much for some female users when the PUREnergy compound is considered too. We could recommend using a smaller portion of Crush, but then the effectiveness of the other ingredients would be reduced.
Another problem we have with the formula is the use of under-researched ingredients where more effective, scientifically backed options would be better.
In terms of price, it’s just above average and provides 30 servings per container. For us, this is good value for money as, since it’s not the very best product on the market, the price is appropriate.
Overall, Crush is a strong product in its category. It will help you get results, but if you want the best possible performance, another pre-workout may be more effective.
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Pros
- Increases energy levels
- Boosts power output
- Increases endurance
- Reduces onset of fatigue
- Results in a bigger workout
- Good value
Cons
- Potentially too much caffeine
- Ingredients not backed by significant research
- Other, more optimal ingredients available
Total score
8/10
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*Individual results may vary. Please speak with your doctor or physician before undertaking any new weight reduction, supplement, or exercise regime.
References
- Warren GL1, Park ND, Maresca RD, McKibans KI, Millard-Stafford ML. Effect of caffeine ingestion on muscular strength and endurance: a meta-analysis. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2010 Jul;42(7):1375-87. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181cabbd8
- Keijzers, GB et al. Caffeine can decrease insulin sensitivity in humans. Diabetes Care. 2002; 25(2): 364-9
- Sugino, T., Aoyagi, S., Shirai, T., Kajimoto, Y. and Kajimoto, O. (2007). Effects of Citric Acid and L-Carnitine on Physical Fatigue.
- Jacobs PL1, Goldstein ER, Blackburn W, Orem I, Hughes JJ. Glycine propionyl-L-carnitine produces enhanced anaerobic work capacity with reduced lactate accumulation in resistance trained males. J Int Soc Sports Nutrition. 2009
- Vanhatalo A, Bailey SJ, Blackwell JR, et al. Acute and chronic effects of dietary nitrate supplementation on blood pressure and the physiological responses to moderate-intensity and incremental exercise. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2010;299(4):R1121-R1131
- Wall, B., Stephens, F., Constantin-Teodosiu, D., Marimuthu, K., Macdonald, I. and Greenhaff, P. (2011). Chronic oral ingestion ofl-carnitine and carbohydrate increases muscle carnitine content and alters muscle fuel metabolism during exercise in humans
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