The pre-workout category is saturated. That’s just the plain, cold hard truth. When a brand new supplement company is launched, chances are they launch with a stimulant-based pre-workout supplement. Truth is, many of these supplements are very similar, with maybe a slight change in dosing. Pre-workouts are great supplements that may enhance your performance in the gym, but selecting the right one for you is the ultimate challenge.

Stimulant-based pre-workouts rule the market today. Society’s infatuation with caffeine and stimulants is at an all-time high. Whether you agree with this or not, it’s the truth. If you are looking for a high-stim pre-workout, you should also be looking for more than 400mg caffeine. A high-stim pre-workout can actually be really good, but it needs other components other than caffeine to pass our acceptable test here at FI.

Not every company is hiding behind under dosed ingredients, relying only on caffeine and Beta-Alanine. ASC Supplements El Jefe is a strong, stimulant-based pre-workout containing real DMHA that is much more than a stim bomb. The product contains clinical dosages of quality ingredients that will give you an awesome workout experience, not just a caffeine high and subsequent crash.

ASC Supplements El Jefe

ASC Supplements El Jefe is their staple pre-workout that does contain exotic stimulants. On top of the exotic stimulants, it also contains researched backed branded ingredients at clinical dosages. With El Jefe you can expect:

Good pump
Prolonged endurance
Increased strength and power
Improved focus
Clean, amazing energy

A well-rounded pre-workout supplement should hit on all those aspects to make your workout experience one for the ages.

Performance and Pump Matrix

The following ingredients contribute to overall performance and pump. These ingredients will provide a solid pump, prolonged endurance and increased strength and power output.

Citrulline Malate (2:1) – 7g

Citrulline Malate is a combination of L-Citrulline and Malic Acid. L-Citrulline is the precursor to Arginine in the body. Citrulline is preferred to Arginine because it has a better absorption rate. Supplementing with Citrulline will increase blood flow into the muscle, contributing to a pump.

Malic Acid has been known to improve performance. The combination of Citrulline and Malic Acid has been shown to improve pumps, performance and potential to reduce post-exercise soreness.

The clinical dosage of Citrulline should be 3-5g. With the combination of Citrulline Malate you should look for 6-8g at the 2:1 ratio. We are in the accepted range at 7g.

Beta-Alanine – 4g

Beta-Alanine may be one of the most common ingredients found in pre-workouts. Beta-Alanine has been shown to help improve muscular endurance and reduce fatigue. It also has been shown to enhance exercise capacity. Beta-Alanine works as a lactic acid buffer, which causes muscular fatigue and can cause DOMS, delayed onset muscle soreness. Beta-Alanine is intended for daily use, so when not using El Jefe you should supplement with it on it’s own to ensure you are saturating yourself with the right amount of Beta-Alanine.

Studies on Beta-Alanine have dosages anywhere from 2g-6.4g. We get 4g per two scoops on El Jefe.

Betaine Anhydrous – 2.5g

Betaine Anhydrous is a great ingredient that has been shown to improve strength and power output. Betaine also acts as an osmotic compound that promotes cellular hydration and regulates fluid levels inside and outside of the cell.

Accepted dosing of Betaine Anhydrous is 1.25g-2.5g. We get the full clinical dosage of 2.5g with El Jefe.

Taurine – 2g

Taurine is another ingredient very popular in pre-workout supplements. It aids in endurance and potential strength gains. One of Taurine’s main jobs is to help regulate your body’s electrolytes. By doing this, it may improve endurance, and thus enhance performance. Other studies indicate that supplementing with Taurine can lead to increases in strength and power.

The minimum dosage of Taurine is 1g. With ASC Supplements El Jefe we are getting 2g, a great dose.

Nitrosigine – 1.5g

Nitrosigine, a patented complex of bonded arginine and silicon from Nutriton 21, has been scientifically proven to enhance performance by increasing NO (nitric oxide) levels over each ingredient tested: Arginine AKG, Agmatine Sulfate, Citrulline Malate, L-Arginine, and Citrulline. Nitrosigine is also a scientifically substantiated ingredient with 28 studies showing either efficacy or safety.

Nitrosigine is one of the most effective ingredients on the market for enhancing your pump. It is not a cheap ingredient either. It works by increasing NO in your body where blood flow in enhanced and the pump is full. In a study of Nitrosigine vs. Placebo, the Nitrosigine group achieved a 2.3x larger muscle pump than the placebo group.

Nitrosigine can be dosed from 750mg to 1.5g. We get the full 1.5g with El Jefe, something we really like.

elevATP – 150mg

elevATP is a branded ingredient from FutureCeuticals clinically shown to increase levels of endogenous ATP to improve strength, power and performance. The energy cycle revolves around ATP. When energy is released, ATP becomes ADP as ATP loses a phosphate molecule becoming Adenosine diphosphate. ADP then gains a phosphocreatine molecule becoming ATP again. Carbohydrates are consumed by humans, then converted to glucose and collectively with ATP produces energy.

Research has indicated that oral supplementation with exogenous ATP is unreliable for increasing ATP levels since it breaks down in the gut. elevATP is unique in that it naturally helps ourselves produce our own ATP the way nature intended. elevATP is NOT exogenous ATP, but an ingredient that helps our bodies provide higher levels of ATP via its own internal mechanisms. Due to this, elevATP promotes non-stimulatory energy from our body’s own mitochondria.

The accepted dosage of elevATP is 150mg.

El Jefe Stim Matrix – 2,642mg

The El Jefe Stim Matrix is a proprietary blend consisting of 10 active ingredients. We will briefly explain each ingredient. We will also state if there is a dosage or what the normal range is.

Choline Bitartrate

Choline Bitartrate is a cognitive enhancing ingredient. It works well with caffeine to help improve focus. A typical dose of Choline Bitartrate is 500-2,000mg.

Caffeine Anhydrous – 300mg

Caffeine Anhydrous is pure caffeine. This is the fast acting, hard-hitting caffeine found in most pre-workouts.

Theobromine

Theobromine is similar to caffeine, and may show stimulant effects with improved energy. It also may aid in blood vessel relaxation which can help contribute to the pump. The typical dosage of Theobromine is 100mg.

Eria Jarensis Extract

Eria Jarensis or N-Phenethyl Dimethylamine, is a Neuromodulator on the Central Nervous System (CNS) and provides several mental effects including powerful focus, energy and even an increase in mood.

Eria Jarensis Extract provides a variety of mood boosting and cognitive enhancing effects for the consumer. This is directly caused by its ability to increase noradrenaline and even dopamine concentrations in the body. When these hormones are increased in the body, the user will have a sense of alertness, focus and concentrated attention. When this ingredient is taken in high enough doses, the user will achieve a sense of euphoria that is quite pleasing.

We typically see this at 125mg-250mg.

Juglans Regia Extract (DMHA)

Juglans Regia Extract aka DMHA is the real DMHA. This is a naturally occurring form of DMHA, which is extracted from the bark of the English Walnut Tree. The sports supplement industry is interested in Juglans Regia Extract because it is a powerful psychoactive mental stimulant that increases mental energy and focus. It causes you to feel an increase in mood, and an increase in cognitive capacity. This ingredient also has appetite suppressing effects which have led to it being included in a variety of fat burning supplements.

We typically see this form of DMHA dosed 50mg-150mg.

Di-Caffeine Malate – 100mg

Di-Caffeine Malate aka Infinergy is another form of caffeine used in El Jefe. Di-Caffeine Malate is caffeine and Malic Acid. The ratio is typically 75% caffeine and 25% Malic Acid. This version of caffeine does not hit instantly like Caffeine Anhydrous, but hits later, prolonging your energy levels and reducing the crash impact of Caffeine Anhydrous.

In El Jefe, you can assume you are getting approximate 75mg caffeine from Di-Caffeine Malate at 100mg.

Hordenine HCl

Hordenine is a fat burning stimulant. It provides energy by stimulating your central nervous system. Hordenine is used in a lot of fat burners for its thermogenic effect and its ability to increase energy. It pairs well with caffeine.

Typical dosage of Hordenine HCl is 50mg.

Higenamine HCl

Higenamine is similar to Hordenine that it is used in may fat burners and pre-workouts. It can aid in energy production by stimulating the CNS. It also can increase your metabolism.

Typical dosage of Higenamine HCl is 50mg.

Alpha Yomhimbine (Rauwolsine) – 1.6mg

Alpha Yohimbine is a strong stimulant. It is a variation of Yohimbine, but much stronger. It stimulates the CNS and aids in fat loss. It is one of the stronger fat burning ingredients on the market today.

Typical dosage of Alpha Yohimbine is no more than 2.5mg.

Huperzine A

Huperzine A is a nootropic ingredient used to improve mental clarity and focus. Huperzine A may inhibit an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase, which breaks down a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. More acetylcholine in the brain may increase focus and improve memory.

Traditional dosages of Huperzine A is 50mcg-200mcg.

Final Takeaway

We always love to take a look at a prop blend and try to reverse engineer it to the best of our ability. We do this to see if we believe the dosages are close to where they should be. Here is our attempt based on our experience and traditional dosages:

El Jefe Reverse Engineer

We are not saying this is 100% correct, but the numbers lined up. The numbers in the red are the ones we know from the label. The others are filled in by us where we think it may land. The rule is to round up (this comes in at 2,641.8mg) which would get us to 2,642mg, which matches the 2-scoop serving. If this is the case, then this stimulant complex is great, to go along with optimal dosages of the other ingredients.

It appears ASC Supplements El Jefe is not just a stimulant bomb, but a well thought out pre-workout that will aid in pump, focus, energy, strength/power and endurance. If you’re looking for a high stimulant pre-workout, but also one that is going to contribute much more than energy, ASC Supplements El Jefe should be in your consideration set for your next purchase.