The 5 Pre-Workout Combos In 2023: Our Tested Reviews

Core Nutritionals Fury & Pump seem to infest our ranking guides here on FI, so it is no surprise that they would be on this list. This combo is just absolutely loaded, and the two stand well enough on their own. In fact, Fury is our #1 overall pre-workout on Fitness Informant. 

Fury has always been a powerful pre-workout, and every version just gets better and better. This Fury contains 5 separate blends, all of which are dosed well. Fury provides some popular performance enhancing ingredients such as Betaine Anhydrous, Senactiv®, and Beta-Alanine, and of course you get plenty of pump inducing ingredients such as Citrulline, VasoDrive-AP®, and CitraPEAK™.  

Fury also has a strong nootropic blend that contains solid doses of Tyrosine, Alpha-GPC, and Pregnenolone. Pregnenolone is a neurosteroid that Core Nutritionals has used in the past, and it certainly is noticeable. Of course, you get a nice blend of Caffeine to aid with energy, and it is close to 400mg total!

Now how do you make our #1 product even better? Add Core Pump, a non-stim pre-workout that stands well enough on its own. Core Pump also contains Citrulline, bringing the 2 combined to a whopping 12 grams of Citrulline, which is more than enough. To add fuel to the fire, you get 2.5 grams of Betaine Nitrate, one of the best pump ingredients on the market. You also get clinical doses of PeakO2, Beta-Alanine, and Alpha GPC, an increase in endurance and focus comes along with it.

Overall, this is our favorite combo, and deserves a spot on this list. Two powerful products, awesome energy, great pumps, increased endurance, and a boost in focus. This is as good as any pre-workout combo on this list, and it is well worth trying out for yourself.

Who Makes It?

Core Nutritionals is a brand from Doug Miller. It has been around for a long time now, and has certainly stood the test of time. They are known for making some of the best formulas on the market and never seem to disappoint when it comes to new product or flavor launches. 

Legend V2 and Pump V2 is the next choice on our list, and it was one of the most hyped drops this year. The original Pump was one of our favorite products back when it was out, and GHOST simply took that and made it even better. As for Legend, the original was admittedly not our favorite pre-workout in terms of profile on the market, it was widely popular. Of course, we have to admit we still loved the flavors. 

This combo is certainly nothing to sleep on. It is not the highest stem containing combo on this list, however that could be a good thing, as not every pre-workout needs to have 300mg+ Caffeine to be effective. You get 250mg of Caffeine in here, which is a solid amount. Legend V2 also provides a solid Pump on its own, with the combo of Citrulline and Nitrosigine, both at solid doses. It also has some solid Nootropic ingredients, such as Alpha GPC and Tyrosine, both at solid doses. As we have stated in our review, it simply delivers on energy, focus, and pumps. 

As for Pump V2, it it simply a powerhouse pump product. It contains one of our favorite pump ingredients called Arginine Nitrate (NO3-T®). You get a whopping 3 grams, which ties it for the highest dosage of Arginine Nitrate on the market. Of course, it also contains the very effective and reliable pump inducer known as Citrulline at 6 grams! What makes it unique, is that it also has ingredients that prevent you from building up a tolerance. The PureWay-C is included to help prevent that, so you can tell GHOST put a lot of thought into this. 

The combo simply delivers. You get a solid boost in energy and focus, and a monster pump to go along with it. It certainly helps that GHOST is one of the best brands when it comes to flavors. Pump actually has a "Natty" flavor, and is great to mix with Legend in order to not ruin the flavor. With that said, the Swedish Fish and Peach combo (Peachy Fish" works very well, and it is the owner's favorite. You can't go wrong with GHOST.

Who Makes It?

GHOST is a fully transparent brand in the supplement industry. They are more than a supplement brand, they are a lifestyle (that's really what they are going for). They could easily attract consumers with their amazing YouTube Channel and marketing campaigns, which they do, but they keep them with their quality formulas and products.

Morphogen is a brand that really makes some of us supplement nerds giddy. With some of the most loaded formulas on the market, there is no way we couldn’t get our hands on at least one of their products. Well, after finally trying Alphagen, there was no way we couldn’t add this to our list.  Of course, this is followed with the addition of MorphoPump, a pill based pump product from Morphogen. 

To start, Alphagen is one of the strongest pre-workouts we have tried, and the profile doesn't even tell the whole story. The profile provides the usual suspects, such as Citrulline malate at a whopping 8g, as well as a clinical dose of Creatine Monohydrate and Beta-Alanine, then quickly turns up the heat with a whopping dose of Tyrosine at 3 grams! This is then followed by DMAE and Alpha GPC, which are both choline donors. Both are dosed highly, and this profile easily makes it great not just for energy and pumps, but for focus as well. 

Another cool aspect of Alphagen is that there is only 200mg of Caffeine, which makes this on the lower side when comparing to many other brands. It makes up for that dose for stem heads by offering some PEAs, as well as a TeaCrine and Dynamine combo. Yes, Caffeine is not the only way to increase energy. Some may not like the addition of Theanine, however it works here due to the high amount of PEAs. You also get AstraGin and BioPerine to help with absorption. really, if you want a loaded pre-workout, this one is a solid option, even on its own.

Well, Alphagen is great... how about Morphopump? Morphopump was the pump product we didn't know we needed. What makes it so interesting is that it is not your typical Citrulline/Nitrosigine formula. The first ingredient is Horny Goat Weed at a 60% standardization. The active ingredient is Icariin, which is a PED-5 inhibitor, a great ingredient for lowering blood pressure. You also get antioxidants from Pine Bark Extract and Pomegranate, which help prevent NO from being broken down. The profile also contains AmentoPump®, another PED inhibitor. We'd actually argue that this may be the strongest pump product on its own for this list, and it is very stackable. Infact for once we recommend starting off with a low dosage to access tolerance. 

Overall, this stack is simply awesome, and if you are looking for a loaded formula, it doesn't get much better than this. While some may not enjoy the flavor of Alphagen, or the Theanine, it will no doubt have you energized, focused, and pumped... while Morphopump will give you a big turbo boost in vasodilation. Not for beginners, and while unnecessary... loads of fun.

Who Makes It?

Morphogen is a brand that is known for their loaded products with impressive profiles. While not widely available, this gives them the option to make some of the best formulated products on the market. With the owner being an industry veteran with plenty of experience and qualifications when it comes to formulations, Morphogen knows how to deliver loaded, yet fun products that are almost too goo for their own good sometimes. There is no Morphogen product that disappoints as far as we know. 

RYSE STIM Daddy & Pump Cap Max has been one of our go-tos for some time now, and it is quite a popular one. Many pre-workout stacks have this issue where you are stacking two powders. This can lead to some issues, as flavors may not match or you simply have a bunch of powder you have to scarf down. The answer to this is simply grabbing some pump capsules that you can stack with a stim-based pre-workout and enjoy the convenience. While there are plenty of options out there, we have really enjoyed this one. 

Stim Daddy is another loaded pre-workout from RYSE that is obviously meant for those who like a strong hit of Caffeine and other energy boosting ingredients. The profile starts off with a whopping 6.4g of Beta-Alanine, which is double the usual dose. While it is more so focused on energy, you still get 6g of Citrulline, which is a solid amount and alone is enough to induce a noticeable pump. Betaine Anhydrous is also dosed higher than the usual 2.5g, coming in at 4g. The energy comes from the combined nootropic and stimulants, which include a nice dose of Tyrosine at 4g, Caffeine at 400mg, Theobromine (a cousin of Caffeine) at 100mg, and Dynamine® at 50mg. You also get 50mg of AstraGin® which may aid with absorption.

Now this is already quite a bit of powder to gulp down, which is where the capsules come into play. Pump Cap Max from RYSE is a simple formula, and it shows that you don’t need a laundry list of ingredients to make a good product. 4 capsules gets you 1.5g of Citrulline Peptides (Pepform®), 1g of Betaine Nitrate, and VasoDrive-AP® at 255mg. These are three proven ingredients that can aid with pumps, and while on it’s own should induce a noticeable pump, when combined simply adds an extra “oompf” to Stim Daddy that make it a powerful combo. Much nicer and more convenient than two powders whose flavors might not do well together. 

While there are many pre-workout powder/pump capsule combos out there, we really feel that you should try this one, as you already get a loaded formula, and just add a nice topping to it that puts it over the edge without being unnecessary overkill. We like those, but this is more than enough.

Who Makes It?

RYSE Supplements is a booming brand due to their soft approach to bodybuilding building loyalty through culture. RYSE Supplements also does a great job of formulating products including pre-workouts, proteins and other products like pump formulas. RYSE Supplements also launched RYSE Fuel, the brand's energy drink which is getting the brand into more households. 

Axe & Sledge Hydraulic V2 and Thermo 212 stack is our favorite fat loss stack, and we have several reasons why. Not only are they great on their own, they make a perfect pair for those looking to put together a fat loss pre-workout stack for themselves. 

Starting off with the non-stim pre-workout Hydraulic V2, it is a worthy successor to the original, and is pretty much a staple for us. It provides a solid doses of every ingredient it contains, including Citrulline, Glycerol Monostearate, Tyrosine, Beta-Alanine, CitraPEAK™, CogantiQ®, and Astragin®. So not only do you get great pumps, but some focus benefits as well. You will find Hydraulic V2 on many of our other ranking guides here, so of course it can only get better when you stack it with Thermo 212.

Thermo 212 is Axe & Sledge’s thermogenic powder that is another one of our favorites here. If you are looking for some Caffeine to go along with your Hydraulic, Thermo 212 has 300mg per serving, which is quite a strong dose. It contains some ingredients to aid with weight management such as InnoSlim®, CaloriBURN™, and Synephrine. We also love the addition of Acetyl-L-Carnitine, which is a great nootropic ingredient. A big reason we like Thermo 212 is for the GBB, which is an ingredient that raises Carnitine levels in the body. It is typically used because it simply makes you sweat. While sweating does not necessarily mean you are burning fat, it does make it feel as if you were. At 40mg, you should have a noticeable amount of sweat going. 

We highly recommend the Shark Bite with the Spicy Mango flavors as they compliment each other well. This stack will have you sweating and burning more calories, all while giving you some great pumps while you’re at it. 

Who Makes It?

Axe & Sledge is a blue collar brand making supplements for the hardest workers. Axe & Sledge continues to gain popularity and growth through their formulas and culture that the brand is building. The poster child and founder Seth Feroce represents a lot of what is good about bodybuilding and fitness: grinding and doing the MFing work.