If you’re thinking of starting a workout routine or already go to the gym on the regular, but you’re looking for a keto pre workout, look no further! We’ve researched the 5 best keto pre workout supplements to help you lose weight and help you get the most out of your exercise routine.
It’s important to remember that not all pre workouts are created equally. Some contain harmful ingredients which won’t be good for you in the long run and might make you feel dizzy rather than energized.
And on the other hand, you can also find other keto pre workout supplements with added medium chain triglycerides to up your ratio of healthy fats, beta alanine to help you with muscle recovery and burning fat, as well as other ingredients.
Read on to find our top 5 best keto pre workout supplements.
Best Overall: Genius Pre
This keto pre workout consists of l-citrulline, beta alanine, l-tyrosine, l-arginine, taurine and other ingredients to help you get in more energy before a workout.
It’s also sweetened with stevia, so it’s essentially carb free. Aside, from being approved on the keto diet, it’s also caffeine free. Therefore, it will not give you any jitters, nausea or digestive issues if you’re sensitive to caffeine products.
After taking it, I felt truly energized in about 30 minutes and best believe I had no crash after. I’ve taken plenty of pre workouts before, but nothing compares to this one. I truly recommend it!
Price: $37.99 for 20 servings
Buy Perfect Keto Perform online
Best Quality: Perfect Keto Perform
As one of the biggest companies on the ketogenic market, Perfect Keto also sells a keto pre workout.
In my opinion, its ingredients are absolutely amazing. This pre workout contains MCT oil powder to increase healthy fat consumption, BHB salts bounded by calcium, magnesium and sodium, as well as BCAA’s, creatine, beta alanine powder, caffeine and l-citrulline.
Also, to prevent jitters, it contains less caffeine compares to traditional pre workouts, but still helps you boost energy levels before an intense workout with all the other ingredients.
Price: $50.99 for 15 servings
Buy Perfect Keto Perform online
Best Ketone Based Pre Workout: Ketologic Keto Energy
This product is a keto pre workout drink consisting mainly of exogenous ketones, followed by electrolytes and caffeine. It’s also zero carbs!
In comparison to other pre workouts, this one is specifically tailored to those who want to base their energy off of ketones and help with their production.
Ketologic’s keto sports drink comes in the grape, blueberry acai or raspberry lemonade flavor.
Price: $49.99 for 30 servings
Buy Ketologic Keto Energy online
Best Non Stim Preworkout: Genius Pre
If you find it difficult to get a keto pre workout without caffeine, this one is for you. Instead of caffeine, it’s rather nootropics-based so it not only helps you with your workout routine, but also brain cognition and memory improvement.
I won’t go much into detail here since we also picked this keto pre workout supplement as our best choice in all categories, so just scroll up if you need a bit more info.
If you’re picky about the taste, it comes in three flavors – grape limeade, sour apple and blue raspberry.
Price: $37.99 for 20 servings
Buy Genius Pre online
Best Value: C4 Sport Pre Workout
Need a keto friendly pre workout, but rather spend less than more on it? This is by far the best option where you get more bang for your buck.
It contains vitamin B’s, electrolytes, a performance blend and an energy blend. This is the only downfall of this product, as I mention later in this article, blends are tricky. You never know how much you’re getting of each ingredient, but here they’re actually written out so I’m giving bonus points here for sure.
At 0g of sugars, this pre workout is perfect on the keto diet. Plus, if you love a little boost from caffeine, you’ll enjoy this pre workout a lot!
Price: $24.99 for 30 servings
Buy C4 Sport Pre Workout online
What to Look For in a Keto Pre Workout
Finding a pre workout drink is hard, but finding a pre workout drink on the ketogenic diet is even harder! Don’t worry though, we’ve got you covered with what to look for when looking for pre workouts for keto dieters.
Transparent Labels – No “Proprietary Blends”
What in the world is a proprietary blend and why should you care about it? For example, you go into a vitamin store and see a bunch of nice-looking products. Maybe you’ve seen your favorite social media influencer use it, or maybe your friends rave about it as well.
The moment a label says “proprietary blend”, watch out. Those are simply ingredients bundled together and stated as one number, without any of the amounts. You’ll never know how much of each ingredient they will have and what is the true potency of it.
Also, when it comes to keto friendly pre workout supplements, proprietary blends can also contain sugars! That’s obviously something we don’t want, since it will block your fitness goals.
Quality Ingredients and Sweeteners
I know quality ingredients are important, but let’s skip right over to sweeteners first. The moment I see unnecessary sugars in a pre workout supplement I am fuming!
They’re absolutely redundant from a nutrition standpoint and don’t contribute anything to a pre workout other than good taste or stabilizer.
I know it’s important for a lot of people for the pre workout drink to taste amazing, but let’s never forget that first and foremost it should all be about quality ingredients rather than the taste.
Stay away from keto pre workout supplements that contain sucralose, aspartame, or saccharine. None of these are keto friendly and will definitely mess with your blood sugar levels.
When it comes to quality ingredients, you want the best of the best for your body in a keto pre workout supplement.
Here are 6 unnecessary pre workout ingredients you should avoid:
- artificial colors and flavors
- proprietary blends
- artificial sweeteners
- very high doses of caffeine
- unnecessary fillers
- ingredients you can’t even find on Google
And if you think the last one sounds a bit funny, it does but trust me when I tell you – the workout performance supplement business can get really shady sometimes!
Not Too Much Caffeine
Although a lot of pre workouts contain caffeine (which is totally fine on the ketogenic diet by the way), not many know that too much of everything is never good.
An average cup of coffee contains around 100mg of caffeine, compared to 150-400mg in a serving from a pre workout drink. That’s a huge difference!
Some people get nausea, digestive issues or overall feel unwell after drinking coffee, especially on an empty stomach. It stimulates an increased blood flow, so while it may be good for exercise performance and pump up a workout session, it may also cause your performance to decrease.
Know what your body can tolerate and which pre workout products are best for you and your body. When it comes to caffeine, you probably already know if you’re getting jitters after drinking a cup or two during the day.
There are plenty of pre workout dietary supplements without caffeine out there that contain other energy boosting ingredients. If coffee isn’t something you tolerate, opt for different choices.
Common Keto-Fiendly Ingredients
Creatine
Creatine is one of the most effective supplements for improving your workout performance. It may aid in reducing blood sugar levels, improving brain function, increasing blood flow and improving your muscle mass.
I know there has been a lot of controversy about this supplement in the past, but there are plenty of research studies that debunk this myth.
One examines the efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise performance, the other one discusses scientific evidence in response to the most common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation.
As it is with everything, if used correctly, creatine is one of the safest supplements to use to build lean muscle mass, especially on a low carb diet. We’ve even used it in our own, homemade keto pre workout years ago!
L-Citrulline
Citrulline is one of the three amino acids involved in the urea cycle. The other two are called l-arginine and l-ornitine. Citrulline has an edge over both since it’s sort of like a precursor for both arginine and arginine, while also improving the ammonia recycling process.
Apart from other amino acids, l-citrulline is not involved in building proteins, but as I’ve mentioned above, it does help your body remove harmful compounds and get rid of urine.
Research shows that regular supplementation reduces blood pressure and regulates blood flow, especially in people with cardiovascular problems such as hypertension and helps with mild erectile dysfunction.
Additional studies suggest that citrulline can also decrease fatigue, increase energy and improve stamina in both aerobic and anaerobic exercise.
Caffeine
As probably the most popular pre workout supplement, caffeine is taken to increase energy levels and focus. A lot of different pre workouts have it, where most labels recommend you take it about 30 to 60 minutes before a workout to achieve the best results.
This stimulant also has thermogenic properties, therefore it increases your metabolism allowing you to burn as many calories as possible during your next workout and burn fat.
Keep in mind that caffeine is a stimulant – although it’s a keto friendly pre workout supplement, some people react negatively to stimulants and cause themselves more harm than good.
Some stimulating effects of caffeine intake can cause anxiety, sleep problems, increased heart rate and stomach pain. Don’t worry though, most people can safely have a pre workout drink with caffeine in it.
BHB Salts
I’m sure you’ve heard about this one before from our fellow keto dieters, but are they any good when used in a pre workout drink?
To start off, BHB salts are supplements that contain betahydroxybutyrate, a ketone body bound to a mineral, such as sodium, magnesium or potassium.
They’re often recommended on the ketogenic diet since they can help you get into ketosis faster and help with energy production. Together with a dietary regime, BHB consumption promotes weight loss and raises ketone levels in the blood.
These are also called exogenous ketones. Whenever you’re purchasing them, make sure they are high quality and contain zero carbs from sugars.
Vitamins C and B12
Supplementing vitamin C before exercise will help you increase the power of antioxidants in the blood and reduce the oxidative stress from any athletic performance within the body.
Therefore, taking vitamin C before exercise is not so much about the ability to boost energy levels and produce energy, but rather for your immune system.
On the other hand, vitamin B12 is also a common ingredient in pre workouts and it’s needed for your brain to function properly, along with the nervous system, cells and more.
While there is no direct effect on endurance, exercise or your overall performance, keto pre workouts with this vitamin help boost metabolism and cell synthesis.
In turn, B12 deficiency is common amongst the modern population and it is believed to be the main cause of cognitive impairment, depression and pernicious anemia.
While you shouldn’t worry about not getting enough of B12 vitamin on the keto diet, remember that some people can’t absorb it as well as others, so extra supplementation is always a good idea.
Final Thoughts on Finding the Best Keto Pre Workout
When it comes to workout supplements, there are a lot of options on the market. However, if you’re following a ketogenic diet, it’s important to choose a product that won’t kick you out of ketosis. Luckily, there are several good keto pre workout supplements available.
Our most favorite was hands down the Genius Pre workout. Aside from natural ingredients, it has zero carbs and contains no caffeine while giving you a good, powerful kick before a workout.
Have you ever tried any keto pre workout products? Let us know in the comments!
Written by
Matt Gaedke
Matt is a former college basketball player turned computer engineer who discovered his passion for health and nutrition after cutting sugar from his diet in 2016. That year he founded KetoConnect with Megha in order to share their ketogenic lifestyle through recipes, videos, and educational content. Matt is always seeking to grow and try new things, a passion he shares with his wife and two amazing sons.
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