The 9 Best Non-Stimulant Pre-Workouts in 2023

Pre-workouts are one of the most popular supplements on the market. They help you train harder and improve your focus and endurance.

The thing is, not everyone likes the extreme energy and central nervous system stimulation most stimulant pre-workout supplements provide. The combination of caffeine and other stimulants is just too much for many users. 

Never fear, there are stimulant-free pre-workouts available. These are completely caffeine free. Instead, caffeine-free pre-workouts contain active ingredients that target focus and pumps.

This guide presents 9 non-stimulant pre-workout reviews. These 9 are the best stimulant-free pre-workouts available.

In a Hurry? Here is our top pick:

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Quick Answer – The 9 Best Non-Stimulant Pre-Workouts In 2022

1. NutraBio Pre Stim-Free – Caffeine Free Pre-Workout – Best Overall 
2. Rich Piana 5% Nutrition Full As F*ck Overdosed Pre-Workout – Best For Pumps
3. Redcon1 Big Noise – Best For Pumps & Focus
4. Transparent Labs Stim-Free Pre-Workout – Best Clean Pre-Workout
5. The Genius Brand Genius Pre – Best For Focus
6. Staunch Pre Zero-Stim Pre-Workout – Best For Beginners
7. Animal Pump Pro Powder – Best For Cell Volume
8. Huge Supplements Pump Serum – Best Citrulline-Based Stim-Free Pre-Workout
9. Evlution Nutrition Pump Mode – Best No-Frills Formula

The Best Non-Stimulant Pre-Workouts

1. NutraBio Pre Stim-Free – Caffeine Free Pre-Workout – Best Overall 

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NutraBio defines what full label transparency is all about. 

NutraBio Pre Stim Free is our pick for the best overall non-stimulant pre-workout. 

What makes it the best caffeine-free pre? Effective dosing for starters.

This stim-free pre-workout uses pure citrulline for pumps. In contrast, many other pre-workouts use citrulline malate.

NutraBio Pre Stim Free also contains agmatine and Nitrosigine® to boost nitric oxide production, increase blood flow and create huge muscle pumps.

Plus, there’s a Power, Strength & Endurance Complex that includes creatine and betaine. These two ingredients are cell volumizers. They also increase power and strength.

Beta-alanine is dosed correctly, and there’s malic acid for ATP production. There’s also leucine, the most anabolic BCAA. This is an especially impressive complex.

There’s an excellent mental focus complex that includes tyrosine and choline. Finally, there’s a complete electrolyte complex.

The downside?

It’s dosed a little light in creatine (there’s 3.5g, it should be 5g). There are also artificial ingredients.

Still, the nod goes to NutraBio Pre Stim-Free. It’s the best non-stimulant pre-workout available.

PROS

• The Originators Of Transparent Labels
• Effectively Dosed
• Includes Electrolytes

CONS

• Contains Artificial Sweeteners

2. Rich Piana 5% Nutrition Full As F*ck Overdosed Pre-Workout – Best For Pumps

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Here’s an aggressive, fully disclosed formula that will get you pumped! 

Full As F*ck pre-workout is mostly a nitric oxide booster but also produces water-based pumps. Its ingredients include citrulline, taurine, agmatine, and glycerol.

By itself, it’s a good stimulant-free pre-workout for increasing nitric oxide. Stim lovers often combine it with their favorite pre-workout supplement. 

The drawback of Full As F*ck is that it only targets pumps. It lacks anything for focus or endurance. This is a problem with stimulant-free pre-workouts. Many non-stim pre-workouts don’t offer a complete formula.

Still, if you train for the pump, Full As F*ck is a great caffeine-free choice for you. It’s a solid pump-based stim-free pre-workout.

PROS

• Effectively Dosed
• Fully Disclosed Label
• Loaded With Pump Ingredients

CONS

• No Endurance or Focus Ingredients

3. Redcon1 Big Noise – Best For Pumps & Focus

Redcon1 Big Noise is a good combination of pump and focus ingredients. With alpha GPC and CDP choline, and huperzine, Big Noise has your focus needs covered.

There are also ingredients for both kinds of pumps. However, there’s only agmatine for increased blood flow and greater nitric oxide production.

For water-based pumps, there’s glycerol and betaine, which is a cell volumizer. It also supports strength and power output. But there’s nothing else for strength or muscular endurance. 

Big Noise, like many stim-free pre-workouts, is designed to be stacked with stimulant pre-workout supplements.

You won’t get a complete product unless you buy both. Big Noise is meant to be stacked with Total War, Redcon’s regular pre-workout supplement. This short-changes users that don’t want stims.

Still, this is a good choice in a stim-free pre-workout if you only want a pump & focus formula.

PROS

• Good Pump/Focus Formula
• Effectively Dosed
• Fully Disclosed Label

CONS

• Needs Strength & Endurance Ingredients

4. Transparent Labs Stim-Free Pre-Workout – Best Clean Pre-Workout

Transparent Labs is another company that practices extreme label transparency. 

One good thing about Transparent Labs Stim-Free Pre-Workout is that it’s a standalone pre-workout.

That means you’re getting a complete pump, focus, and endurance stimulant-free pre-workout. 

There are also branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) to maintain an anabolic state while you train.

Of course, the label clearly states everything in this product, right down to the “other ingredients”. 

The downsides? A light (3g) dose of creatine and modestly dosed focus ingredients.

Otherwise, there are no artificial ingredients. That makes it the best all-natural, clean non-stim pre-workout. 

PROS

• Extreme Label Transparency
• Complete Standalone Pre-Workout
• Effectively Dosed

CONS

• Creatine Should Be Dosed Higher
• Focus Ingredients Should Be Dosed Higher

5. The Genius Brand Genius Pre – Best For Focus

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The Genius Brand is one of the first companies to target emotional well-being with their products.

Genius Pre is a true standalone stim-free pre-workout. It targets pumps, focus, endurance, and strength.

With Genius, focus is the big thing. To that end, Genius Pre offers a complete complex of focus-enhancing ingredients. These include tyrosine, alpha gpc, Rhodiola, and huperzine. 

There’s also beta-alanine, betaine, taurine, arginine, and citrulline malate, all well-dosed.

If you’re looking for a balanced formula with a heavy emphasis on focus, this is the non-stimulant pre-workout for you.

PROS

• Balanced Formula
• Good Mental Focus Ingredients – Including Alpha-GPC
• Full Disclosure Labeling

CONS

• Only 20 Servings

6. Staunch Pre Zero-Stim – Best For Beginners

Staunch Pre Zero-Stim is a fully disclosed stimulant-free pre-workout supplement that features a 3-complex formula.

First, there’s an impressive Pump Complex, with 4 ingredients including citrulline malate, agmatine, arginine akg, and norvaline.

Then we have a Strength/Performance Complex with betaine, beta-alanine, and taurine.

This complex looks good but beta-alanine is a little underdosed. Beta-alanine causes temporary, harmless tingles and now many companies use a lower dose to reduce that effect. Regardless, the dose needs to be 3.2g, tingles or no tingles. 

Finally, we have an Energy/Focus Complex with 5 ingredients including two forms of carnitine, plus tyrosine, GABA, and evodiamine.

Overall, Pre Zero-Stim is a stim-free pre that can be used as a standalone product or stacked with a stim-based pre-workout supplement.

The downsides are the use of artificial ingredients and several underdosed ingredients.

This product is a good choice for beginners partially because it won’t cause tingles. Despite the lighter dosing, it’s still a complete, zero caffeine formula. That makes it the best non-stimulant pre-workout for beginners.

PROS

• Full Disclosure Labeling
• Complete Standalone Formula
• Several Well Dosed Ingredients

CONS

• Several Underdosed Ingredients
• Artificial Ingredients

7. Animal Pump Pro Powder – Best For Cell Volume

Animal is a line of hardcore products made by Universal Nutrition.

Pump Pro Powder is mainly a pump formula with 4 well-dosed, fully disclosed ingredients that include creatine monohydrate, citrulline malate, glycerol, and Nitrosigine®.

There’s also a focus complex that includes tyrosine, alpha gpc, and huperzine. Finally, there’s sea salt for the electrolytes. 

This is not a bad formula even though it does not have enough endurance/strength ingredients.

The downside is there are only 20 servings. Still, this is a simple, no-frills caffeine-free pre-workout.

PROS

• Good Pump & Focus Ingredients
• Fully Disclosed Label
• Well Dosed Caffeine-Free Pre-Workout

CONS

• Only 20 Servings
• Artificial Sweeteners

8. Huge Supplements Pump Serum – Best Citrulline-Based Stim-Free Pre-Workout

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Here’s a non-stim pre-workout with a huge 8g pure citrulline per serving. Currently, the best stim-free pre-workouts are using huge doses of citrulline in their products. Regular pre-workouts are too. That’s good news either way because it means better pumps.

Huge Supplements Pump Serum has quite a few more ingredients. These include endurance enhancers like beta-alanine, strength boosters like betaine, and ingredients to boost focus.

Huge Supplements (sometimes mistakenly called Huge Nutrition) Pump Serum is well dosed and there are no proprietary blends. The label is fully disclosed.

PROS

• Huge 8g Dose Of Citrulline
• Well-Balanced Formula
• Several Pump Ingredients

CONS

• Some Users Don’t Like The Taste

9. Evlution Nutrition Pump Mode – Best No-Frills Stimulant Free Pre-Workout

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When RSP Nutrition discontinued Pump Boost, Evlution Nutrition Pump Mode stepped up and filled the gap. RSP Pump Boost was new in 2018 but has since been pulled. There’s nothing in the RSP Nutrition line to replace it.

Evl Pump Mode, like Pump Boost, only contains a few ingredients. They are Glycerol, dosed the same as RSP, and NO3-T Betaine Nitrate. In contrast, Pump Boost used citrulline to boost nitric oxide production. Still, for fans of RSP, Evl Pump Mode is a good replacement.

It’s also the simplest stimulant-free pre-workout in this guide. Yet, it’s effective even with two key ingredients. Plus, it moves away from proprietary blends and uses fully open labels.

PROS

• Contains Two Ingredients
• Looking For RSP Pump Boost – Give This A Try
• Fully Open Label

CONS

• Some Users Feel It’s Too Simple

Buying Guide – What To Consider When Choosing The Best Non-Stimulant Pre-Workout?

How To Choose A Non-Stimulant Pre-Workout?

There are a lot of energy drinks and other dietary supplements that contain caffeine. Yet, it’s not hard to find a caffeine-free version.

This is especially true for pre-workouts.

Typically, the stimulant-free version of a pre-workout tends to zero in on pumps and focus.

That may not be enough. If you’re sensitive to stimulants, you want the best non-stimulant pre-workout you can find.

To be effective, the best non-stimulant pre-workout should cover every area of training performance: pumps, focus, endurance, strength, and hydration. It should also contain ingredients that help prevent muscle soreness.

Another thing to remember when choosing a non-stimulant pre-workout is whether or not it’s meant to be stacked with a stim-based pre-workout.

As noted, many companies market a non-stim pre but advertise it as part of a stack.

It’s true you can use their non-stim pre-workout by itself. Yet the intention is to combine it with stimulant pre-workout supplements.

Ultimately, this short-changes the user that’s sensitive to stimulants. What if you don’t want to use stimulant pre-workout supplements? The answer is to use stimulant-free pre-workouts that don’t have to be combined with anything else.

Benefits Of Stim-Free Pre-Workouts

For some users, there’s nothing like pre-workouts with caffeine and other stimulants.

For others, it’s just too much to handle.

Who likes the jitters, or the crash that always seems to come with high stim pre-workouts?

Besides, you can’t use stimulants late in the day and still sleep well at night.

The benefits of non-stimulant pre-workouts include:

• No Jitters
• No Crash
• No Adverse Effects From Too Much Caffeine/Stims
• The Ability To Use Pre-Workouts Anytime
• Improved Sleep
• Good Workout Support

Ingredients To Look For In Non-Stimulant Pre-Workouts

The best caffeine-free pre-workouts will contain the following ingredients:

L-Citrulline

Citrulline is an amino acid that converts into arginine in the body. It’s better absorbed than arginine and does a better job of stimulating nitric oxide production. Citrulline should always be the primary pump ingredient.

Some products use citrulline malate. This is a blend of citrulline and malic acid, an ingredient involved in ATP production. That cuts the amount of pure citrulline in half.

Dosing should be a minimum of 3g of pure citrulline. The best products go up to at least 8g. (1, 2, 3)

Other Ingredients That Boost Nitric Oxide

If you’re looking for muscle pumps, you’re looking for a pre-workout formula that contains key ingredients that increase nitric oxide levels. This relaxes blood vessels which will improve blood flow. This is the effect of nitric oxide boosters.

This provides significant benefits that go beyond the pump. These include increased nutrient and oxygen delivery.

Add cell volume ingredients and you’ll have improved hydration and better muscle fullness. You’re also looking at the best stim-free pre-workouts on the market.

Betaine

Betaine is an osmolyte. That means it pulls water into the muscle cells. It increases cell volume the same way creatine does. These two key ingredients produce a pump by increasing the fluid inside the muscle.

Betaine also helps improve strength and power. (4) 

As noted, good caffeine-free pre-workout supplements give you both nitric oxide-based and water-based pumps. As well, the same can be said of the best stimulant pre-workout supplements.

Creatine Monohydrate

This is the most researched ingredient on the planet. It has been proven effective time after time. We’ve already discussed what it does.

The best stim-free pre-workouts add creatine to improve endurance, strength, and cell volume. Further, creatine also has recovery benefits. Dosing should be 5 grams. (5)

Besides monohydrate, other effective forms include creatine hcl and creatine magnapower.

Focus Ingredients

These are ingredients that support cognitive function, focus, and alertness without the use of stimulants. Look for at least 1g of tyrosine and at least 600mg of choline.

Many stim-free pre-workout supplements use the alpha-gpc form of choline. (6, 7) A good non-stimulant pre-workout will add other focus ingredients such as Rhodiola and huperzine.

Beta-Alanine

This is a great endurance ingredient that helps you get more reps and sets. It does this indirectly by increasing levels of carnosine in the body. Carnosine acts as a lactic acid buffer which increases your training endurance and peak muscle performance. (8)

Other good ingredients include electrolytes or Himalayan pink salt for hydration and BCAAs to help promote an anabolic state in the body. You won’t find these in every non-stimulant pre-workout, but the best stimulant-free pre-workouts will contain these. 

Conclusion

As you can see, there are some great choices in a non-stimulant pre-workout. 

Our pick for the best overall non-stimulant pre-workout is NutraBio Pre Stim-Free. This product has it all and reveals the exact content of everything that’s in the container. If you want pumps, endurance, strength, focus, and hydration, this product does it better than anybody.

If pumps are what it’s all about, Rich Piana’s 5% Nutrition Full As F*ck Pre-workout can’t be beaten. This is a seriously dosed pump formula with both nitric oxide boosters and cell volumizers. 

If you’re looking for a balanced formula with a strong emphasis on focus, The Genius Brand Genius Pre is a good choice. This company is known for its cognitive enhancement products. They came through with a well-formulated, high focus non-stimulant pre-workout.

If you want a good all-around formula that pushes NutraBio Pre Stim-Free hard with no artificial ingredients, Transparent Labs Stim-Free Pre-Workout is the best clean non-stim pre-workout.

Finally, if you’re new to using a pre-workout, Staunch Pre Zero Stim would be a good place to start. This product has a good focus complex. It’s modestly dosed in ingredients such as beta-alanine, which means beginners won’t be turned off by the tingling sensation.

With all these options, you’ll have to make the choice that’s best for you. Use this guide to make your choice easier.

References:

1. Figueroa, A., Wong, A., Jaime, S. J., & Gonzales, J. U. (2017, January). Influence of L-citrulline and watermelon supplementation on vascular function and exercise performance. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27749691
2. Breuillard, C., Cynober, L., & Moinard, C. (2015, April). Citrulline and nitrogen homeostasis: an overview. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25676932
3. Bahri, S., Zerrouk, N., Aussel, C., Moinard, C., Crenn, P., Curis, E., … Sfar, S. (2013, March). Citrulline: from metabolism to therapeutic use. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23022123
4. https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/80/3/539/4690529
5. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/what-is-creatine
6. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/tyrosine
7. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/what-is-choline
8. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/beta-alanine-101