Kaged is known as an elite supplement company, pitching its products to high-performance athletes and high-level amateurs. They stress their commitment to high-quality, effective ingredients, and Kaged is recognized as a leader in the field. Now, we’re putting Kaged Pre-Kaged Pre-Workout to the test. 

Initial Impressions of Kaged Pre-Workout 

Kaged has an appealingly simple packaging, with a cool black tub and stylish lettering. 

In the package, Pre-Kaged is a fine powder, light pink in color. Kaged mixed up well, not needing a lot of shaking, and the light pink color remained. 

Energy Ingredients in Kaged Pre-Workout 

  • Caffeine 274mg

It’s a weird number – 274mg of caffeine. Specifically, Kaged uses PureCaf Organic Caffeine, and 274mg is a high dose. Some pre-workouts are higher, but considering 400mg is the maximum that the FDA considers safe, it’s going to get you a lot of energy. 

Caffeine is the go-to ingredient for most pre-workouts, given that it’s the cheapest and most readily available energy source we have. 274mg isn’t dangerous, unless you’re unusually sensitive to caffeine, but it’s enough that the packaging warns not to have any other sources of caffeine while using Kaged. 

Nootropic (Focus and Mood) Ingredients in Kaged Pre-Workout

  • L-Tyrosine 850 mg
  • N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine 1g

We know how important mental focus is when you’re hitting the gym. Mental clarity and cognitive performance makes all the difference in getting the best workout, and preventing injury. When you lose focus, you get hurt. 

What’s why nootropics are so important to a good pre-workout formula, and Pre-Kaged gives users an excellent set of nootropics in L-Tyrosine and N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine. Tyrosine has shown gains in memory and cognition in times of mental stress. L-Tyrosine is the most common in pre-workouts, but Kaged bumps it up with the more absorbent acetylated form as well. Together, they’re a bit over the optimal dose of 1.5g, so you can expect some great focus. 

Anti-Fatigue Ingredients in Kaged Pre-Workout

  • Beta-Alanine 1.6g

Fatigue will shut down a workout faster than anything else. You’re trucking, powering through, and suddenly you hit the wall. A good pre-workout needs to have something to increase endurance and push you through fatigue. 

Pre-Kaged includes the most popular anti-fatigue ingredient in pre-workout formulas, beta-alanine. Now, a lot of people don’t care for beta-alanine for one simple reason – the tingle. For some people, it’s a mild reaction, and for some it’s a miserable full-body skin crawl. Kaged has 1.6g, less than the optimal 2.5g, but the lower dose might reduce the tingle for most users. 

Pump and Blood Flow Ingredients in Kaged Pre-Workout

  • L-Citrulline (fermented) 6.5g

Pre-Kaged also makes sure to include the top-tier ingredient for pump and blood flow, L-Citrulline. Citrulline has shown effectiveness in relaxing the blood vessels and improving blood flow. Kaged goes the extra mile by including a fermented version of L-Citrulline, making it easier for your body to break down and absorb. At 6.5g, it’s a little short (the optimal dose is generally agreed on 8g), but not significantly enough to affect performance. 

Strength Support & Body Composition Ingredients in Kaged Pre-Workout

  • Creatine HCI 1.5 g
  • Betaine anhydrous 2.5 g
  • L-Leucine 1750mg
  • L-Isoleucine 875mg
  • L-Valine 875mg

Kaged Pre-Kaged goes all out on strength support and body composition, and by god, it’s packed with strength ingredients. First up, they start you off with 1.5g of creatine. If you’re a serious athlete, you’re probably going to want more, but it’s a good start. 

Then Kaged adds 2.5g of betaine anhydrous, a perfect optimal dose of a great body composition enhancing supplement. Betaine shows promise for limiting fat and building muscle, and it shows up in a lot of pre-workouts. 

Kaged also adds in L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine, and L-Valine for muscle repair. Leucine’s job in the body is building and repairing muscle, so it’s a necessity for muscle growth and recovery. Two different forms gives users a double-up. 

It’s important to note that L-Valine doesn’t build muscle itself – it works together with L-Leucine and L-Isoleucine by delivering more glucose to worn-out muscles and keep them going. 

Electrolyte Ingredients in Kaged Pre-Workout

  • Coconut water powder 500mg
  • Sodium 85mg

A lot of pre-workout formulas leave out any support for hydration, assuming that users will find their own preferred methods of supplementing electrolytes. But Kaged clearly wants Pre-Kaged to be an all-in-one product, so it’s not surprising to see some electrolyte support here. 

Kaged’s 85mg of sodium is a little short of the optimal dose, but Kaged also includes 500mg of coconut water powder. It’s an unusual choice, but a lot of athletes trust coconut water to provide hydration and essential vitamins and minerals. We like it. 

The Extra Mile? Additional Pre-Workout Ingredients in Pre-Kaged

  • Niacin 30mg
  • Vitamin B6 25mg
  • Vitamin B12 500mcg
  • Spectra Total ORAC blend 100mg
  • Taurine 2g

Pre-Kaged is nothing if not comprehensive, so there are a lot of other ingredients here. There’s taurine, of course – one of the most common ingredients in pre-workout formulas because of its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. There’s also a solid amount of vitamins, just cause. 

Kaged also includes SPECTRA Total ORAC Blend (ORAC standing for “oxygen radical absorbance capacity.”) It’s a rich mix of antioxidants, including ingredients such as coffee extract, green tea extract, and many more vegetable and fruit extracts and concentrates. It’s impressive on the package, but without substantial research, it’s hard to determine how 100mg of so many ingredients can improve performance. 

Taste & Flavors

Kaged Pre-Kaged comes in seven flavors, including Berry Black, Pink Lemonade, and Krisp Apple. We tried Fruit Punch. 

The Fruit Punch wasn’t an overpowering flavor. It reminded us most of Kool Aid, very sweet but somehow dry – not chalky like some pre-workouts, and without the strong aftertaste a lot of sucrolose-sweetened products have. 

Who Pre-Kaged is For 

Pre-Kaged is best for weight lifters and other athletes who want a solid all-around product that doesn’t require them to add other supplements. 

Who Pre-Kaged is Not For 

Pre-Kaged might not be the pre-workout of choice for consumers who want a simple, streamlined product with limited ingredients. 

Potential Side Effects of Kaged Pre-Workout

  •  Possible skin reactions, possible post-workout crash

Final Verdict Kaged Pre-Workout is a lot, frankly, and we’re not sure of all of it. On the plus side, there’s ample energy and strength support; on the minus, Pre-Kaged just has an enormous ingredients list, which makes us wonder if a lot of ingredients are included more for show than performance.

Related:

The Top 10 Best Pre-Workouts on Amazon

The 20 Best Pre-Workout Supplements With Nootropic Brain Enhancing Ingredients


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