Sparta Nutrition Keto Pre Extreme

If you've been paying attention this opening month of 2018, you've noticed that Sparta Nutrition is launching an entire arsenal of ketogenic supplements. We've covered them all from the exciting Keto Coffee Creamer to their keto-friendly nootropic formula, CogniKeto.

Today we're bringing it all together with the fifth and final component of the Keto Series -- Sparta Nutrition's Keto Pre Extreme.

Led by BHB salts but also with a whole lot more, this keto-supporting pre workout supplement has everything a hard-training endurance athlete or keto dieter needs for those long training sessions.

It has fewer ingredients that will jeopardize your keto status, since too many pre workout ingredients (including nitric oxide boosters) are glucogenic amino acids (these are great for many, but sometimes counterproductive for keeping those blood sugar levels low as keto dieters must do). Keto Pre attacks that with extra ketones!

Keto Pre Extreme Ingredients

Keto Pre utilizes several proven performance, energy, and focus boosting compounds to deliver a pre workout best suited to the carb-starved athlete.

• BHB Salts

  Sparta Nutrition Keto Pre Extreme Ingredients

  Leading off Keto Pre Extreme is the main attraction for all the keto athlete -- BHB salts. These exogenous ketones provide a readily usable form of fuel for "keto-letes", allowing them to push longer and harder, even when not using the traditional training fuel, carbohydrates (ie glucose).

  Sparta includes a trio of BHB salts in the form of:

  • Calcium BHB - 2.5g
  • Sodium BHB - 2g
  • Magnesium BHB - 1.5g

  Studies note that BHB salts can sustain performance during exercise, particularly for the endurance athletes out there.^[1] But if you're doing more interval based or high intensity training, you might do better with carbs.^[2,3]

  Speaking of carbs, see our "double rocket fuel" trick below for a fun way to maximize the hardest of workouts.

• L-Citrulline (3g)

  Citrulline is an awesome performance and pump boosting ingredient. It's a more effective elevator of plasma arginine levels than even L-Arginine, which means greater nitric oxide production for you. The end result is increased vasodilation, improved blood flow, enhanced performance, and massive muscle pumps.^[4,5,6]

  The 3g dose here is enough to the get full effects of this valuable ergogenic, though we have seen the trend toward larger and larger doses of L-Citrulline lately in pre workouts (as much as 6-8g pure L-Citrulline). However, this dosage is perfect, because keto dieters don't want too much of this, for reasons explained below:

  Isn't this a glucogenic amino acid?

  The Citrulline Pathway

  Although we haven't found specific literature citing that citrulline is glucogenic, arginine certainly is -- and this gets converted into that.

  Mike's experiments here on PricePlow have shown that L-Citrulline does in fact raise blood sugar and drop blood ketone levels a bit - but that's only when sitting there doing nothing. If you train, you'll easily burn that... and, the BHB salts are more than enough to "override" this anyway.

  So fear not - for the majority of us, the performance-enhancing benefits of 3g citrulline alongside BHB salts outweigh the cons of a spike in blood sugar - especially since this is the only glucogenic ingredient inside.

• L-Taurine (1g)

  Taurine is an incredibly versatile amino acid that primarily operates as a cellular osmolyte, where it helps to enhance hydration levels in the body.^[7] The extra water retained by your tissues improve endurance and performance, along with helping you get some nice "water-based" pumps for those who are weight training, or simply better hydration for endurance athletes.

  Even better, taurine also doubles as a focus booster too, which is why you see it so often incorporated into energy drinks as well. No complaints here -- anyone with the "keto fog" will take anything they can get to improve focus without hurting keto status!

• Alpha GPC 50% (600mg)

  Sparta Nutrition Keto Pre Extreme Benefits

  One of the two (CDP Choline being the other) premier forms of choline on the market, Alpha GPC is an effective focus boosting ingredient due to its ability to support increased acetylcholine production. With more levels of the "learning" neurotransmitter floating around, you'll experience laser focus and a much more pronounced mind-muscle connection while training.^[8,9,10]

  Note that you're getting 600mg of Alpha GPC 50% here, which means you're actually getting 300mg Alpha GPC, still a great dose for improved focus.

• Caffeine Anhydrous (200mg)

  Even though you'll get some improved energy and endurance from the likes of Citrulline and BHB, nothing can replace good old caffeine when it comes to jumpstarting your central nervous system. This powerful stimulant heightens awareness, boosts focus,and improves exercise performance.

  The 200mg dose here is a solid starting point for most people, but the more stim-tolerant among us will command a higher serving of their favorite morning stimulant.

  If you're new to the keto diet, you may need a bit more than one serving depending on your stimulant tolerance. But because well-established keto dieters have so much energy, especially when fasted, those who are more fat-adapted should be perfectly fine at the 200mg dose.

• Spectra ORAC Blend (100mg)

  SPECTRA™ is a patented, proprietary combination of powdered fruits, veggies, and various other botanicals included to support immune system function and your antioxidant defenses. Stress, both physical and psychological, play a prominent role in the spread of free radicals, leading to all kinds of oxidative stress and ultimately widespread inflammation. Antioxidants, like the ones contained in SPECTRA™, combat free radicals and help prevent this accumulation of oxidative stress.

• Tasteless TeaCrine® 40% (100mg)

  Theacrine: Want longer-lasting energy? Here it is. Effect Size of 200 mg dose of Teacrine over course of 7-day repeated dose study relative to baseline on: Energy: 0.63, Motivation to Exercise: 0.58, Concentration: 0.6

  Developed by Compound Solutions, TeaCrine is a patented from of theacrine, a methyluric acid that offers some great long-lasting energy and focus. It's good on its own, but when combined with caffeine (as it is here), it's focus-boosting qualities really shine through.^[11]

  Since Sparta is using the tasteless version of TeaCrine, that means you're only getting 40% of the value listed in the ingredients panel. So, in each serving of Keto Pre Extreme, you'll get 40mg of theacrine, which may be felt by some of you in the form of long-lasting energy, but you really need to get at least 100mg worth to fully notice the prolonged energy and focus from this ingredient.

• Huperzine A 1% 1mg (100mcg)

  To really bolster the 300mg Alpha GPC you're getting in Keto Pre, Sparta also includes the potent acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, huperzine A.^[12] This powerful nootropic synergizes with Alpha GPC by prolonging the "lifespan" of acetylcholine in the body. Combining Alpha GPC + Huperzine A makes for extremely pronounced focus that seemingly lasts forever.

  Each serving of Keto Pre will supply 100mcg huperzine A (1% of 1mg is 100mcg).

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The double rocket fuel trick: add carbs for a crazy workout!

Now here's the trick. Once you've been keto dieting for at least a few months, you should be quite fat-adapted and well into ketosis. Workouts should have normalized, thanks in part to Sparta's Keto Series Supplements.

Don't be shy - SPIKE that blood sugar a bit. Just be sure to double it with ketones and get ready to TRAIN!

While your body is still familiar with glucose, consider adding a small amount of carbs (ie 15-25g) to your pre workout if you think you're going to have an insane workout. This will give you two sources of energy, and you will be able to accomplish crazy amounts of work! Yes, it may temporarily stop your own ketone production, but having BHB salts in here helps with that, and if you train hard enough, you'll burn that glucose and get back into ketosis soon enough. This is known as the CKD, or Cyclic Keto Diet, and it's for advanced users only who are no longer in a hurry to lose weight / burn fat. It's more for those trying to make or keep muscle and are willing to slow the fat burn for a while in exchange for additional performance. Remember, keto dieters have alternative fuel (ketones) - but that doesn't mean you have to completely ditch your original fuel once you've hit some goals! There's a trade-off, and it's worth taking, especially if you have BHB on hand to help amplify the situation.

Mike's Keto Pre Extreme Review: L-Citrulline Gets Me

Unfortunately, Mike just doesn't do well with L-Citrulline on the Keto Diet (full video here), so this one didn't pan out. Of all the Sparta Keto Supplements, this one gets last place. CogniKeto, on the other hand.... so good!

Takeaway

No longer do you have to worry about your mainstream pre workout messing with your keto status. Sparta Keto Pre Extreme is specifically formulated to improve your performance while supporting your dieting goals.

The caffeine might be a bit low for some, but for the endurance athletes, whom this is best suited for, the 200mg dose more is than enough to get them going and carry them through those long training sessions.