Supplement 101: Pre-workout C4 Extreme

In my training, I rely on a pre-workout for amazing results.   There are many pre-workouts on the market and the one
that I like the best is Cellucore’s C4 Extreme.  I want to tell you why a girl like me, would use a product like this.

As a side note:  I know that there are a million reviews, articles, and videos about supplements such as creatine, BA and
pre-workouts, but I want to keep it simple for my clients and those who just want the basics. If you want to get super geeky, then Google away!! 

My supplement philosophy: The supplements that I use and recommend to my Elite clients are to help with muscle recovery and better performance. I do not believe all supplements are perfect for all people.  Everyone is different.  I also do not recommend any supplementation unless your food is correct. If you are someone  who feels that you might enjoy the benefits that a pre- workout can give, C4 might be your holy grail!

Why do I take it?
I am a low energy girl. I’ve been caffeinated since 1982.  Whoohooo…C4  contains 135 mg of caffeine. This is the equivalent of one  8 oz. cup of drip coffee or a double shot of espresso.   Caffeine does help in workouts with mental focus. It makes me fired up and ready to work!   I can tell when my clients pre-workout has kicked in!  It’s GAME ON.

My holy grail: Creatine
C4 has 1 gram of creatine.  I am a huge fan of creatine.   There has been so much research about creatine yet it’s very misunderstood. I have had amazing results with  creatine through both my preps.  Creatine’s benefits include:

1. Building lean muscle mass
2. Assisting with high intensity workouts.  Those arch stairs were a breeze, because creatine assists in athletic performance with longer durations of high intensity work.  I flew up those stairs, like never before and there are LOTS of them.
3. Assisting in anaerobic capacity.  My HIIT workouts are necessary for my prep. I need to be able to workout longer and harder for best results.
4. Building strength.  Who doesn’t want more strength!!
5. Creatine also assists in muscle recovery.

Beta-Alanine.
C4 also contains 1.5 grams of Beta-Alanine.
Beta Alanine is a natural formed amino acid that you typically would find in animal proteins like beef, pork and tuna.

Benefits of Beta-Alanine
1.Boosts explosive muscular strength and power output.
2.Increases muscle mass.
3.Boosts muscular anaerobic  endurance. (HIIT)
4.Increases aerobic endurance.
5. Increases exercise capacity so you can train harder and longer.

Like creatine, BA helps the muscle work longer and harder.  It makes you vascular so you pump more blood to the muscle.
I have always found great success in my prep with a BA/creatine stack.  This stack in C4 is much less than I take during the day so I do supplement with extra to reach my recommended daily amount of 3-5 grams of creatine and 4-5 grams of BA.

Beta Alanine can give you the tingles. Not to worry, if you take it with food, it lessens. It does subside as you take it longer.
I don’t notice it anymore.  You can also increase your water and that helps as well.  A lot of people like the tingles. I don’t mind.

I recommend that everyone investigate the label of your products and make sure that they mesh with your medications or ability to take caffeine.  For that reason, I also recommend you purchase your supplements at a store that has a great return policy.

Where to buy?
I purchased my C4 Extreme at GNC and I love the new Strawberry Margarita flavor. The Fruit Punch flavor is on sale currently at Costco for 38.99 for two 30 serving containers. That’s  a steal!

A friendly reminder:  Stores like GNC have bonus incentives for their sales people to sell certain products each month. I have noticed that I don’t always get the same recommendations on products when I shop at the supplement stores so I like to do my own research.  You *might* go in looking for C4 and be steered to another product based on what their incentives to sell are.  Just tossing that out there.. See if you can score some samples. If the manufacture is making a big push, they will often send samples to the store.  That’s how I found C4.

Cautionary tale
A local trainer once told me that creatine has no benefits and has a placebo effect. He shamed me for taking it and deemed my results basically imaginary. He then posted a link to his favorite workout supplement giving it glowing praise.  His post said he could not have won his trophies without this amazing product.  I looked up the ingredients for his product and found 5 grams of creatine and 5 grams of Beta alanine in the stack.
*smh*

On that note, I am here to assist, to give you my perspective and experience with products I have used.  At the end of the day, you can do amazing discovery and decide what is optimal for your training and desired results!