Pre-Workout Ingredients Decoded: What's Actually in Your Scoop

Quick Verdict

Most pre-workouts contain the same core ingredients — but the doses vary wildly. Gorilla Mode and Bulk Pre-Workout Advanced consistently hit research-backed doses. Budget options like ABE and Myprotein THE Pre-Workout underdose key ingredients, particularly L-citrulline. A flashy label means nothing if the doses don’t match what studies actually used.

Product Overview

Factor	Myprotein THE Pre	ABE	Gorilla Mode	Ghost Legend	Bulk Advanced
Price	~£20 / 30 servings	~£22 / 30 servings	~£35 / 40 servings	~£35 / 30 servings	~£25 / 30 servings
Cost per serving	~£0.67	~£0.73	~£0.88	~£1.17	~£0.83
Scoop size	~14g	~10.5g	~22g	~16g	~18g
Prop blend?	No	No	No	No	No

Scoop size is telling. A 10g scoop physically cannot contain effective doses of citrulline (6-8g) plus everything else. If the scoop is small, something is underdosed.

Detailed Ingredient Comparison

Ingredient	Effective Dose	Myprotein THE Pre	ABE	Gorilla Mode	Ghost Legend	Bulk Advanced
L-Citrulline	6-8g	3g	4g (as citrulline malate)	9g	4g (as citrulline malate)	6g
Beta-Alanine	3.2g	2g	2g	3.2g	3.2g	3.2g
Caffeine	150-300mg	250mg	200mg	350mg	250mg	200mg
L-Theanine	100-200mg	0mg	0mg	200mg	0mg	100mg
Betaine	2.5g	0mg	0mg	2.5g	1.5g	2g
Taurine	1-2g	0mg	0mg	1g	1g	1g
Alpha-GPC	300-600mg	0mg	0mg	300mg	150mg	0mg
Tyrosine	1-2g	0mg	0mg	1.5g	1g	1g

The Citrulline Problem

L-citrulline is the most important performance ingredient in a pre-workout after caffeine. Research consistently uses 6-8g of pure L-citrulline to improve blood flow, reduce fatigue, and increase training volume.

Most budget pre-workouts include 3-4g — roughly half the effective dose. Some use citrulline malate (a 2:1 blend of citrulline and malic acid), which means a “4g citrulline malate” label actually delivers only ~2.7g of citrulline. That is a third of what works.

Gorilla Mode leads here with 9g of L-citrulline. Bulk Advanced hits the minimum effective threshold at 6g. The rest fall short.

What to Watch For

Proprietary blends list total weight but hide individual doses. If a label says “Energy Matrix 5g” containing caffeine, taurine, and tyrosine, you have no idea how much of each you are getting. None of the five products here use proprietary blends, which is good. But many others on the market still do — treat it as a red flag.

Pixie dusting means including an ingredient at a token dose purely so it appears on the label. Adding 50mg of alpha-GPC when the effective dose is 300-600mg achieves nothing except marketing.

L-theanine paired with caffeine is an underrated combination. Theanine smooths out the caffeine jittery edge, improving focus without reducing energy. Gorilla Mode and Bulk include it. Most others skip it.

Beta-Alanine: The Tingle Ingredient

Beta-alanine causes the tingling skin sensation many people associate with “the pre-workout kicking in.” Research shows 3.2g daily improves muscular endurance for efforts lasting 1-4 minutes. The tingle is harmless but has no correlation with effectiveness.

Gorilla Mode, Ghost, and Bulk hit the full 3.2g. Myprotein and ABE both underdose at 2g — enough to make you tingle but not enough to deliver the full endurance benefit.

Who Each Product Suits

Gorilla Mode — the fully dosed option for people who want every ingredient at research-backed levels. Higher caffeine, so not for caffeine-sensitive users.

Bulk Advanced — best value for a properly dosed pre-workout. Hits effective citrulline, beta-alanine, and includes theanine.

Ghost Legend — solid mid-range option with good flavours, though citrulline is underdosed.

Myprotein THE Pre — budget-friendly caffeine hit but underdosed on almost everything else. You are mostly paying for caffeine.

ABE — similar story to Myprotein. Popular in the UK but the 10.5g scoop size limits what it can deliver.

Where to Buy

For more on individual ingredients, see our guides on pre-workout, caffeine, beta-alanine, and citrulline malate.