The ingredients in a typical UK pre-workout, what the evidence says caffeine, citrulline and beta-alanine do, when to take it, and the price per serving of Applied Nutrition ABE and Myprotein Origin, checked September 2026.
Most pre-workouts are caffeine plus a few supporting ingredients, usually citrulline for blood flow and beta-alanine, which is what makes your skin tingle. Caffeine is the part with the strongest evidence behind it. A dose costs 60p to 93p on the brands' own sites, checked 23 September 2026. Applied Nutrition ABE is the one we would start with: 200mg of caffeine per scoop, which is the most the Food Standards Agency advises in a single serving, and it is Informed-Sport tested. It costs 93p a serving direct, or 83p on Amazon.
Pre-workout is a powder you mix with water and drink before training. Most of what it does comes from caffeine, and the rest of the scoop is a handful of ingredients with smaller effects. This guide explains what each one does, how much caffeine popular UK pre-workouts contain, and what a serving costs. Labels and prices were checked on each brand's own site on 23 September 2026. Pre-workout contains no meaningful protein, so we compare it on price per serving rather than per 25g of protein.
Myprotein Origin and Applied Nutrition ABE, the two stimulant pre-workouts compared in this guide.
What ingredients are in most pre-workouts?
Most UK pre-workouts are built on the same four ingredients:
Caffeine, usually 150mg to 300mg a serving. This is the ingredient that makes you feel it.
Citrulline or citrulline malate, usually 4g to 8g, sold for blood flow and the "pump".
Beta-alanine, usually 2g to 3.5g, which buffers acid in the muscle and causes the tingling.
Creatine, in some formulas, usually 3g.
Applied Nutrition ABE is a typical example. Each 12.5g scoop contains 200mg of caffeine, 4g of citrulline malate, 3g of creatine monohydrate, 2g of beta-alanine and 250mg of choline, with vitamins B3 and B12, according to appliednutrition.uk.
How much caffeine is in popular UK pre-workouts?
Between 200mg and 300mg a serving in the two stimulant pre-workouts we checked. Applied Nutrition ABE contains 200mg of caffeine per 12.5g scoop. Myprotein Origin Pre-Workout contains 300mg per 20g serving, which is two scoops. The Food Standards Agency advises people to avoid supplements with more than 200mg of caffeine in a single serving, or more than 400mg a day across servings. ABE sits at that single-serving limit. A full serving of Myprotein Origin goes over it, so one scoop instead of two, which gives 150mg, keeps you inside it.
Pre-workout
Serving
Caffeine
Citrulline
Beta-alanine
Applied Nutrition ABE
12.5g
200mg
4g citrulline malate
2g
Myprotein Origin Pre-Workout
20g
300mg
8g citrulline malate (6g L-citrulline on the label)
3.5g
Myprotein Origin Pump (stim free)
25g
None
8g citrulline malate
3.5g
From the product pages on appliednutrition.uk and myprotein.com, checked 23 September 2026. For how much caffeine is safe across your whole day, read how much caffeine in pre-workout is safe.
Beta-alanine raises carnosine in your muscles, which buffers the acid that builds up during hard efforts. The International Society of Sports Nutrition says it takes 4g to 6g a day for at least two to four weeks to improve performance, so a single serving before one session does very little. It also causes the harmless tingling many people notice, called paraesthesia, which smaller split doses reduce.
Citrulline is turned into arginine in the body, which helps make nitric oxide and increases blood flow. The evidence for performance is modest: a 2019 meta-analysis by Trexler and colleagues in Sports Medicine found a small benefit for high-intensity strength and power. Citrulline malate is citrulline bound to malic acid, so 8g of citrulline malate contains less citrulline than 8g of pure L-citrulline. That is why the same Myprotein Origin tub says 8g of L-citrulline DL-malate on the front and 6g of L-citrulline in its nutrition table.
When should you take pre-workout?
Follow the label first. Applied Nutrition says to take ABE with 250ml of cold water 15 minutes before exercise. The International Society of Sports Nutrition notes that research on caffeine most often gives it 60 minutes before exercise, and that the best timing depends on the form of caffeine. Avoid stimulant pre-workout late in the day if caffeine keeps you awake, and do not take a second serving on the same day.
How much does a serving of pre-workout cost?
Between 60p and 93p a serving on the brands' own sites, checked 23 September 2026. Myprotein Origin Pre-Workout costs £19.99 for 30 servings, which is 67p a serving and 28% cheaper than Applied Nutrition ABE bought direct at £27.95 for 30 servings, or 93p a serving. On Amazon UK most ABE flavours cost £24.95 for 30 servings, checked 22 September 2026, which is 83p a serving and cuts the gap to 20%.
Pre-workout
Pack and price
Servings
Cost per serving
Myprotein Origin Pump (stim free)
750g, £17.99
30
60p
Myprotein Origin Pre-Workout
600g, £19.99
30
67p
Applied Nutrition ABE (Amazon UK)
375g, £24.95
30
83p
Applied Nutrition ABE (appliednutrition.uk)
375g, £27.95
30
93p
One-off prices with no code applied, checked 23 September 2026 on myprotein.com and appliednutrition.uk, and 22 September 2026 on Amazon UK. Both Myprotein prices were sale prices, down from £24.99.
It is not a premium product. Myprotein Origin Pump, which has no caffeine, costs 60p a serving, less than Myprotein's own stimulant version. Without caffeine you lose the ingredient with the strongest evidence, so what you are paying for is 8g of citrulline malate and 3.5g of beta-alanine. It makes sense if you train in the evening, are sensitive to caffeine, or already drink several coffees a day. Our stim vs stim-free pre-workout guide goes into the choice in more detail.
For caffeine alone, coffee does the same job. The Food Standards Agency says a mug of coffee contains about 100mg to 140mg of caffeine, so a 200mg scoop of Applied Nutrition ABE is roughly one and a half to two mugs. If caffeine is all you want, coffee you make at home gives you it without paying for the rest of the scoop. What pre-workout adds is citrulline, beta-alanine and sometimes creatine in one drink. Creatine and beta-alanine work from taking them every day, not from one dose before training, so if those are what you are after, buying them separately is often cheaper. See the best pre-workout UK guide for our full picks, compare every product on price per serving in the pre-workout comparison, or read our Applied Nutrition ABE vs Grenade 50 Calibre review. To line up any two products side by side, use the comparison tool.
Frequently asked questions
What does pre-workout actually do?
Mostly, it gives you caffeine. The International Society of Sports Nutrition says caffeine at 3 to 6mg per kg of body weight consistently improves exercise performance, including strength, sprinting and endurance. The other common ingredients, citrulline and beta-alanine, have smaller or slower effects: beta-alanine only helps after weeks of daily use.
How long before the gym should I take pre-workout?
Follow the label, which usually says 15 to 30 minutes. Applied Nutrition says to take ABE 15 minutes before exercise. The research on caffeine most often uses 60 minutes before exercise. Avoid it late in the day if caffeine affects your sleep.
Why does pre-workout make you tingle?
That is the beta-alanine. The tingling is called paraesthesia, and the International Society of Sports Nutrition lists it as the only reported side effect of beta-alanine at recommended doses. It is harmless and fades, and smaller split doses reduce it.
Is pre-workout just caffeine?
No, but caffeine does most of the work. Applied Nutrition ABE adds 4g of citrulline malate, 3g of creatine and 2g of beta-alanine to its 200mg of caffeine. Caffeine is the ingredient with the strongest evidence for a same-day effect.
How much is pre-workout per serving?
Between 60p and 93p a serving on the brands' own sites, checked 23 September 2026. Myprotein Origin Pump costs 60p, Myprotein Origin 67p and Applied Nutrition ABE 93p, or 83p on Amazon UK.
