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Bloom Nutrition’s pre-workout is a natural formula with ingredients that are claimed to improve focus, energy, and endurance. Unlike pre-workout supplements I’ve reviewed in the past, this one is catered for awesome ladies trying to get in shape.
But can it deliver on its promises, or is it lacking in sufficiently potent ingredients? What is the evidence behind them and what is the feedback from those real people who have tried it?
In this article, I’ll be looking at the scientific literature and help you understand whether or not Bloom Nutrition’s pre-workout formula is worth it.
Main Takeaways
- This pre-workout has a variety of ingredients that are known to be effective in increasing power output, endurance, and energy.
- Whether or not these ingredients are dosed appropriately is difficult to tell given how most ingredients are hidden behind a proprietary formula.
- Priced at $1 per serving, this pre-workout is reasonably affordable. It comes with 40 servings per canister, which is also pretty good when compared to other pre-workouts.
Before I Get Started, Let’s Talk Proprietary Blends
The reason I want to touch upon proprietary blends is that they make it even more difficult to understand whether a given product is effective.
And unfortunately, Bloom’s pre-workout formula happens to contain two different blends where you have the more relevant ingredients.
There are a few reasons why I don’t like proprietary blends:
1 – You cannot know the precise amount of each ingredient in a proprietary blend. This makes it hard to gauge the potential effectiveness of the supplement, and it’s even harder to compare products.
2 – Companies can also take advantage of proprietary blends to obscure the fact that beneficial ingredients are included in negligible amounts, while fillers or cheaper ingredients make up the bulk of the blend.
3 – Some ingredients might interact with medications or have potential side effects at certain doses. Without knowing the exact amounts, it’s hard for consumers and health professionals to assess potential risks.
4 – For people tracking their intake of certain nutrients or compounds, proprietary blends make it impossible to accurately count what’s being consumed.
Alas, proprietary blends aren’t inherently bad, especially if a company wishes to protect trade secrets. However, transparency is always preferred, particularly if we’re dealing with a category of supplements that’s less dissected.
Ingredient Analysis
Now that I’ve got my little rant about proprietary formulas out of the way, I’d like to dive deep. Yes, I want to analyze each ingredient to help you understand if the supplement you wish to purchase has all the right ingredients.
Let’s start with the first one in the Natural Performance Blend.
L-Arginine
This is an amino acid that’s vital in the production of nitric oxide, a molecule that helps blood vessels relax and improve circulation, leading to increased blood flow to the muscles during exercise.
However, there’s no evidence to suggest that the L-Arginine effect on exercise performance is significant.
A lot of the research (like this systematic review and meta-analysis) doesn’t show a positive impact of arginine on exercise performance.
Only when different types of exercise and various performance outcomes are combined together inappropriately in meta-analyses, do the results seem to suggest a performance benefit from arginine.
L-Carnitine
L-Carnitine is a crucial part of how our bodies use fat for energy, as it helps transport fats into our cells so they can be burned for energy.
It seems to be helpful for reducing fatigue in older adults who have low muscular endurance, but when it comes to athletes and physically active individuals, the evidence is less consistent.
Alas, there’s also some research showing it can lead to small improvements in performance and might help limit muscle damage during weight lifting or resistance exercise.
Beta-Alanine
This amino acid helps produce carnosine, a molecule that helps buffer acid in muscles, improving muscular endurance.
Many studies show that beta-alanine can enhance performance, especially during high-intensity or short-duration exercises.
For instance, this systematic review and meta-analysis shows that beta-alanine can enhance muscular endurance during high-intensity exercise lasting 1–10 minutes.
Beet Root Extract
Beetroot has a lot of something called nitrates. Our bodies can turn these nitrates into something else called nitric oxide. In theory, this could help us exercise better and for longer.
The good news is that studies do show that beetroot can help improve how we perform during different types of exercise.
Generally, beetroot seems to help us feel less tired when our muscles are working really hard for a long time.
This could be most helpful for exercises where you keep going without many breaks, like in sports such as hockey, and rugby, or workouts like CrossFit.
Beetroot might also help a little bit when you’re doing very long workouts. So, it could be useful whether you’re doing intense short exercises or going for a long run or bike ride— though more research is necessary!
It’s important to note that in this context beetroot is consumed as a juice.
Now let’s look at the first ingredient in the Clean Energy Blend.
L-Tyrosine
L-Tyrosine is like the builder of some important brain chemicals – dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE), which can run low when we’re stressed or thinking hard.
When you take L-Tyrosine, it gets into your blood, peaks in about one to two hours, and stays high for up to eight hours. It then crosses a barrier into your brain, where brain cells use it to make dopamine, which can then be changed into norepinephrine.
The cool part is that L-Tyrosine can only do this in brain cells that are active, which might be why it can help to reverse the effects of stress.
The main benefit of L-Tyrosine comes from its ability to