C4 Extreme Pre-Workout Review

The supplement industry has been producing and selling supplements for decades. It’s come to a point where even the most solid, well-functioning formula has either been copied from another brand or just isn’t as strong anymore. In the case of the latter, the most popular go-to solution is to simply go the extremes.

Extreme dosage, extreme serving size, extremely high number of ingredients, etc.

However, so many extreme supplements only succeed at creating an imbalance formula as opposed to a more well rounded experience. Cellucor thinks it can produce an extreme product that still manages to give justice to formula synergy with their C4 Extreme Pre-Workout.

C4 Extreme Pre-Workout is described as a blast of energy, pumps, blood flow, and endurance in one pre-workout. It also boasts of an open-formula with no artificial dyes or flavors, fully transparent without proprietary blends, and innovative ingredients with enhanced formulas for extreme performance.

About C4 Extreme Pre-Workout

C4 Extreme Pre-Workout is part of Cellucor’s latest attempt at re-innovating and reinventing their brand of supplements. They say C4 Extreme Pre-Workout has all the three keys to a perfect supplement: Clean, Clear, and Evolved. Here’s what they mean:Clean: No artificial dyes. No artificial flavors.

Clear: Fully transparent labels. No proprietary blends.

Evolved: Innovative ingredients. Enhanced formulas.

On top of those three key elements, they also say that other than explosive energy and performance, C4 Extreme Pre-Workout is also said to deliver an extremely clean nutritional profile built with zero calories, zero sugar, and zero carbs, with zero compromises on the amazing flavors you'd expect from C4®.

As for the formula itself, here are some of the things we noticed:

• Six key ingredients. Six ingredients for 7 grams per serving looks pretty decent.
• No prop blends. We like seeing everything that we put in our mouth, especially if we take them to specifically improve our health and strength. Would be bad if your product actually harms us...
• Premium stuff. Few yet high quality ingredients, it seems.
• Other ingredients. Not gonna lie, the other ingredients section looks like it’s a second blend, with all the stuff in it.

C4 Extreme Pre-Workout: Supplement Facts

Other Ingredients: Citric Acid, Natural & Artificial Flavors, Silicon Dioxide, Calcium Silicate, Malic Acid, Beet Juice (color), Sucralose, Polydextrose, Acesulfame Potassium.

Directions: Take one serving (1 level scoop) of C4® Original, mixed with 6 fl. oz of water 20-30 minutes before training. Some individuals may experience a harmless tingling sensation, which is attributed to beta alanine. USE ONLY AS DIRECTED.

C4 Extreme Pre-Workout: Ingredient List

• CarnoSyn Beta Alanine: This is the cream of the crop when it comes to beta alanine brands. 

“β-Alanine supplementation was effective at increasing power output when lifting loads equivalent to the individual’s maximal strength or when working at maximum power output. The improvement observed at 1RM was explained by a greater load lifted, or strength gain, in response to training in the participants who took this supplement.”You see, while beta alanine is indeed really awesome for muscle recovery and endurance, the problem is taking too much of it can get you a bit itchy or some tingling sensation. This is caused by the rather large molecules grazing your nerve endings during circulation.To some people, this is a sign that the product is working and authentic. Others find this tingling an annoyance. CarnoSyn helps reduce this side effect while also improving beta alanine purity. The dosage of 2 grams, while good, could be better if we’re taking an extreme take here.

• Citrulline Nitrate as NitraMax NO3-C: It’s not every day we see this blend of nitrate and citrulline. Citrulline helps give that pump feeling which can translate to better muscle performance. Citrulline also helps improve blood flow, thereby boosting nutrient absorption. The nitrate part is said to be more of a fatigue buster and endurance booster. So basically, citrulline nitrate is a pump and endurance ingredient. Sounds good, but the dose of 1 gram is kinda too low.

• Creatine Nitrate (NO3-T): Same effect with citrulline, except nitrate blends with creatine this time. Creatine is the all-around pre workout ingredient for performance, muscle recovery, and growth. The nitrate further enhances the performance side of creatine, but again, the dosage is just not that high for us to be confident with its potency.
• Caffeine as caffeine anhydrous: We get 200 mg of this bonafide stimulant. The thing is, even if 200 mg is two cups of coffee’s worth, to say that this is an “extreme” dosage is click-bait to say the least. In another one of their products, they have caffeine at 300 mg, and we think anything above 250 is treading the extreme range.
• N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine: One of the best in the business for focus and stress reduction. After all, exercise is stressful and will make you want to quit lots of times, so taking something to take the edge off should help in the long run.
• Huperzine A [from Toothed Clubmoss (Huperzia serrata) Aerial Parts Extract: Another focus enhancer, but this one can actually function even in tiny dosages. However, we think even the 50 mcg is a bit on the low end, as most of the doses we see consider at least 150 mcg. 

So based on what we’ve seen, C4 Extreme Pre-Workout isn’t as extreme as we were led to believe. We’re not sure if their target price range factored in the dosages (which it probably did), but C4 Extreme Pre-Workout is only extreme in name.

Who is C4 Extreme Made For?

C4 Extreme Pre-Workout is likely marketed towards long-time Cellucor fans. Because while we do understand that this product may be extreme for their fanbase, C4 Extreme Pre-Workout isn’t as extreme as it thinks it is outside of it. We also think C4 Extreme Pre-Workout is also made for those who like the appeal of premium ingredients over high dosages.

What are C4 Extreme Benefits?

C4 Extreme Pre-Workout can give you a good boost of energy and a pretty decent performance enhancement too. There’s also an angle on endurance to consider, especially because of the presence of beta alanine and creatine in one blend.

The focus benefit is pretty good too, but not really the highlight of the formula.

C4 Extreme: Side Effects

The main sources of side effects will likely come from either beta alanine or caffeine. 

Depending on how tolerant your body is, the dose given to beta alanine may or may not cause you to have an itching fit or some minor tingling sensation under your skin. If you do, relax. It’s just the molecules making its way to where they’re needed. And it often goes away pretty quickly, especially since CarnoSyn grinds these molecules to really small particles.

Caffeine at 200 mg can be a bit high for non coffee drinkers, but an otherwise normal dose for the usual coffee lovers out there. If you’re not a fan of caffeine, 200 mg can cause a good bout of the jitters and even a crash. If you take this supplement some time in the afternoon, it may also cause you to have a bad sleep experience.

C4 Extreme Pre-Workout: pros and cons

Pros

• Premium ingredients: The branded forms are nothing to overlook. Really outdid themselves here.
• Simple formula: The six ingredients, despite the modest dosing, should still work in synergy given the simple design. Fewer ingredients means more potency for all of them.
• Lots of flavors: Having many choices can attract a lot of customers. 

Cons

• Needs more dosing: We don’t think the doses are extreme enough to call this product extreme.
• Other ingredients: There’s too many of them. We actually thought it was a prop blend for the actual formula.
• A bit pricey: We get that they used a lot of expensive premiums here, but at the end of the day, you want to pay for function and not a signature brand of muscle powder.

Pricing info

• 1 Container (30-Day Supply): $34.99; 20% off + free shipping with subscriptions
• Available online and in retail
• Flavors: Sour Batch Bros, Icy Blue Razz, Fruit Punch, Watermelon, Midnight Cherry, Ultra Frost, Twisted Limeade

C4 Extreme Pre-Workout Review: Summary

C4 Extreme Pre-Workout is Cellucor’s answer to their customers’ plight for an extreme brand of C4 pre-workout. The formula has something for endurance, strength, energy, focus, and even muscle recovery. It also comes in with all the branded ingredients you can ask for. 

However, the most disappointing part of C4 Extreme Pre-Workout is how we were conditioned to expect an extremely potent formula, only to be handed what most seasoned supplement users will describe as generic or safe, and it all has to do with the dose for each ingredient.

Still, even with those flaws, C4 Extreme Pre-Workout manages to impress us with synergy and just general function. It’s not among the extreme powders we’ve seen, but we’ll at least say that C4 Extreme Pre-Workout is a pretty good pre workout powder on its own.