Even the best pre-workout formula won't do much if you drink it at the wrong time. Caffeine and the other active ingredients need time to reach your bloodstream, so timing matters almost as much as the formula itself.

The general rule

Take your pre-workout 20 to 30 minutes before you start training. That window gives caffeine enough time to be absorbed and start working. Mix your serve of Pre-Workout, drink it while you're packing your gym bag or driving to the gym, and by the time you're warming up it should be kicking in.

Too early or too late

Drink it more than an hour before training and you risk peaking before you've even picked up a weight, then feeling flat by your working sets. Drink it right as you walk in the door and you might not feel the effects until you're halfway through your session. Neither is a disaster, but both mean you're not getting the full benefit of what you paid for.

Training time of day matters too

Caffeine has a half-life of roughly five hours in the average adult, meaning half of what you take is still in your system that long after. If you train in the evening, a full-strength 400mg serve that's fine at 7am could easily disrupt your sleep at 9pm. For late sessions, a half serve, or reaching for our Pre-Workout Ready to Drink can earlier in the day and training caffeine-free at night, both work.

Building a routine around it

The people who get the most out of pre-workout tend to treat it the same way every session: same rough dose, same rough timing window, so they can actually tell whether it's helping. If you're chopping and changing when you take it, it's hard to know what's working and what's just a good night's sleep or a lighter training load.