BeachBody is a fitness company that produces workout videos, supplements, and a wide variety of other fitness products. They’re responsible for P90X and Insanity, the workouts that made Tony Horton and Shaun T industry figureheads, but BeachBody Performance is one of their supplement lines. They sell creatine and protein but we wanted to try Energize, their pre-workout. What does it bring to the table?
BeachBody Performance Energize Nutrition & Ingredients
One scoop provides 15 calories and 4 grams of carbohydrate (2 grams of sugar).
The Performance Blend just has caffeine (100mg), beta alanine (800mg), and quercetin (500mg). I’ll discuss their effects in the next section.
There are also a few minerals: calcium (0.5% of the RDI), magnesium (5%), sodium (5%), and potassium (1%).
Otherwise there are just some natural flavorings like beet sugar, citric acid, and stevia, plus the anti-caking agent silica.
BeachBody Performance Energize Benefits & Effectiveness
Energize is a little strange in that it claims 40 servings per tub, but it recommends you take two scoops at once if you weigh over 160 pounds.
I’d recommend two scoops if you want effective doses of these ingredients. Beta alanine in particular is strongly linked to endurance, but most research suggests you consume at least 1.6 grams of the stuff — the amount found in two scoops.
There’s also the caffeine, which of course has been linked to improved energy levels. One hundred milligrams, the amount you’ll find in one scoop, is about as much as you’ll find in one average cup of coffee. Note that a cup of Starbucks medium roast is closer to 150 milligrams of caffeine.
The last ingredient in the Performance Blend is the quercetin, a bioflavinoid that’s present in high amounts in apples and onions. It’s known for being a potent antioxidant, so it may reduce cellular damage associated with exercise. Some studies have also shown that when combined with caffeine, it could increase time to exhaustion and VO2 max better than caffeine alone. Dosages are a little hard to agree upon, though.
There’s not much else to talk about, besides the minerals calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium. One scoop of Energize has a decent amount of sodium and potassium which could help with hydration — it provides about as much of these two minerals as you’ll find in one cup of Gatorade. The magnesium, while it’s usually used to help people relax after workouts, may also help focus when combined with the caffeine.
BeachBody Performance Energize Benefits & Effectiveness
It’s about $57 for 40 scoops, which is $1.42 per serving. It’s important to emphasize that this product is way more effective if you take the two-scoop serving route, which increases the cost to $2.84 per serving. Whether or not you double your scoops, this is on the pricer side for a preworkout supplement; most pre-workouts fall between 80 cents and $1 per serving.
BeachBody Performance Energize Taste
I tried two scoops of the Lemon flavor in about 1.5 cups of water, and it was pretty tasty. It just tasted like lemon candy — not too sour, not too sweet.
The Takeaway
If you’ve been looking for a simple, all-natural beta alanine and caffeine supplement, Energize fits the bill. The main things you might take issue with are the fact that it’s very pricy and there aren’t many ingredients. There’s pretty much just caffeine, beta alanine, and some electrolytes. Cheaper supplements will have all of these and typically throw in some taurine, tyrosine, carnitine, and some plant extracts to boot.
Maybe you don’t want all those extras and you’re just after some caffeine, beta alanine, and electrolytes. If that’s you, then you’ll be happy with Energize.
BeachBody Energize
Per Serving: $2.84
Pros
- Has beta alanine and antioxidants
- Contains electrolytes
- No artificial ingredients
Cons
- Expensive Side
- Has few ingredients
- Low in caffeine
