MRM is a supplement company based in Oceanside, California, and their name stands for “Metabolic Response Modifiers.” They take a more “holistic” angle with their supplements and claim to be “dedicated to furthering of nutritional modalities in the arena of Alternative Healthcare.”
We wanted to try their pre-workout, which is called MRM Driven Preworkout. It’s a little unusual in that it’s very cheap and there are no artificial ingredients — usually you get one or the other. Let’s see what the Strawberry Kiwi flavor brings to the table.
Shop MRM HERE.
MRM Driven Pre-Workout Boost Nutrition & Ingredients
There are 15 calories in a scoop (4 grams of carbs, 3 of which are sugar) and a hefty dose of Vitamins B3 (niacin), B5, B6, B12, and C. There’s also a suite of electrolytes: chloride, sodium, magnesium, calcium, and potassium.
The rest of the ingredients are split into three categories.
First there’s the Defense/Hydration blend with trehalose (3.1g), betaine anhydrous (625mg), n-acetyl l-cysteine (375mg), and pine bark extract (100mg).
The Muscle blend has arginine AKG (1.125g), creatine (1.125g), beta alanine (1g), and citrulline malate (0.5g).
Finally the Focus/Energy blend contains acetyl-l-carnitine (500mg), n-acetyl-tyrosine (375mg), schizandra extract (193mg), caffeine (125mg, sourced from tea), and Peak ATP (25mg). I’ll discuss the effects of all these ingredients in the next section.
The other ingredients are just anti-caking agents and natural flavors and colors like stevia, monk fruit extract, and red beet powder.
Related: Best Pre Workouts
MRM Driven Pre-Workout Ingredients
MRM Driven Pre-Workout Boost Benefits & Effectiveness
There are a lot of ingredients here, but I think they can be roughly broken down into four categories.
Power: The creatine, betaine anhydrous, and Peak ATP have solid links with power output.
Nitric Oxide: The citrulline, pine bark extract, and schizandra berry extract may help boost nitric oxide, which is linked to blood flow and endurance.
Focus: The tyrosine and carnitine in particular are associated with focus.
Antioxidants: The cysteine and the Vitamin C are strong antioxidants, which may reduce cellular damage associated with exercise.
Note that some of these ingredients overlap with different categories, and the caffeine in particular is linked with both power, endurance, and focus.
All that sounds like this is a pretty effective supplement, but I wasn’t fully convinced all the dosages were optimal.
For example, there’s 500mg of citrulline, but studies have shown that to improve blood flow for a workout, you need closer to 5 grams of the stuff. The Peak ATP is a patented ingredient that has been linked to better power and endurance, but studies with this ingredient use doses of 400 milligrams — there are just 25 milligrams in Driven. The betaine anhydrous is also linked with power, but the best known study showed this effect in men taking 2.5 grams per day; there’s 625 milligrams in this product. There’s 1.25 grams of creatine, but 2.5 grams is probably a better amount for a pre-workout.
Not all of the ingredients seem underdosed. Given everything in one scoop, there will probably a positive effect on your endurance and hydration. The extra vitamins and electrolytes are also a nice touch. Given that it’s not that high in caffeine, I think I could take two scoops at a time to reduce the dosing issues, though they wouldn’t be eliminated.
MRM Driven Pre-Workout Boost Price
You can pick up a tub of 29 servings for $15, or 51 cents per serving. Most pre-workouts are between 80 cents and $1 per serving, so this is an extremely cheap product, particularly since it has no artificial ingredients.
MRM Driven Pre-Workout Taste
The Strawberry Kiwi flavor was pretty good for an all-natural pre-workout. It wasn’t as bitter as MRM’s all-natural BCAA supplement — which makes sense since the pre-workout doesn’t have any branched chain amino acids. I’d say it tasted like a very mild strawberry candy flavor.
The Takeaway
I liked the flavor, the price, the lack of artificial ingredients, the electrolytes, the antioxidants, and the fact that it appears to improve nitric oxide production. I was a little underwhelmed with the underdosing of some of the ingredients.
However, it’s very cheap, and given the low-ish caffeine content and mild taste, you could take two servings at once and it’ll still be a pretty cheap, effective product with a wide array of benefits.
MRM Driven Pre-Workout Boost
Per Serving: $0.51
Pros
- Very inexpensive
- All natural ingredients
- Probably good for nitric oxide and endurance
Cons
- Low in citrulline
- Low in tyrosine
- Low in betaine
