Altered State Pre-Workout – Bringing the Dead Back to Life!

Some pre-workouts wake you up. Altered State might just wake up the dead.

For years, scientists have experimented with bringing corpses back to life using lightning, complicated laboratory equipment and questionable medical ethics. Unfortunately, results have been disappointing. Perhaps they should have tried a scoop of Altered State instead.

Jokes aside, Altered State is an extraordinarily powerful pre-workout, designed for experienced stimulant users who want intense energy, focus and training performance. This is definitely not something we'd recommend to someone buying their first pre-workout.

An Absolutely Massive Stimulant Hit

At the full two-scoop serving, Altered State delivers a staggering 500 mg of caffeine, supplied through three different forms: caffeine anhydrous, caffeine citrate and caffeine di-malate.

The combination is marketed as providing both rapid and sustained stimulation, although the different caffeine forms don't necessarily guarantee a smoother or longer-lasting effect.

Then there's English Walnut extract (200 mg) and Synephrine (30 mg), two additional ingredients marketed for their stimulating properties.

This is an exceptionally aggressive stimulant combination. The full serving exceeds the commonly recommended 400 mg daily caffeine limit for most healthy adults, even before accounting for coffee or other sources. Combining caffeine with synephrine may also increase cardiovascular risks.

A Serious Pump Formula

Fortunately, Altered State isn't just about stimulants.

At the full serving, you're getting:

• 10,000 mg Citrulline: A substantial dose designed to support nitric oxide production and blood flow, potentially improving muscle pumps and exercise performance.
• 3,200 mg Beta-Alanine: A well-researched ingredient that helps increase muscle carnosine levels with consistent daily use, potentially improving performance during repeated high-intensity efforts.
• 1,500 mg Agmatine Sulfate: Popular in pump formulas, although human evidence supporting its exercise benefits remains limited.
• 200 mg Pine Bark Extract: Standardised to 95% proanthocyanidins, this is an interesting addition. Pine bark polyphenols have antioxidant properties and may support endothelial function and nitric oxide signalling, although direct evidence for improved gym pumps is limited.

The citrulline and beta-alanine quantities are particularly impressive.

Focus, Motivation and Mental Intensity

This is where Altered State gets especially interesting.

L-Tyrosine – 5,000 mg

That's an enormous serving of tyrosine. As a precursor to dopamine and noradrenaline, tyrosine may help maintain cognitive performance during certain stressful conditions. Whether such a large dose improves gym performance is less certain, but it's an interesting inclusion in a formula designed around mental intensity.

Alpha-GPC – 400 mg

A source of choline used in the production of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter involved in attention and muscular activation. Research into its exercise-performance benefits is promising in places, but far from conclusive.

P5P (Active Vitamin B6) – 20 mg

Pyridoxal-5-phosphate is the biologically active form of vitamin B6 and participates in neurotransmitter synthesis and amino acid metabolism. It makes sense from a nutritional perspective, although taking additional B6 doesn't automatically increase neurotransmitter production in someone who already has adequate levels.

Huperzine A

Included for its ability to inhibit acetylcholinesterase, the enzyme responsible for breaking down acetylcholine. This may influence attention and alertness, although evidence in healthy athletes is limited.

The Anti-Crash Ingredient

One ingredient that particularly caught our attention is L-Theanine – 100 mg.

Theanine is an amino acid naturally found in tea, and research suggests it may help moderate some of caffeine's less desirable effects, particularly nervousness and jitteriness. It's an intelligent addition to a stimulant-heavy formula, although with 500 mg caffeine and other stimulants in the mix, we certainly wouldn't expect 100 mg theanine to eliminate the possibility of a crash.

Our Planet Max Verdict

Altered State is one of those pre-workouts that makes you wonder whether the formulators were aiming to improve your training session or launch you into orbit.

Underneath the outrageous stimulant content, however, is a surprisingly comprehensive formula. The substantial citrulline, beta-alanine and tyrosine quantities, combined with pine bark extract, Alpha-GPC, P5P and theanine, make this considerably more interesting than a product that simply relies on enormous caffeine doses.

Even the one-scoop serving contains 250 mg caffeine alongside other stimulants, so it isn't a mild option. People sensitive to stimulants, those with cardiovascular concerns, or those taking potentially interacting medications should avoid it unless cleared by their healthcare professional.

This is a product for seasoned pre-workout users only, and even experienced users shouldn't assume that stimulant tolerance makes the maximum dose safe.

Final thoughts: If Dr Frankenstein had Altered State in his laboratory, he might have saved himself a fortune in electricity bills. Altered State – an extreme pre-workout for those who understand exactly what they're getting themselves into.