Strength and endurance powders: 7 things to check first
Most powders sold to hybrid athletes are built for one job and priced for two. A stimulant blend that helps you squat heavier does very little for the eighth kilometre of a race. A carb drink that carries you through 90 minutes won't add a rep to your sled push.
Strength and endurance powders sit between those two problems, and the label usually tells you which side it falls on before you've spent a penny.
Here are 7 things I check, in order.
1. Every dose is printed in grams
If the label says "proprietary blend, 8,400mg", you're being asked to trust a number that hides seven others. There's no way to tell whether the creatine is at 5g or 0.5g.
This is the fastest filter there is. A brand that won't print the doses has usually underdosed something. Put it down and move on.
2. Creatine monohydrate at 3 to 5g, not a trace
The ISSN position stand on creatine describes creatine monohydrate as the most effective nutritional supplement available for increasing high-intensity exercise capacity and lean mass during training. The evidence base behind it is deeper than almost anything else in the category.
The maintenance dose is 3 to 5g daily. Plenty of "strength and endurance" powders carry 1g so they can list it on the front, which is enough for the label and not enough for you.
Creatine also doesn't need to be in the same tub as everything else. Bought as a standalone monohydrate powder it costs around 20p a serving, which makes it one of the cheapest things in the category.
3. Beta-alanine at 4 to 6g daily, taken for weeks
Beta-alanine works by raising muscle carnosine, which buffers the hydrogen ions that build up in hard efforts. The ISSN position stand puts the dose at 4 to 6g daily for at least 2 to 4 weeks, with the clearest benefits in open-ended efforts lasting 1 to 4 minutes.
That timeframe matters more than the dose. A pre-workout containing 1.6g of beta-alanine, taken three times a week before sessions, will never raise carnosine to a useful level. It'll just make your face tingle.
The tingling, by the way, is paraesthesia. It's harmless, and the position stand notes it can be reduced with divided doses of around 1.6g or a sustained-release form. It's also not a sign the product is working.
4. Caffeine at 3 to 6 mg/kg, an hour out
The ISSN caffeine position stand puts the effective range at 3 to 6 mg per kg of body mass, with benefits across muscular endurance, strength, sprinting and jumping. For a 75kg athlete that's 225 to 450mg.
Two useful details from the same paper. Doses around 9 mg/kg bring a high rate of side effects without adding performance. And the most commonly studied timing is 60 minutes before exercise, not 10 minutes before while you're lacing up.
If a powder lists 400mg and you weigh 60kg, that's 6.7 mg/kg. High end, and you'll feel it.
5. Sodium, if the session runs past an hour
Sodium is the electrolyte you lose most of in sweat, by a wide margin. Anything under about 300mg per litre is closer to flavoured water than a hydration product.
Sweat rate varies enormously between athletes, which is why a fixed recommendation is close to useless. Work out your own: weigh yourself before and after a hard hour, and every kilo lost is roughly a litre of fluid. We wrote up the method in how to calculate your sweat rate.
Our Electrolyte+ is £19.99 for 20 servings, which works out at £1 a session.
6. Carbohydrate your gut has practised with
Above about 60g of carbs an hour, you need a glucose and fructose blend to absorb it, because the two use different transporters. The number people quote is 90g an hour.
Very few athletes can take 90g an hour without practice. The gut adapts to what you give it, and race day is a bad time to find out where your limit sits. Gut training is the boring fix, and it works.
7. Whether you'll actually take it
This is the one that decides everything, and it's the one nobody checks.
A perfectly formulated tub that lives at the back of a cupboard because mixing it at 5am is a hassle does nothing. A slightly simpler product you take four times a week beats it every time.
Format is underrated. It's why our Pre-Shot is a 60ml ready-to-drink shot at £10.99 for six, with nothing to weigh, mix or wash up.
Where this leaves you
Two decisions, really. Cover the well-evidenced basics at a proper dose, then pick the format you'll stick with through a full training block.
Most people get the first part right and lose on the second.
FAQ
How much water for 1 scoop of pre-workout?
Most powders suggest 250 to 400ml. More water dilutes the taste and slows gastric emptying slightly. Less water hits harder and can be rough on an empty stomach. Start at 300ml and adjust.
What's the best way to drink pre-workout?
About 45 to 60 minutes before you start, in one go rather than sipped. Caffeine peaks in blood around 45 to 60 minutes after ingestion, so sipping it across a warm-up spreads the peak out and blunts it.
Can you take creatine and beta-alanine together?
Yes. They work through different mechanisms, one on phosphocreatine availability and one on intracellular pH buffering. The ISSN beta-alanine stand notes that combining the two may produce greater effects than creatine alone on strength and lean mass.
Do I need a strength and endurance powder at all if I already eat well?
Creatine and beta-alanine are hard to reach useful levels of through food alone. Carbohydrate and sodium you can absolutely cover with real food and salt, and plenty of athletes do. Supplements are for the gaps, not the foundation.
How long before I notice anything?
Caffeine, first session. Creatine, 1 to 4 weeks depending on whether you load. Beta-alanine, 2 to 4 weeks minimum. If a product promises anything in 24 hours, that's the caffeine talking.