No More Carbon Pre Workout - Now What?

This week you may or may have not heard but my favorite pre and post workout (Carbon Prep and Recover) is being discontinued from Bodybuilding.com and if you have read my blogs for a while now or read at least some of my old articles you know that Carbon Supplements was something i loved a lot for the pure fact it was everything you needed in a pre workout without any added caffeine and a post workout not comparable to anyone else's supplement brand (well with the exception of Jim Stoppani's Supplement line. So now since theres not going to be anymore Carbon supplements your probably wondering what i will be using then? Well let me say that i have stocked up 7 months of carbon prep and recover so luckily i have a stash for a while but for those of you that don’t have that stash i decided i would write up what my future plan is for when i finally run out.

For anyone training for a long time you understand the importance of a proper dosed pre workout and you know that using a specific researched set of ingredients you can actually improve your workout greatly. Some will say its placebo but from my 10 years of training experience i have never felt better training than i have when using a proper dosed pre workout. I used to try every product under the sun that claimed all those hypes of “build 10lbs of muscle in 2 weeks” and all that other crap. It was not until 5 years into training that i started to read  more about what actually worked and i then bought Pre Jym which was my first ever supplement that had proper dosing for a pre workout. I used pre Jym for a couple years before Layne Norton finally released his brand and i have ever since loved the stimulant free way of training (well lower caffeine than a typical product anyway.)

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Let me state that I'm not completely stimulant free, personally for me i have some green tea (30mg of caffeine and a monster energy (150mg of caffeine) with my pre workout so it totals around 200mg of caffeine before i train and that allows me to feel focused and energized but not bouncing off the walls like those crazy high caffeine dosed supplements out there. The reason i don’t like dosing a lot of caffeine is because i train after work (5pm) and i like to not be all hyped either when i train. I used to always train hyped but now a days i love just lifting in calm focused control with only as much hype that is needed at the time for a specific lift. I found since doing that my recovery, focus, and overall strength is so much better. Also i feel i don’t get burnt out from training nearly as much as i used to. Caffeine has it’s benefits as i talked about in this older article But with that said you shouldn't need a ton of caffeine to train.

First off i want to say that you could just buy all the ingredients in bulk and make your own but for one thats a pain in the ass and two it will taste horrible. So While this replacement method is not going to be as good as Carbon Prep it will at least be close. When it comes to supplements for me i always use the basic principle (just like for training) of keep it simple and only buy what has significant proven by studies value.

 

1. Post Jym For Pre Workout ($35)

I came to this idea because Post Jym actually has a lot of the Carbon Prep ingredients and Jyms products are also very tasty so i thought that would be a good base to work from and there is no caffeine. To make this a solid pre workout we will need to add some things to it tho.

https://www.bodybuilding.com/store/jym/post-jym.html

 

- 6-9 grams of Citrulline Malate (proven to help increase strength and muscle mass) ($16 for 1-2 months depending on how many grams you use)

https://www.bodybuilding.com/store/prima/citrullinemalate.html

 

- Huperzine A 200mcg (Cognitive enhancer, allows better focus) ($20 for 1-2 month supply)

Those 2 products can be bought in bulk and not very expensive. So total price for pre workout is around $50 a month which Carbon prep was $35 for one month so its going to cost a little more but you will see why thats not a big deal once i discuss post workout.

https://www.bodybuilding.com/store/source/huperzinea.html

 

2. Xtend for post workout (90 servings for $50)

Xtend was the best thing i could find that was anything close to the quality that Carbon Recover was. Its a basic BCAA supplement and since it is 90 servings you only have to buy that every 3-4 months so in reality your saving money from buying Carbon prep & recover which was $70 every month. Now keep in mind that we are missing some of the stuff that was in the Carbon line but to keep this as cheap as possible i just took the main and most important ingredients.

https://www.bodybuilding.com/store/sv/xtend.html

 

So while this combination is not as good as Carbon Prep and Recover was it is the best and most affordable option that i have come up with until someone sees a need for such a product and builds it. My predication or at least what I'm hoping is that since Layne Norton owns the formula (not the Carbon Name Tho) he will eventually produce it with another supplier under a different name and not with Bodybuilding.com This could very easily happen too since the main reason Layne developed Carbon in the first place was for his own ease of use. This is only a prediction but i am hoping it becomes a reality.

 

So What Do You Get In This Stack?

 

Pre Workout (Post Jym) (6g of BCAAs)

L-Glutamine 3 g

Creatine Hydrochloride 2 g

Beta-Alanine (as CarnoSyn®) 2 g

L-Carnitine L-Tartrate (as Carnipure™)  2 g

Betaine (Trimethylglycine) 1.5 g

Taurine 1 g

L-Leucine 3.6 g

L-Isoleucine 1.2 g

L-Valine 1.2 g

BioPerine® 5.3 mg

Citrulline Malate    6g

Huperzine A    200mcg

 

 

 

Post Workout (Xtend BCAAs) (7g of BCAA)

L-Leucine 3,500mg

L-Glutamine 2,500mg

L-Isoleucine 1,750mg

L-Valine 1,750mg

Electrolyte Blend: 1,140mg

Trisodium Citrate Dihydrate, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Chloride

Citrulline Malate (1:1) 1g

As you can see not a bad stack for the price. This will save me about $20 a month from when i used to get Carbon. Some people will say thats a ridiculous price but those are also people that have never tried a proper dosed pre workout. It's really amazing how much more powerful and focused you feel when you train with a proper dosed pre workout. Don't believe me? Well thats up to you but i can say myself i feel a tremendous difference in strength, energy and focus when i take a properly dosed pre compared to when I don't. So there we have it guys hopefully this helps some people that also fell in love for the great product Carbon was. I will be trying to get back to blogging more frequently again.

• Shawn Fausey is the Founder and CEO of Fausey's Fitness. With Over 6 years experience in Bodybuilding, Powerlifting and Nutrition. Shawn offers services of online fitness coaching, programing and consulting. Shawn is also a Graphic Designer and can be reached for graphic services on www.rev-graphics.com
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