Have you ever been in the middle of a lift when you can just feel the blood start to course through your veins?
Your power skyrockets and you feel like you're absolutely destroying your workout? That 'pump' that bodybuilders chase after is generally the result of increased levels of nitric oxide (NO), a signaling molecule that plays a major role in blood vessel health.
It serves to dilate blood vessels and allow greater blood flow for better oxygen and nutrient delivery, hence the notorious pump we get from NO-boosting supplements.
So, if you're looking for a natural way to elevate your workouts to achieve more energy, more strength, and a bigger and better muscle pump, a nitric oxide boosting supplement is right up your alley—and we've got you covered for what to choose.
We're breaking down what you need to know about nitric oxide supplements and why this one needs to be in your training stack.
The Best NOx Supplement For 2023
Pre Lab Pro®
Conventional pre-workout supplements are alright for boosting energy and driving focus, but if you're looking to shatter your limits and reach beyond just strength and stamina, Pre Lab Pro® will unleash your inner beast.
It sparks a 2X muscle-pumping nitric oxide (NOx) turbocharge + afterburn for all-around athletics. With the addition of moderate-dose smart caffeine, hydrating factors, restorative essentials, and more, Pre Lab Pro® helps you crush your workout with:
- an exhilarating blood flow boost
- physical and mental energy
- peak muscle power and efficiency
- extended endurance
- laser intensity and calm clarity
It's a pump like you've never experienced before.
And once you think you've reached your peak, feel the Pre Lab Pro® afterburner kick in—a second NOx surge that helps you go longer, finish stronger, and accelerate your recovery. It's designed for animalistic energy and intensity in the gym, followed by stronger balance and recovery post-workout for ultimate gains.
Key features:
- Red beetroot powder: Nitric oxide turbocharger with 25x more nitrate for a bigger muscle-pumping blood flow boost
- Setria® performance blend: Nitric oxide afterburner—sustains blood flow longer to build and maintain muscle
- Natural caffeine: Athletic performance enhancer, carefully dosed with enhancers for precision-tuned stimulation
- Ajipure® L-tyrosine: Sharpens focus under stress and maintains neurotransmitters depleted by caffeine and intense training
- Suntheanine® L-theanine: Improves caffeine benefits while minimizing the side effects for clean, calm stimulation and clarity
- NutriGenesis vitamins & minerals: Restore required nutrient stores before exercise
- Himalayan pink salt: Workout-boosting hydration and homeostasis recovery
Pre Lab Pro® targets three key pathways that work in synergy to supercharge workout performance, promote healthy balance, and accelerate your progress across all fitness programs. You're getting:
- Bigger nitric oxide: Breakthrough 2X turbocharge + afterburn blood flow surge for strength, power, endurance, intensity, and mental clarity
- Smarter stimulation: Moderate-dose caffeine plus synergistic L-theanine and nootropics for jitter-free energy, focus, alertness, and motivation
- Stronger homeostasis: Supports hydration, electrolytes, stress resistance, balance to boost performance, accelerate recovery, and maintain health
What Is Nitric Oxide?
For anyone in the fitness world, nitric oxide is gold. It's what gives the 'pump' that everyone chases that can turbocharge your workout like no tomorrow. While we typically think of nitric oxide coming from something like a pre-workout, it's actually a compound produced in the body.
It's a small, simple, and highly toxic compound that seems like a biological jack-of-all-trades, but is incredibly noxious due to the free radical stricture that makes it highly chemically reactive 1.
Although it's such a reactive compound, it's critical for the function of all mammals. It's quite possibly one of the most important messenger molecules that's involved in immune responses against tumor cells and bacteria, along with allowing neurotransmitters to relax blood vessels for better blood flow.
It's synthesized from its precursor amino acid L-arginine and participates in virtually all cellular and organ functions in the body, including regulating blood pressure, transmitting signals between neurons and suppressing and eliminating pathogens 2.
While typically we think of "more is better" in the bodybuilding world, excess NO can actually damage host cells, causing neurotoxicity. In the vasculature, however, it serves to regulate vascular tone and blood flow by activating soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) in the vascular smooth muscle 3.
This aspect of NO is why athletes and bodybuilders love the stuff.
Benefits Of Nitric Oxide Supplements
Boosts the "pump"
Nitric oxide is a gas that's produced by the lining of blood vessels (endothelium) to increase vasodilation and promote better blood flow.
Because blood carries oxygen and nutrients to active muscles, increasing blood flow due to consumption of nitric oxide supplements may help to extend work capacity and may enhance recovery. But it's also about that "pump", which is what people refer to when muscles increase in size from literally being engorged with blood.
Research shows that NO regulates the degree of contraction of vascular smooth muscle cells by triggering soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) to produce cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) 4; cGMP-independent signaling may also be involved in vasodilation.
NO is produced mainly from L-arginine by the enzyme endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), but can also be produced from non-enzymatic pathways.
Studies show that dysfunction in the production and/or bioavailability of NO is characteristic of endothelial dysfunction, which has been linked to several cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension and atherosclerosis.
Reduces blood pressure
Hypertension is a condition that millions of people worldwide deal with that can be detrimental to health and a precursor for several other chronic health conditions.
It's suggested that people with HBP have impaired ability to use nitric oxide 5; impaired NO bioactivity is also implicated in arterial stiffness, which is a major risk factor in systolic hypertension.
But how does NO reduce blood pressure?
Research suggests that a diet high in fruits and vegetables can reduce blood pressure, which may be due to the presence of certain compounds, including nitrate. Nitrate is a compound that's found in things like beetroot and dark leafy greens that, when converted to nitric oxide, dilates blood vessels to increase blood flow.
When blood can flow through arteries easier, it reduces pressure on the blood vesting lining and thus reduces blood pressure. Several studies have shown that nitrate produces beneficial effects on blood pressure because of its bioconversion to nitric oxide 6-8.
Enhances athletic performance
Apart from boosting blood flow for greater oxygen and nutrient delivery to active muscle tissue, nitric oxide has also been shown to enhance exercise performance. Because of its role in dilating blood vessels, it can help to increase the delivery of nutrients required for muscle performance.
A 2016 study looked at the effects of nitrate ingestion on bench press performance until failure in twelve active resistance-trained men 9. Participants drank either 400 mg of nitrate (from beetroot) or a blackcurrant placebo before bench pressing 60% of 1RM for 3 sets until failure with 2 minutes rest interval between sets.
Results showed a significant difference in reps to failure and total weight lifted between the two groups, suggesting that nitrate supplementation may offer performance advantages for resistance training.
Other studies have found nitrate derived from beetroot elicits positive effects on exercise performance, specifically oxygen uptake, power output, and time to exhaustion 10, 11.
Are Nitric Oxide Supplements Safe?
Dosing your fitness supplements correctly can be a challenge; it's a fine line between taking enough to get the pump but not too much to tank your workout.
Nitric oxide isn't something that's found as a pure supplement and is instead synthesized through L-arginine, L-citrulline, or beetroot supplementation, all of which exhibit a good safety profile 12-14.
However, consuming large amounts of nitrate-rich beetroot or beetroot juice may result in stool discoloration, although it's nothing to be concerned about.
Can You Take Nitric Oxide Supplements Daily?
While the safety profile on NO boosters may be relatively good, you still want to be mindful of what you're taking, as many products contain additional ingredients that may not be safe to consume daily.
However, something like beetroot juice has shown positive results with just two weeks of supplementation 15. But because dietary nitrate is widely available in several fruits and vegetables, increasing your intake of certain foods—beets and dark leafy greens—can do wonders for boosting NO levels.
As for supplements, ensure you're taking ones that are research-backed with appropriate dosages to guarantee results.
Final Thoughts
There's no denying that adding nitric oxide boosters to your workout can take your training to a new level, but you want to be careful about what you choose. Pre Lab Pro® is an ultramodern pre-workout supplement designed for people who want more.
More muscle, more strength, more stamina, and more gains. It's research-backed with scientifically proven ingredients for the biggest and best pump of your life. Try it for yourself and see how NO can turbocharge your workout.
References
- SH Snyder, DS Bredt. Biological roles of nitric oxide. Sci Am. 1992;266(5):68-77.
- CJ Lowenstein, JL Dinerman, SH Snyder. Nitric oxide: a physiologic messenger. Ann Intern Med. 1994;120(3):227-237.
- YC Luiking, MP Engelen, NE Deutz. Regulation of nitric oxide production in health and disease. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2010;13(1):97-104.
- Y Zhao, PM Vanhoutte, SW Leung. Vascular nitric oxide: Beyond eNOS. J Pharmacol Sci. 2015;129(2):83-94.
- M Hermann, A Flammer, TF Lüscher. Nitric oxide in hypertension. J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2006;8(12 Suppl 4):17-29.
- V Kapil, RS Khambata, A Robertson, MJ Caulfield, A Ahluwalia. Dietary nitrate provides sustained blood pressure lowering in hypertensive patients: a randomized, phase 2, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Hypertension. 2015;65(2):320-327.
- KL Jonvik, J Nyakayiru, PJ Pinckaers, JM Senden, LJ van Loon, LB Verdijk. Nitrate-Rich Vegetables Increase Plasma Nitrate and Nitrite Concentrations and Lower Blood Pressure in Healthy Adults. J Nutr. 2016;146(5):986-993.
- T Jones, EL Dunn, JH Macdonald, HP Kubis, N McMahon, A Sandoo. The Effects of Beetroot Juice on Blood Pressure, Microvascular Function and Large-Vessel Endothelial Function: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study in Healthy Older Adults. Nutrients. 2019;11(8):1792.
- SL Mosher, SA Sparks, EL Williams, DJ Bentley, LR Mc Naughton. Ingestion of a Nitric Oxide Enhancing Supplement Improves Resistance Exercise Performance. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(12):3520-3524.
- SJ Bailey, P Winyard, A Vanhatalo, et al. Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the O2 cost of low-intensity exercise and enhances tolerance to high-intensity exercise in humans. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2009;107(4):1144-1155.
- KE Lansley, PG Winyard, SJ Bailey, et al. Acute dietary nitrate supplementation improves cycling time trial performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2011;43(6):1125-1131.
- CJ McNeal, CJ Meininger, CD Wilborn, CD Tekwe, G Wu. Safety of dietary supplementation with arginine in adult humans. Amino Acids. 2018;50(9):1215-1229.
- C Moinard, I Nicolis, N Neveux, S Darquy, S Bénazeth, L Cynober. Dose-ranging effects of citrulline administration on plasma amino acids and hormonal patterns in healthy subjects: the Citrudose pharmacokinetic study. Br J Nutr. 2008;99(4):855-862.