As an athlete, your body utilizes and expends nutrients for energy and muscle fuel during your work out. Pre workout supplements can help you get started and provide proven sports ingredients to build more muscle mass and improve strength. However, replenishing your body with the vital nutrients it needs while you work out, such as key essential amino acids, electrolytes, and carbohydrates, will help you push your training and perform even better.

What Are Intra Workout Supplements 

Intra-workout supplements contain specific ingredients to improve endurance capacity, hydration, inhibiting muscle mass breakdown, reduce muscle damage, and improve energy to help provide fuel for long-lasting workouts. Most intra-workout supplements contain ingredients such as essential amino acids, branched chain amino acids, electrolytes, and carbs for quick energy and glycogen replenishment.

For example, Swolverine’s Intra Workout Supplement contains

• ELECTROLYTES: Himalayan Pink Salt, Calcium Citrate, Magnesium Chloride, Potassium Chloride, and Coconut Water
• SUPERFOOD/SPORTS NUTRITION INGREDIENTS:Essential Amino Acids, Spirulina, Tart Cherry, Pomegranate
• ENERGY/FOCUS INGREDIENTS:Panax Ginseng, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12

BEST INTRA WORKOUT SUPPLEMENTS 

We’ve researched the best intra workout supplements that are clinically dosed and made with proven ingredients to provide you with better performance outcomes.

Intra workout supplements that contain proprietary blends were excluded and did not meet the inclusion criteria for this review. We only included intra workout supplements and brands that use complete transparency in formulation and labeling. Products which underdosed key ingredients were also excluded. 

• Best Best Intra Workout Overall: Swolverine INTRA

• Best Intra Workout Carbohydrate: Swolverine Clean Carbs

• Best EAA Intra Workout: Transparent Labs INTRA

• Best Intra Workout Cluster Dextrin For Endurance: Nutrabio Leg Day

• Best Intra Workout For Performance: CBum Thavage PRE

• Best Intra Workout For Recovery: Nutrabio Intra Blast

• Best Intra Workout For Weight Loss: Alpha Lion Superhuman Intra

• Best Intra Workout For Hydration: Glaxon Astrolyte

Best Overall Intra Workout: Swolverine INTRA workout 

What’s so fascinating about Swolverine’s INTRA is that it combines proven sports nutrition ingredients with raw whole superfoods. Something no other INTRA workout has done before.

Swolverine’s INTRA is part of their performance series, which includes their PRE, INTRA, POST, and ZMT sleep elixir. The Swolverine performance series are all vegan, non-gmo, gluten free, and soy free.

INTRA is an advanced intra-workout supplement made to maximize hydration and improve training performance during your workout. INTRA is made with proven sports performance ingredients, antioxidant-rich superfoods, and electrolytes.

INTRA combines essential amino acids, tart cherry extract, pomegranate, spirulina, coconut water, and Panax ginseng for maximum endurance, mental focus, muscle growth, hydration, and recovery.

Swolverine’s INTRA includes 800mg of Panax Ginseng, nearly 3x the amount found in other products, to help improve focus and cognition during your workout as well as Vitamin B6 and B12 for energy.

It also includes tart cherry extract, spirulina, and pomegranate which have been shown to reduce muscle damage and improve endurance capacity, along with a full panel of essential amino acids for better muscle fuel while training.

Most intra-workout supplements contain blends, ingredients you’ve never heard of, and are underdosed. Swolverine’s INTRA-WORKOUT is proprietary blend-free, clinically dosed, and made with all-natural vegan ingredients, setting the new standard in sports performance and how you train. It comes in a delicious tropical blast and cherry frost flavor.

Best Carbohydrate Intra Workout: Swolverine Clean Carbs

Most intra workout carb supplements use ingredients such as maltodextrin, dextrose, or highly branched cyclic dextrin. Dextrose is a refined carbohydrate derived from modified corn starch. Nutritionally speaking, corn is a fast acting carbohydrate otherwise known as sugar.

Swolverine’s Clean Carbs are made from 100% real whole superfoods and complex carbohydrates, sweet potatoes, yams, oats, and blueberries, for optimal energy, endurance, and recovery. This is a great intra workout supplement for endurance athletes with multiple workouts, bodybuilders, and those looking to optimize body composition.

Dextrin based supplements work well for endurance athletes who need more energy and who deplete glycogen stores. However, they are not the best choice for an average consumer or someone who works out 3-5 times per week and lifts.

Clean Carbs provides a carbohydrate from real foods, which can also be used in a variety of different ways even as a pre workout, or post workout recovery formula.

Best EAA Intra Workout: Transparent Labs INTRA

Transparent labs is easily one of the best brands in the supplement industry. As the name aptly implies, all of their formulas are completely transparent and most of their products are clinically dosed. 

Transparent Labs Intra workout packs 6700mg of essential amino acids, which makes it one of the best and most highest concentrated EAAs on the market, 1000mg of coconut water, and a clinical dose of elevATP at 150mg for increased energy and 50mg of Astragin.

AstraGin^® is a patented, 100% natural compound that increases absorption of many vital nutrients promoting a healthy gut environment. 

ElevATP® is a natural combination of ancient peat and apple polyphenols clinically shown to increase levels of endogenous ATP and support improved strength, power, and performance in resistance-trained athletes.

It also packs a decent number of electrolytes for optimal hydration with calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium for optimal hydration.

The only downside to this product is that the citrulline malate is very under-dosed at 2,000mg.

Best Intra Workout For Endurance: Nutrabio Leg Day 

Nutrabio delivers in a very big way with their product Leg Day. Personally, I am not a fan of cluster dextrin, or any dextrin-based products, but considering the advanced formulation of this product, it’s hard to ignore. Dextrin based products should only be considered for the serious athlete. If your goal is body composition and you get to the gym a few days a week, this product is not for you. This product is for the endurance athlete who needs to replenish muscle glycogen stores, or bodybuilders that need fuel during heavy lifting sessions. 

NutraBio’s Leg Day delivers 32g of carbohydrates from Cluster Dextrin and Bioenergy Ribose, both forms of fast acting carbohydrates from corn. It also boasts 8.6 grams of essential amino acids, 450mg of the trademarked ingredients Neurofactor, Senactiv, elevATP, and L-dopa, providing more energy and focus, as well as a healthy and robust mix of electrolytes from Calci-K, pink Himalayan salt, and coconut water powder.

If you’re looking for a fast-acting form of carbohydrates made with cluster dextrin, NutraBio is easily the best choice. It delivers on everything you need in a solid intra-workout supplement, providing essential amino acids to rebuild and maintain muscle mass, electrolytes for hydration, and carbohydrates for more fuel for prolonged performance. 

The only downside, is that it’s only 20 servings.

Best Intra Workout For Performance: CBum Thavage PRE

Yes, Captain Obvious, I know, this product says pre workout. I’ll let this one slide though, so let's forget the name. Raw Nutrition’s Thavage PRE workout, formulated with co-founder Chris Bumstead can be used as an intra-workout. And it makes a fantastic intra workout at that.

Quick disclaimer here. Thavage is loaded with clinically dosed ingredients if you take two scoops. 

What I love about Thavage is the mix of proven ingredients to enhance mental focus. It includes Vitamin B6, B12, caffeine, alpha-GPC, bitter orange, Huperzine, L-tyrosine, and L-Theanine.

It also packs 6,000mg of Citrulline, 3200mg of Beta-Alanine, and 2500mg of Betaine. This combination of sports nutrition ingredients will help increase blood flow, enhance endurance during training, delay muscle fatigue, and improve strength outcomes.

How this formula could be better, is by using the patented ingredient Carnosyn Beta alanine and Citrulline Malate as opposed to L-Citrulline alone.

Research investigating the efficacy and ergogenic benefits of beta-alanine use Carnosyn as the main ingredient, not generic beta-alanine.

Studies have had very mixed and inconclusive results with L-Citrulline supplementation alone. L-Citrulline is the free form version of the amino acid citrulline. Citrulline is converted into arginine and nitric oxide, which provides for more blood and oxygen transport.

Studies indicate that the surmounting difference between Citrulline malate and l-citrulline is that L-citrulline alone does not directly affect aerobic ATP production. Malate which is an intermediate of the tricarboxylic acid cycle (CA) or urea cycle affects aerobic ATP production through anaplerotic reactions [R] 

Overall, this is a great product, predicated on the fact that you need two scoops to get a clinical dose, which does reduce this product down to 20 servings.

RELATED ARTICLE L-Citrulline Vs Citrulline Malate

Best Intra Workout For Recovery: Nutrabio Intra Blast

Nutrabio’s Intra Blast is packed with essential amino acids and electrolytes to inhibit muscle mass breakdown, replenish vital electrolytes, and rebuild lean muscle mass. What makes this product even better, is the 5g of added L-Glutamine to reduce post workout muscle soreness and improve recovery.

Intra blast also adds a clinical dose of 2,000mg of betaine to support muscular endurance and strength.

Overall, this product is a very effective and straightforward formulation, with 9.8g of essential amino acids, electrolytes, and L-glutamine.

Best Intra Workout For Weight Loss: Alpha Lion Superhuman Intra

Alpha Lion’s intra workout supplement, Superhuman is a solid choice when you’re looking for a solid EAA and hydration formula that won’t break the bank. Superhuman has 10g of essential amino acids, as well as an electrolyte and hydration matrix with Calci-K, AquaMin, Taurine & Coconut water to maximize hydration and electrolyte replenishment.

Similar to CBum’s Thavage, the downside here is that you will need two scoops of Alpha Lion Superhuman Intra to get a full clinical dose. It’s also missing Magnesium on the electrolyte panel. But besides that, simple and straightforward EAA.

Best Intra Workout For Hydration: Glaxon Astrolyte

Glaxon Astrolyte™ is a comprehensive electrolyte blend that includes Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium, and Chloride.  In addition to providing these crucial nutrients, Astrolyte™ also provides Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and Astragin™ to assist in the absorption of these minerals in both the small and large intestines.

Hydration is crucial to performance and Astrolyte delivers the vital electrolytes you need for optimal muscle function and mineral replenishment.

Compared to the popular LMNT, Astrolyte has more magnesium at 111mg compared to 60 and more potassium at 248mg compared to 200mg. It also delivers 961mg of sodium, just a bit shy of the 1000mg in LMNT. Overall, this formula is better than LMNT for hydration and electrolyte replenishment and a great choice when you’re looking for a straightforward intra workout supplement for hydration.

Intra workout supplements can boost your endurance capacity, reduce muscle fatigue, improve hydration, increase energy through preserving muscle glycogen, and inhibiting muscle mass breakdown.

Best Intra Workout Supplements: Takeaway

Intra-workout supplements can be a great addition to your training routine, for better hydration, inhibiting muscle mass breakdown, boosting endurance, and enhancing athletic performance. 

As a consumer, transparency, dosing, and ingredients are the three keys to an effective formulation to help improve athletic performance. Most intra-workout supplements, or sports performance supplements in general are under-dosed and use proprietary blends. Considering that the FDA does not oversee dosing, it is important as a consumer to be privy to the information needed to make an educated purchase decision. Proprietary blends do not disclose how much of an ingredient is used in a product. Without this information, you do not know if a product will be truly effective or not.

Grab The Best Intra Workout Supplement From Swolverine