Informed Sport
Informed Choice
NSF Certified for Sport
HASTA Certified
Most pre-workout tubs in NZ carry between 130mg and 420mg of caffeine a serve. The powders we stock split into three rough bands: moderate around 130 to 135mg, strong at 200 to 300mg, and max from 300mg up to 420mg. Here is how they compare, plus what that looks like in cups of coffee.
Caffeine is the number most people check first on a pre-workout, and for good reason. It is the ingredient you feel the fastest and the one most likely to keep you up if you dose it late. Below is the real spread across the tubs we stock, pulled from the labels, so you can find a serve that suits your tolerance.
The three caffeine bands at a glance
Powdered pre-workouts sort neatly into three intensity tiers. Here is the caffeine each band delivers per serve, with tubs we currently stock as examples.
| Tier | Caffeine per serve | Example tubs |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate | 130 to 135mg | CBUM Thavage (130mg), Cellucor C4 Sport (135mg) |
| Strong | 200 to 300mg | Cellucor C4 Original (200mg), Nexus PER4M (200mg) |
| Max | 300 to 420mg | Ghost Legend All Out V2 (400mg), Ronnie Coleman Yeah Buddy (420mg) |
Ronnie Coleman Yeah Buddy is the strongest tub we stock at 420mg a serve. At the other end, the moderate band around 130mg is where most people should start. You can see every tub lined up on our best pre-workout comparison page.
What does that look like in coffee?
A standard cup of brewed coffee sits around 95mg of caffeine, so the bands map onto coffee like this. It is a handy way to gauge a serve against something you already drink.
| Pre-workout serve | Roughly equal to |
|---|---|
| 130mg (moderate) | About 1.4 cups of coffee |
| 200mg (strong) | About 2 cups of coffee |
| 300mg (max) | About 3 cups of coffee |
| 420mg (max) | About 4.4 cups of coffee |
How much caffeine is too much?
For most healthy adults, 400mg of caffeine a day is the figure health agencies commonly cite as a sensible ceiling. That is worth keeping in mind if you already drink coffee or grab a canned energy drink, because a max-tier scoop on top can add up fast. If you are stacking a pre-workout with other caffeine through the day, the strong and max tubs eat into that budget quickly.
When should you take it?
Take pre-workout about 20 to 30 minutes before you train. That gives the caffeine time to come up so it peaks during your session rather than after it. Because caffeine can stay in your system for hours, an afternoon or evening lifter is usually better off in the moderate band, or on a stim-free pre-workout that skips caffeine altogether.
Caffeine is not the whole story
It is easy to shop for pre-workout on caffeine alone, but the number only tells you how stimulated you will feel. It says nothing about the pump, the focus or the endurance ingredients in the scoop. Two tubs can both sit at 200mg and feel completely different once you factor in their citrulline and beta-alanine. So use caffeine to narrow down the tier, then look at the rest of the label. A strong tub with a full ingredient list will do more for a session than a max tub that is mostly caffeine.
Your tolerance builds over time
If a moderate tub stops hitting the way it did in week one, that is normal. Regular caffeine use blunts the effect, which is why some lifters creep up to the max tubs over months. The fix is not always a bigger dose. Taking a week off the stimulants, or cycling onto a stim-free tub for a while, lets your tolerance reset so a moderate serve lands properly again. That also keeps your daily caffeine in check.
Which caffeine level should you pick?
If you are new to pre-workout, start in the moderate band and see how you handle it before moving up. Regular lifters tend to settle in the strong 200 to 300mg range. The max tubs are for people with a high tolerance who already know how they react. If you want a hand matching a tub to your tolerance and training time, the pre-workout finder quiz sorts it in under a minute.
Take the pre-workout finder quiz to get a tub matched to your caffeine tolerance.
