The Formula That Changes Everything: Why Spartan Supplements Preworkout RTM Is Built Different

You've seen enough pre-workouts that promise the world, bury underdosed ingredients behind a "proprietary blend" label, and deliver a mediocre caffeine spike that fades by the second set. That's not what this is.

Spartan Supplements Preworkout RTM was built the way performance supplements should be: full clinical doses, no hiding, no shortcuts. Every ingredient in this formula has a reason to be there — and the science to back it up. Let's break it down from the ground up.

The Ingredient Stack: What's In It and Why It Matters

L-Citrulline — 10,000 mg

This is the foundation of the formula. L-Citrulline is a naturally occurring amino acid that your body converts into another compound — arginine — which then triggers the release of nitric oxide. Think of nitric oxide as a signal your body sends to widen your blood vessels. Wider blood vessels = more blood, oxygen, and nutrients rushing into your muscles exactly when you need them most. That's the "pump" you feel during a great workout — and it's not just cosmetic. Better blood flow means better performance and faster recovery.

Most pre-workouts include 3–6g of citrulline. We put in 10g — the top of what research supports. At that dose, you're not hoping for a pump. You're engineering one.

Creatine Monohydrate — 5,000 mg

Five grams. The exact dose used in over three decades of clinical research. Creatine monohydrate is the single most studied performance supplement in existence, and the conclusion is always the same: it works.

Creatine is stored in muscle cells as phosphocreatine, where it regenerates ATP (adenosine triphosphate) — the actual energy currency of muscular contraction. The more phosphocreatine you have available, the harder and longer you can push before fatigue sets in. This translates directly into more reps, heavier lifts, and faster recovery between sets.

A 2025 randomized double-blind crossover trial published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition confirmed that short-term creatine supplementation at 5g/day enhances strength, reduces fatigue, and accelerates recovery in resistance-trained athletes. Beyond the physical, creatine also elevates brain creatine levels, with research showing it may support working memory and cognitive performance — which matters when you're trying to stay locked in under a heavy bar.

This isn't a trendy form. It's the proven one.

HydroPrime® (65% Glycerol Powder) — 5,000 mg

Most people overlook glycerol. That's a mistake. HydroPrime® is the most stable, highest-concentration form of powdered glycerol available — delivering 65% pure glycerol without the clumping or inconsistency of older glycerol monostearate forms.

Glycerol is an osmolyte. When ingested with adequate water, it raises the osmotic pressure in your bodily fluids, pulling more water into your intramuscular tissue. The result is a state of hyperhydration — your muscles are fuller, your vascularity is sharper, your nutrient delivery is enhanced, and your tolerance to heat stress during intense training improves dramatically.

Research has shown that even a 2% loss in body fluids can reduce exercise performance by up to 20%. Glycerol supplementation extends hyperhydration by up to four hours, offsets dehydration-related performance decrements, and has been shown to improve endurance times and lower exercise heart rate when consumed with adequate fluid intake. It's also synergistic with creatine — both drive cellular water retention through different mechanisms, amplifying each other's volumizing effects.

At 5g of HydroPrime®, you're getting a serious dose that makes a visible and felt difference from the first rep.

Beta-Alanine — 3,200 mg

Three-point-two grams. Exactly the dose validated in clinical research. Beta-alanine is a precursor to carnosine, a dipeptide that buffers hydrogen ions in muscle tissue — the primary driver of the burning sensation and muscle failure during high-intensity sets.

By increasing intramuscular carnosine concentrations, beta-alanine allows you to sustain high-intensity output longer before fatigue forces you to stop. Studies show meaningful performance improvements in activities lasting 1–4 minutes — the exact work-interval range that covers HIIT, heavy compound sets, and high-volume hypertrophy work.

Yes, you may feel the tingling (paresthesia). That's not a side effect to worry about. That's the ingredient working. Regular supplementation accumulates carnosine in muscle tissue over time, meaning each dose builds on the last.

Betaine Anhydrous — 2,500 mg

Betaine (trimethylglycine) is a methyl donor derived from beets that plays a powerful dual role: it's an osmolyte like glycerol, supporting cellular hydration and volume, and it also participates in homocysteine metabolism and creatine synthesis pathways in the liver.

Research has consistently shown that 2.5g daily — the exact dose used here — improves power output, endurance, and body composition over time. It enhances both the pump and the physiological machinery underneath it, making it one of the highest-value ingredients in any serious pre-workout.

N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine — 1,000 mg

Focus under stress isn't just a mental game — it's biochemistry. N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine (NALT) is a bioavailable form of L-Tyrosine, a precursor to dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine — the catecholamine neurotransmitters that drive drive, motivation, and stress resilience.

Under intense training, catecholamine levels deplete. NALT replenishes the substrate for their synthesis, keeping your mind sharp and your mental drive intact as physical fatigue accumulates. At 1g, this is an impactful dose — not token inclusion.

L-Theanine — 150 mg

Caffeine without L-Theanine is a blunt instrument. Theanine is an amino acid found in green tea that modulates the excitatory effects of caffeine, promoting a state of "calm focus" — attentive and sharp without the jitteriness or anxiety that comes from stimulants alone.

The 250mg caffeine + 150mg theanine ratio here is deliberate. It's not a 1:1 — it's calibrated so the stimulant energy is real and present, while the mental clarity is clean and sustained.

L-Taurine — 1,000 mg

Taurine is an underappreciated workhorse. It's an osmoregulatory amino acid that supports cellular hydration (working alongside glycerol and betaine), protects against oxidative stress generated during intense exercise, and supports mitochondrial function. It also modulates calcium signaling in muscle cells, improving muscular contraction efficiency. At 1g, it contributes intentionally to the hydration and endurance stack already built into this formula.

Alpha-GPC — 600 mg

This is where the biohacking edge comes in. Alpha-GPC (Alpha-Glyceryl Phosphorylcholine) is the most bioavailable form of choline available, and it's a direct precursor to acetylcholine — the neurotransmitter that governs the mind-muscle connection, motor learning, and reaction speed.

The research on 600mg is striking: a 2008 crossover study (Ziegenfuss et al.) found that 600mg of Alpha-GPC administered 90 minutes before resistance training produced a 44-fold increase in post-exercise growth hormone secretion compared to just 2.6-fold in the placebo group. Additional research shows that 600mg of Alpha-GPC increased peak bench press force by 14% and produced significant improvements in power output within 60 minutes. Studies using this exact dose have been validated for both boosting power output and enhancing cognitive performance during exercise.

At 600mg — the clinical dose — you're not getting a trace. You're getting the full effect.

Caffeine Anhydrous — 250 mg

The workhorse stimulant, dosed intelligently at 250mg. Not so low it's ineffective, not so high it burns you out or builds tolerance in three weeks. Caffeine blocks adenosine receptors in the brain, reducing perceived effort, enhancing alertness, and directly improving muscular endurance and power output.

This dose is effective for the full spectrum of athletes without the excessive adrenal load that comes from chasing 400mg+ doses that leave you depleted the next day.

VasoDrive-AP® (Casein Hydrolysate) — 250 mg

VasoDrive-AP® is a patented ingredient made from a specific type of milk protein breakdown. Its job is to block an enzyme in your body (called ACE) that naturally causes blood vessels to tighten. By keeping that enzyme in check, VasoDrive-AP® helps your blood vessels stay open longer — extending and sustaining the pump that citrulline already initiated.

Think of it this way: citrulline opens the floodgates, and VasoDrive-AP® keeps them from closing.

Dynamine® (40% Methylliberine) — 150 mg

Dynamine® is a natural compound derived from a plant called kucha tea. It's structurally similar to caffeine but works through a slightly different pathway — activating the brain's dopamine receptors (responsible for drive and motivation) and blocking fatigue signals, without significantly raising heart rate or blood pressure.

The practical benefit: Dynamine® kicks in faster than caffeine, often within 15 minutes, giving you an early burst of energy and focus while the caffeine builds. Together, they create a layered, sustained stimulant effect rather than a single spike that crashes out.

elevATP® (Ancient Peat & Apple Fruit Extract) — 150 mg

This is one of the most underappreciated ingredients in performance nutrition. elevATP® is a patented combination of ancient peat extract and apple polyphenols, and its mechanism is fundamentally different from anything else in this formula: it stimulates the body's own mitochondrial production of ATP from the inside out.

Oral ATP supplements aren't reliably bioavailable. elevATP® bypasses that limitation entirely by activating endogenous ATP synthesis at the cellular level. A clinical study published in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine (Joy et al.) found that 25 resistance-trained men consuming 150mg/day of elevATP® showed significant increases in squat and deadlift 1-rep-max strength, vertical jump peak velocity, and vertical jump peak power compared to placebo — at exactly 150mg. The study also noted that elevATP® prevented performance decrements associated with increased training volume — meaning it has protective effects against overtraining as well.

The clinically validated dose is 150mg. That's what's in here. Not more, not less.

AstraGin® (Astragalus membranaceus & Panax notoginseng) — 50 mg

AstraGin® is the final ingredient and, in many ways, the unsung hero of the entire formula. It's a patented botanical extract derived from Astragalus membranaceus and Panax notoginseng saponins — and its job is to make everything else work better.

AstraGin® works by modulating mRNA transporters (including SGLT1, GLUT4, and CAT1) in the intestinal lining, enhancing the active transport of amino acids, peptides, vitamins, and glucose across the gut wall into circulation. In plain terms: it maximizes how much of every other ingredient in this formula your body actually absorbs and uses.

A 2026 human clinical study published in Nutrients (the top-ranked nutrition journal globally) confirmed that AstraGin® enhances amino acid absorption from protein, improves muscle strength and mass with resistance training, and supports gut barrier integrity. Research also specifically demonstrates improved L-arginine absorption — directly amplifying the citrulline-to-arginine-to-nitric-oxide pathway already built into this formula.

At 50mg, AstraGin® reaches its effective functional dose. It's the multiplier that makes the entire stack more efficient.

Why These Ingredients Work Better Together

This isn't a list of good ingredients. It's a system.

The pump stack (L-Citrulline + VasoDrive-AP® + HydroPrime® + L-Taurine + Betaine Anhydrous) hits vasodilation, cellular hydration, and osmotic volume from five distinct angles simultaneously. The focus and neural drive stack (Alpha-GPC + Caffeine Anhydrous + Dynamine® + L-Theanine + NALT) is staggered in onset and spans multiple neurotransmitter systems — acetylcholine, dopamine, adenosine, catecholamines — for mental performance that doesn't spike and crater.

Creatine and HydroPrime® are synergistic for intracellular hydration. elevATP® operates at the mitochondrial level while creatine handles phosphocreatine resynthesis — two completely different energy systems, both firing. And AstraGin® sits at the bottom of the stack ensuring that everything above it is absorbed as efficiently as possible.

This is formulation design, not ingredient collection.

Who Should Be Taking a Pre-Workout

Here's the honest answer: if you train with intent, you should be using a pre-workout.

Pre-workouts are not a crutch or a cheat code. They're a tool — one designed to remove the variables that stand between you and your best performance on any given day. Sleep isn't always perfect. Nutrition isn't always timed perfectly. Life happens.

A well-formulated pre-workout like this one ensures that when you show up to train, the physiological environment inside your body is optimized: nitric oxide is elevated, muscle cells are hyperhydrated, acetylcholine is available for sharp neural drive, ATP pathways are primed, and your buffer capacity against fatigue is stacked.

The research is consistent: multi-ingredient pre-workout supplements have been shown in recent clinical literature, including a 2024 trial published in Frontiers in Nutrition, to improve bench press peak power, total training volume, and perceived exertion in resistance-trained individuals from a single dose. The ceiling on what's possible in a training session goes up.

Dosing and Timing

Take one full scoop (34g) with 12–16 oz of water approximately 30–45 minutes before training. Given the glycerol content, additional water intake before and during training is strongly recommended — this is a formula built to hold more water in your tissue, so give it the raw material to work with.

Because this formula contains meaningful doses of Creatine Monohydrate and Beta-Alanine — both of which accumulate their benefits over time — consistent daily use (including non-training days) will compound the performance gains across weeks and months. Consider the benefits of replacing your morning coffee with this on rest days.

The Bottom Line

Most pre-workouts are dressed up caffeine. This one is engineered performance. Every ingredient is dosed at or near the clinical threshold shown in peer-reviewed research. The mechanisms don't overlap — they stack. And AstraGin® ensures the investment you make in this formula is actually absorbed and utilized.

If you're serious about training — and we already know you are — this is the formula that matches your intent.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.