Pre-workouts are great for giving you that extra burst of energy in the gym, but most of them leave you jittery, anxious, and wired long after the workout is over.
If you train in the evening, a caffeinated pre-workout can absolutely wreck your sleep and kill your recovery. The research on caffeine on sleep and recovery is very clear on this: caffeine delays sleep onset, causes you to spend less time in restorative deep sleep, and lowers the quality of recovery you’d get without any in your system.
When I was training for my latest boxing match, almost all my sessions were at night—so I needed a stim-free, caffeine-free pre-workout that still delivered real performance. Sure, I could’ve skipped pre-workouts altogether, but as a boxer in my 40s, I need every edge I can get.
I found a non-stim formula that didn’t just match what stimulant-loaded pre-workouts do—it improved my focus, endurance, and reaction times and let me push harder in the gym, without the crash or the sleep disruption.
Morning Would is a stimulant-free pre-workout for people who train hard and want an extra boost, but don’t want the jitters, anxiety, or insomnia that usually accompany high-stim pre-workout formulas.
It gives you the pump, focus, and performance you expect from a high-stim pre-workout without feeling like you just did cocaine and chugged a Red Bull.
I wrote an in-depth review of Morning Would when I first discovered them a year ago, but I was mainly using it as a nootropic to help me focus on creative work while dealing with toddler-induced sleep deprivation.
If you read my old article on my experiences with Morning Would, you’ll see a different ingredient list. I published that review about a year ago, and since then, the formula’s changed. They stripped out some ingredients, bumped up the stuff that actually matters, and tightened the whole thing up.
Those changes not only make it a better nootropic (I’m actually drinking it as I write this article), but also one of the best options in the non-stim pre-workout category.
The new formula is lean and focused. As you go through this breakdown, you’ll not only understand what a stim-free pre-workout is supposed to do, but also why so many other brands overload their labels with fluff and underdose the important ingredients.
If you buy through any of the links on this page, I may receive a small affiliate commission. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but it’s a solid “thanks” if this review helps you make a buying decision or teaches you something new.
What Is a Stim-Free Pre-Workout?
If you don’t know what a stim-free pre-workout is and what it’s supposed to do, then you might go into it without the wrong expectations.
A stim-free pre-workout is exactly what it sounds like: a pre-workout formula that leaves out stimulants. In this context, that’s any substance that stimulates the nervous system and masks fatigue. The most common stimulant for pre-workouts is caffeine, but I’ve seen yohimbe, synephrine, and theacrine used as well.
Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of those. Just know that they all do the same thing and work the same way: they make your body behave like it’s in “fight-or-flight” mode, so you get a dump of hormones that make you feel like you have to do something.
Those stimulants create the feeling of more energy, but it’s not an actual boost in physical ability—you just feel like it is. For some people, that feeling actually does help. Sometimes that’s enough to help, but here’s what consistently shows up in the research:
First: actual physical improvements are small and inconsistent.
Second: perceived time to exhaustion always goes up.
In other words, stimulants don’t make you stronger—they just let you grind a little longer. That’s great for squeezing out an extra rep or two, but it comes with a higher heart rate, higher blood pressure, and—if you train at night—terrible sleep.
In other words, they don’t improve your performance, but they do make you perform longer. This is great for getting two or three extra reps, but it comes with an elevated heart rate, blood pressure, and—if you train in the evening—terrible sleep.
But “stim-free” pre-workouts work by improving your focus, improving your energy output, and helping you recover faster between sets. You won’t feel wired, but you probably won’t be tired, and your body will get more out of the workouts than if you just got another set in.
A good non-stim formula aims to improve blood flow, hydration, strength, endurance, and focus. This is accomplished by using ingredients that target your muscular and energy systems rather than your nervous system.
Most stim-free pre-workouts use some combination of ingredients like:
- L-Citrulline
- Creatine
- Alpha-GPC
- Betaine Anhydrous
- Taurine
- Electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium)
- Beta-Alanine
When these ingredients are used together, they give you a physiological boost that does not feel as intense as a stimulant rush, but is far more effective at boosting your performance.
One of my favorite things about Morning Would is that it also works as a nootropic. Because it includes ingredients that improves your cognitive abilities and increases blood flow, your mind—not just body—works better.
I’ve tried using caffeine to focus. It works, but it also hits you with that fight-or-flight feeling and makes you run to the bathroom because it’s a diuretic. I do a lot of work in the evenings, just like I train, so I need something that won’t keep me tossing and turning at night.
Morning Would Non-Stim Ingredients
L-Citrulline: The Workhorse Behind Morning Would’s Better Endurance and Cleaner Performance
Nearly every stim-free pre-workout relies on L-citrulline. Before you judge dosages on different labels, it helps to understand the difference between L-citrulline and citrulline malate. When a label says citrulline malate 2:1, that means two parts citrulline and one part malate.
So that “8-gram per serving” scoop is only giving you about 5.3 grams of actual citrulline. The rest is malate, a cheap way to bulk up the label and make the formula look heavier than it really is.
Malate isn’t completely pointless. It plays a role in the Krebs cycle, helping your body turn fuel into usable energy. In theory, it can help you recycle lactate, make a little more ATP, and maybe hold off fatigue for a bit.
In reality, the research on malateis all over the place. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn’t. Citrulline is what actually does the heavy lifting.
Morning Would uses 9 grams of L-citrulline per serving, the upper range of what is considered to be effective in trained and conditioned athletes.
When I compared it to other stim-free pre-workouts, most brands either used citrulline malate at a lower effective citrulline dose than Morning Would (Transparent Labs and Genius Brand), or had about half the amount of L-citrulline (Gorilla Mode).
Only one went higher—NutraBio—and that was by just a gram.
Morning Would goes big on what matters, but why is L-Citrulline so important to a stimulant-free pre-workout?.
L-citrulline converts into L-arginine, which your body uses to produce nitric oxide (NO). NO relaxes and widens blood vessels, increasing blood flow so more oxygen and nutrients reach your muscles. This is what gives you better pumps, better endurance, and better workout capacity.
This improved blood flow isn’t just for training — it also helps with erections. In one study, men with mild erectile dysfunction who took 1.5 grams of L-citrulline per day saw meaningful improvements in erection hardness compared to placebo. The name of the supplement might be a joke, but the effect on “morning wood” is real.
Unlike stimulants, L-citrulline doesn’t hit your central nervous system. It doesn’t elevate your heart rate or force a stress response. It works through your cardiovascular system, giving you actual physical performance instead of artificial hype.
L-arginine supplements don’t work well because most of the arginine gets broken down in the digestive tract before your body can use it. L-citrulline bypasses that issue, raising plasma arginine and nitric oxide far more effectively. That’s why it’s the go-to precursor for NO production.
More nitric oxide means wider vessels, better oxygen delivery, and faster removal of metabolic waste — so you can push harder for longer without feeling like your heart is going to jump out of your chest.
There’s also an energy benefit. By supporting oxygen delivery and signaling through the NO–cGMP pathway, L-citrulline helps your mitochondria produce ATP more efficiently. The result: less fatigue, stronger sets, and more consistent training intensity.
Creatine + Betaine Anhydrous: The Non-Stim Strength and Power Duo
I’ve wrote two in-depth articles on why boxers should take creatine and betaine anhydrous, long before I knew they were both in Morning Would.
After using them consistently in my own training and reviewing the research, it makes perfect sense that they’re core ingredients in a high-quality stim-free pre-workout.
Creatine: Real Energy Through ATP Regeneration
Creatine increases phosphocreatine (PCr) inside muscle cells, which your body uses to rapidly regenerate ATP—the molecule that fuels every contraction.
More phosphocreatine = faster ATP replenishment = more strength and power.
This translates into immediate performance benefits for:
- Heavy lifting
- Sprinting
- Explosive movements
- Interval training
- Boxing and combat sports
And because creatine works on your muscle cells—not your nervous system—you get clean, reliable power with zero jitteriness or crash. You don’t just feel wired. You’re actually generating more power.
The only other pre-workout that includes creatine is Gorilla Mode, and they come in at half the dose. The absense of creatine in is a shame because we know of the acute effects it also has on cognition and focus, which would translate into an improved training session.
Betaine Anhydrous: Hydration, Strength, and Creatine Amplification
Betaine (trimethylglycine) boosts performance in two major ways:
Betaine helps your muscles hold more water inside the cell.
When a muscle cell is better hydrated, it contracts harder, lasts longer, and doesn’t burn out as quickly. The benefits gained by water in the muscle is one of the major reasons why it’s difficult to train on the ketogenic diet and why athletes need carbohydrates.
That extra water inside the muscle leads to greater strength and endurance. Betaine makes your muscle cells “plump” and powerful, so they perform better and stay strong longer.
The inclusion of betaine is the major reason why Morning Would does not include taurine. Taurine helps with hydration, but it doesn’t bestow the additional benefits. Betaine helps with hydration and works synergistically with creatine.
Betaine helps your body make and use creatine more efficiently.
Betaine donates a methyl group—think of it as handing your body a tool it needs to finish building creatine. When methylation is supported, your body can synthesize creatine more efficiently. That means more available phosphocreatine, better ATP regeneration, and stronger performance rep after rep.
In simple terms: betaine makes your creatine work harder for you. More strength. More repeatability. Less drop-off as the workout goes on.
Warning: Betaine Anhydrous and Betaine Nitrite are NOT the same
Betaine Nitrate vs. Betaine Anhydrous: Not Even Close to the Same Thing
Betaine nitrate gets confused with betaine anhydrous because they share the same “betaine” name, but that’s where the similarities end. Once you attach a nitrate molecule to betaine, you change what the ingredient is and what it’s supposed to do. It stops behaving like trimethylglycine and starts acting like a nitric-oxide booster.
In other words, you don’t get the real benefits of betaine anymore. You get something totally different.
Here’s what that shift actually means:
- You get far less true betaine per gram.
- You lose the strength and methylation benefits.
- The performance effect leans toward pumps, not power.
Betaine nitrate is a classic “label dressing” ingredient in pump-heavy pre-workouts. It’s great if your only goal is blood flow. And to be fair, better blood flow is never a bad thing—but there is a point of diminishing returns. Once your vasodilation is maxed out, more pumps don’t translate into better performance.
Morning Would uses betaine anhydrous because it’s the version that actually improves strength, supports ATP production, and increases muscular endurance. If you want the hydration + creatine synergy + real performance bump, anhydrous is the only form that delivers it.
Why Creatine and Betaine work together so well
Creatine and betaine create a synergistic boost in:
- ATP regeneration
- Strength and peak power
- Training volume
- Muscular endurance
- Hydration and cell swelling
- Neuromuscular efficiency
Together, they give you real, measurable performance rather than the illusion of energy that stimulants create. They’re two of the most well-researched, effective, and essential ingredients in any serious non-stim pre-workout—and why Morning Would includes full, effective doses of both.
Alpha GPC: Clean Focus, Power Output, and Mind–Muscle Connection Without Stimulants
Alpha GPC is one of the most absorbable forms of choline, and your body uses choline to make acetylcholine—the neurotransmitter that acts as the “go signal” between your brain and your muscles. If creatine is the fuel for power, acetylcholine is the ignition.
It’s involved in everything that requires fast, precise brain–body communication:
- Staying locked in on a task
- Reacting quickly
- Remembering patterns or cues (sparring, drills, etc.)
- Controlling movement
- Firing muscles with force and coordination
Any time you throw a punch, read an opponent, change direction, or even stay mentally sharp during a long workout, acetylcholine is part of what’s keeping the signal crisp.
This is where Alpha GPC shines. Stimulants crank your nervous system into overdrive by dumping stress chemicals into your bloodstream. Alpha GPC doesn’t do that.
Instead, it strengthens the actual connection—giving your body more of the raw material it needs to make acetylcholine so your brain and muscles talk to each other more cleanly.
You feel it as cleaner focus, faster reactions, and more precise power—not artificial hype. Another fanastic benefit is that Alpha GPC has been shown in multiple studiesto improve peak force production, vertical jump height, and explosive power.
It does this by improving neuromuscular efficiency—your brain can recruit motor units faster and more effectively. That’s why fighters, sprinters, lifters, and athletes who rely on fast, explosive movements benefit immensely from using Alpha GPC.
A Quick Note on “Alpha GPC (50%)” — What That Label Really Means
Most people don’t realize this, but Alpha GPC almost never comes as 100% pure Alpha GPC. In its pure form, it absorbs moisture straight out of the air and turns into a sticky gel. You can’t scoop it, mix it, or blend it into a powder without it clumping like wet sugar.
So supplement companies stabilize it by cutting it with a carrier—usually silica. That’s why you’ll see “Alpha GPC (50%)” on a lot of labels.
That “50%” matters. It means only half the listed amount is actual Alpha GPC.
So if a formula lists 300 mg Alpha GPC (50%), you’re only getting 150 mg of real Alpha GPC—which is nowhere near what research shows for performance benefits.
Most of the studies showing increases in power output, peak force, and cognitive performance use 300–600 mg of actual Alpha GPC, not the diluted stuff most brands quietly rely on.
This is why Morning Would use real Alpha GPC amount. You’re getting a meaningful dose that actually moves the needle rather than something that’s 50% filler.
L-Tyrosine: Clean Mental Energy, Focus, and Stress Resilience Without Stimulants
L-tyrosine gives you the mental edge off caffeine without keeping you up half the night. It’s one of the most important ingredients in a stim-free pre-workout.
Hard training, work stress, and life in general burn through your catecholamines—your brain’s “stay sharp” chemicals:
- dopamine
- norepinephrine
- epinephrine
These drive focus, motivation, alertness, and the ability to stay mentally locked in when you’re tired. L-tyrosine is the raw material your body uses to make all three. Taking 2–3 grams before training helps keep your brain online when you’d normally be dragging.
L-Tyrosine helps you hold onto your cognitive performance during fatigue, sleep deprivation, and long, mentally demanding workouts
For boxing, where mental exhaustion beats you down faster than physical, L-tyrosine is a major advantage. It also pairs perfectly with Alpha GPC.
- Alpha GPC boosts acetylcholine for better coordination and power.
- L-tyrosine boosts dopamine and norepinephrine for better motivation and focus.
Most stim-free pre-workouts throw a token 500–1000 mg of L-tyrosine into the formula, which does almost nothing. Morning Would uses 2.5 grams, and it hits even harder because it’s paired with a full, effective dose of Alpha GPC.
Tyrosine supports dopamine and norepinephrine, the neurotransmitters that keep your focus sharp under stress. Alpha GPC boosts acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter behind reaction time, coordination, and explosive muscle contractions.
When you simultaneously target both these neurotransmitters, the synergy produces performance boost that exceeds what you’d get with either alone.
Dopamine increases focus, acetylcholine increases speed and power, and together, they make Morning Would’s 2.5-gram dose the best stimulant-free pre-workout option on the market.
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Electrolytes: The Foundation of Real Perfornce In A Stim-Free Pre-Workout
Most stim-free pre-workouts skip electrolytes entirely, even though they’re one of the biggest drivers of real performance. Without electrolytes, your muscles can’t contract properly, your nerves don’t fire on time, and your hydration falls apart long before your strength does. Stimulants can hide this for a little while, but eventually the physiology wins.
Morning Would builds its formula on magnesium malate, sodium, and potassium citrate — three electrolytes most lifters are already low in and three that actually move the needle for strength, endurance, and hydration.
Stimulants create the illusion of energy. Electrolytes make your body capable of producing real energy. That’s why Morning Would includes all three—at real, effective doses—when other non-stim pre-workouts skip them entirely.
Magnesium Malate (200 mg): ATP Production & Fatigue Control
Magnesium is involved in over 300 biochemical reactions, but for lifters and fighters, three matter most:
- ATP production (the fuel for every muscular contraction)
- Muscle relaxation and cramp prevention
- Nerve signaling and electrolyte balance
Most people are already low in magnesium, and hard training only increases their demand. Magnesium malate is highly bioavailable and supports both the Krebs cycle and recovery, which is perfect for stim-free performance and energy.
Sodium (500 mg): Hydration, Pumps, and Blood Volume
Sodium is the most misunderstood electrolyte in training. It gets a bad reputation because everyone is worried about a high sodium content in foods, but it is crucial for keeping your body in the optimal state for performance.
Sodium is the main electrolyte you lose through sweat. If you don’t replace it, your performance tanks fast, and you are far susceptible to dizziness and fatigue.
You also lose some of the power you can generate through contractile force. And this is a physiological deficit, so no amount of citrulline or creatine can fix it.
At 500 mg per serving, Morning Would hits the sweet spot for:
- Restoring hydration
- Maintaining blood volume
- Powering strong muscle contractions
- Keeping nerve impulses firing correctly
- Preventing early fatigue
It also amplifies pumps by increasing plasma volume, especially when paired with Morning Would’s full 9 grams of citrulline.
Potassium Citrate (332 mg): Muscle Firing and Acid Buffering
Potassium works hand in hand with sodium to generate the electrical gradients your muscles need to fire. Every athlete has heard that they should eat a banana to deal with cramps and my coach always recommended that I have sweet potatoes as part of my fight-day meal because both are high sources of potassium.
It supports:
- Clean, powerful muscle contractions
- Nerve transmission
- Hydration and fluid balance
- Fatigue resistance
And because Morning Would uses potassium citrate, you get an added benefit: citrate helps buffer acid buildup. That means less burning during long sets and more stamina during hard sparring or conditioning rounds.
Morning Would’s electrolyte profile is so dialed in that it holds its own against products designed specifically for hydration.
LMNT, one of the most popular electrolyte mixes on the market, delivers a huge hit of sodium—1,000 mg per packet—but offers very little potassium or magnesium.
Morning Would flips that profile: 500 mg sodium, 323 mg potassium, and 200 mg magnesium, giving you more of the electrolytes that actually matter for muscular contraction, nerve signaling, and performance under load.
It’s not a fair comparison—LMNT is a pure hydration product, while Morning Would is a full performance formula—but it does highlight how impressive the electrolyte system is. And I’m a proud user of LMNT, so this isn’t throwing any shade on them. It’s just to demonstrate how comprehensive Morning Would is for anyone training.
You’re getting the same level of hydration support as a dedicated electrolyte mix plus creatine, citrulline, tyrosine, betaine, and Alpha GPC. In other words, Morning Would doesn’t just hydrate you—it fuels the whole workout.
Why doesn’t Morning Would use Taurine or Beta-Alanine?
My favorite thing about Morning Would is how few ingredients it uses. Most supplement companies cram a dozen half-dosed ingredients into a tub to make the label look impressive.
Morning Would went the opposite direction. They trimmed the formula down to what actually works.
It’s only six key performance ingredients plus three electrolytes, all dosed the way they’re supposed to be. Funny enough, it has fewer total ingredients than almost every other non-stim pre-workout on the market, but each ingredient hits harder because nothing is underdosed.
And if you’ve been paying attention to the breakdown so far, you’ve probably noticed two very popular ingredients that aren’t in Morning Would: beta-alanine and taurine.
At first glance, leaving them out seems like a disadvantage. But there are good reasons.
Beta-alanine is a lactic acid buffer
Physiologically, beta-alanine doesn’t do what people think it does. Beta-alanine helps buffer lactic acid in efforts lasting 1–4 minutes, which is helpful for high-intensity intervals. But it doesn’t help you produce more energy, generate more force, or lift more weight. And here’s the part most guys don’t know:
It only works after weeks of daily loading at 3.2–6.4 grams per day. Taking it right before a workout doesn’t give you any immediate performance benefit, so adding it to a pre-workout is mostly psychological because the tingling sensation makes you think something is happening.
As a boxer, I can see how beta-alanine *might* help a fighter, especially in the later rounds. But boxing just isn’t a high-intensity interval sport. Even the training—roadwork, bag work, and sparring—are not high-intensity endeavors.
Beta-alanine adds something you don’t want in pre-workouts
Beta-alanine causes paresthesia—the “tingles.” It’s technically not a stimulant, but the sensation tricks people into thinking the pre-workout is “hitting.” Brands include it because it creates the illusion of stimulation, not because it meaningfully improves your session.
If a brand uses enough to cause the tingly feeling, then it’s a wasted added cost and it introduces something you were trying to avoid: the feeling of being a supplement.
If they don’t use enough beta-alanine, then they’re just adding something to pad the ingredients list. Since Morning Would is about effectiveness and transparent dosing, they don’t use it.
Taurine is only helpful for pure endurance events
Taurine is another ingredient that sounds impressive but doesn’t actually contribute much to a strength-focused, stim-free formula.
Taurine is helpful for hydration and endurance, especially during long aerobic efforts or in energy drinks, where it helps balance caffeine. But if you want to take something that’s going to help you with a lifting or sparring session, taurne isn’t it.
It’s not that taurine is useless. It’s just that its main contribution—hydration—is already better covered by other ingredients in Morning Would. Ingredients that help improve ATP production, strength, and power.
Morning Would includes a full electrolyte system—sodium, potassium, and magnesium—plus betaine, which handles taurine’s hydration and osmotic role more effectively and actually improves strength and power, something taurine simply doesn’t do.
By leaving out both beta-alanine and taurine, Morning Would avoids the gimmicks and filler ingredients and focuses entirely on what actually improves performance—hydration, conductivity, muscular efficiency, blood flow, ATP output, and cognitive focus.
What customers of Morning Would say in their reviews
Customers love the taste of Morning Would. Of course, even without the taste, it is an incredibly effective pre-workout that delivers a lot of energy and clarity throughout the day.
You can read more reviews on Morning Would’s site.
Summary: Why Morning Would Is the Gold Standard for Stim-Free Performance
When you pull the stimulants out, a pre-workout has to actually work—and that’s why Morning Would stands out. There’s no caffeine, no nervous-system tricks, no fake “energy.” Every ingredient directly improves the physiology that produces real performance.
- L-citrulline drives nitric oxide, blood flow, and endurance so your muscles get more oxygen and nutrients and recover faster between sets.
- Creatine and betaine increase true cellular energy by boosting ATP production, hydration, strength, and power—without any crash or overstimulation.
- Alpha GPC sharpens focus, reaction time, and mind–muscle connection by elevating acetylcholine, giving you the mental edge most people chase with caffeine.
- L-tyrosine restores the neurotransmitters you burn during hard training, improving motivation, clarity, and stress resilience—especially when you’re tired or training at night.
- Electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium) keep your muscles contracting, your nerves firing, and your hydration dialed in so you don’t gas out early.
None of this relies on adrenaline, jitters, or elevated cortisol. This is real power, real endurance, and real focus—built on ingredients that your body actually uses to perform.
If you train at night, hate the stimulant crash, or simply want clean, reliable performance without wrecking your sleep, Morning Would is exactly what a stim-free pre-workout should be.
