LIT is a “clinically dosed” pre-workout by Beyond Raw, a line made by GNC. It’s a simple formula consisting of 7 ingredients.
Beyond Raw LIT Pre-Workout claims to increase energy, enhance focus, improve endurance, and promote better pumps.
Our Beyond Raw LIT Pre-Workout Review will dive into these claims and tell you how good this product really is.
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- Fast Energy Kick
- Most Ingredients Are Effectively Dosed
- Good Beginner Pre-Workout
- Tastes Good
- Some Ingredients Are Underdosed Despite “Clinically Dosed” Label Claims
- Expensive
- Not Enough Ingredients To Compete With The Best Pre-Workouts
LIT replaces Ravage, Beyond Raw’s former flagship pre-workout. LIT has an upgraded label design and a simpler formula.
Beyond Raw LIT competes well with market leaders such as Cellucor C4 Sport.
C4 Sport depends on prop blends, so you have no idea how much of an ingredient you’re getting. It does list the caffeine content at 135mg and it has more ingredients.
In comparison, Beyond Raw LIT features a fully disclosed label and is mostly clinically dosed. This makes LIT a solid starter pre-workout.
The fact that Beyond Raw is made by GNC ensures it will be sold in their stores as well as online.
Founded in 1936, GNC is one of the first companies to open retail supplement locations nationwide and ultimately worldwide.
They carry a wide range of supplements and feature a huge sports nutrition selection. They also market in-house brands such as Beyond Raw and Amped.
Learning how to compete in a web-based marketplace ensures their continued success.
There’s no doubt a good pre-workout adds a lot to your training sessions. By using one, you’ll be able to work out harder and longer. You’ll experience more strength and better pumps.
Most serious bodybuilders, powerlifters and strength athletes use pre-workouts.
Whether you are a beginner or experienced bodybuilder/athlete, if you have never used one you should consider trying a good starter pre-workout.
If you are sensitive to caffeine, there is an entire sub-category devoted to stimulant-free pre-workouts. These focus more on supporting a good pump and improving focus.
Here’s the things you should consider before trying a pre-workout:
- Do I Need More Energy & Focus – If you find you’re tired & lack focus during your workout, a pre-workout can help. While some pre-workouts contain a stimulant complex, most starter pre-workouts contain mainly caffeine. Still, that’s more than enough to increase energy & alertness to help power you through your training sessions.
- Do I Need More Endurance – If you can get more reps and sets when you train you will experience more progress. By including ingredients that extend endurance, you will be able to push harder and get those extra couple of reps at the end of your sets.
- Is This Be My First Time Using A Pre-Workout – If you’re new to pre-workouts, you need to know what to expect. Does the product contain beta-alanine? Then you will experience a harmless, short term tingling sensation. A glass of water will help. Does the product contain caffeine? Then get ready for a serious energy kick. You shouldn’t experience jitters, but you will go through a mild crash, depending on the caffeine content.
- What Time Of Day Do I Train & Is It Too Late To Take Caffeine – The best time to use a pre-workout is earlier in the day. If you train after dinner, you may want to avoid caffeine and stimulants. You do want to be able to sleep, right? We would suggest a stimulant free pump & focus pre-workout instead.
Beyond Raw LIT pre-workout contains only 7 ingredients. One of the good things about Beyond Raw LIT is that it features a fully disclosed label, so you can see exactly what you are getting.
As noted above, Beyond Raw LIT is advertised to increase energy, focus, endurance and pumps. It’s a great choice for a beginner pre-workout.
If you’re new to pre-workouts, it’s always smart to start with half a dose to see how you react. Beyond Raw LIT is suggested to be taken every day, this is a mistake for two reasons.
First, that’s the fastest way to build up a tolerance to it and second, a pre-workout is meant to be taken before a workout. There’s no reason to use it on off days.
If you want a better workout, use Beyond Raw LIT on training days only.
Here’s a breakdown of the ingredients and what they do:
Beta-alanine has earned a reputation for causing a temporary tingling sensation after taking it. This sensation passes but it does bother some users, especially those that are new to a pre-workout.
Despite the tingling, beta-alanine supports increased endurance because it helps buffer the buildup of lactic acid in your muscles. This means you can get more reps and more sets. Here it’s clinically dosed at 3.2 grams per serving. (1)
One problem with Beyond Raw LIT is that the label says it’s clinically dosed. In reality, that’s not quite true.
Creatine monohydrate, even micronized, should be dosed at 5g to be effective, so Beyond Raw LIT drops the ball here. A 1.5g dose is pretty much a waste of time. Still, if you already take creatine every day, this dose won’t hurt. (2)
This is caffeine with all the moisture removed which in theory makes it more concentrated.
The 250mg dose used in Beyond Raw LIT is actually considered mild. You can find much higher doses as well as additional stimulants in many other pre-workouts.
The one thing these other products have that Beyond Raw LIT does not is an ingredient such as theanine. This can help slow and smooth out the effects of caffeine.
By using such an ingredient, users will not experience any harshness or jitters from the caffeine.
Beyond Raw LIT hits fast and thanks to the fact it’s a mild dose, as it begins to wear off the crash is not that bad. Still, an ingredient like theanine would help reduce the effects of a crash.
Also, as noted above the best pre-workouts offer a stimulant complex instead of just caffeine. The problem with only using caffeine is that if you’re already used to it, caffeine alone may not do much.
ElevATP is a mix of ancient peat and apple polyphenols that help increase the body’s output of ATP. This is the energy currency of the body. ATP provides cellular energy for things like muscle contractions and nerve impulses. In terms of working out, it’s the energy your muscles use for short bursts of activity, such as performing a set. (3)
Of the 7 total ingredients, Beyond Raw LIT has 3 that directly impact your endurance in the gym: ElevATP, beta-alanine and creatine.
This is an advantage because you will be able to get more out of your workouts with a product like this. Of course, as stated above, Beyond Raw LIT would be even better with a full dose of creatine.
This is an interesting ingredient that’s derived from whole coffee fruit. The first impression is that this will add to the total caffeine content in Beyond Raw LIT, but that is not the case.
While it does contain a trace amount of caffeine, NeuroFactor increases brain levels of a protein known as Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF for short).
BDNF provides neuroprotective benefits, helps improve learning and supports memory. As great as this sounds, there’s not really any direct benefits as far as working out. Still, it has been suggested that NeuroFactor helps reduce stress, may improve focus and may support weight loss. (4, 5, 6)
L-Citrulline is considered one of the best ingredients for stimulating production of nitric oxide.
Of course, this means better pumps. Let’s be real, for many users, a great pump is what it’s all about. Citrulline is able to pass through the stomach and convert into l-arginine, which directly stimulates nitric oxide production.
The interesting thing is that l-citrulline does a better job than l-arginine itself. While 3g is a decent dose, many pre-workouts provide as much as 6-8g. (7)
It’s good to see 2 ingredients in Beyond Raw LIT that work together to support better pumps.
Nitrosigine is L-arginine that’s been bonded to silicon. This bond helps arginine get past the stomach and into the bloodstream.
Once there, it can help stimulate more nitric oxide production. Some of these ingredients’ benefits are that it is fast acting and that it can stay in the system for up to 6 hours. (8)
We did an extensive search online on Beyond Raw LIT and found a number of positive reviews. For many users, Beyond Raw LIT has been an effective pre-workout, even if it’s a little light in caffeine. For some beginners, it may be a little strong and not everyone liked the tingles.
Check out these reviews here.
If you’d prefer to try a different pre-workout, here’s 2 great choices:
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The C4 line of pre-workouts are the most popular mainstream products on the market.
Whether it’s Amazon or Walmart, C4is the choice for most average users. They’re cheap and they work well enough.
The big differences is that C4 Sport contains 2 prop blends and it’s underdosed. The only thing listed is the caffeine content which is a low 135mg.
C4 Sport will work if you’re on a budget and just want a bit of a kick.
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This pre-workout is a little different since it’s not usually marketed for beginners.
There should be a well-dosed alternative product that is a little different than either LIT or C4. Redcon1 markets this as part of a pair.
They also make Big Noise which is a pump & focus pre-workout. This combo is a great idea because it provides a complete pre-workout, but you’ll pay for it.
Total War has a 350mg caffeine complex designed to slow the release for smoother effect. If caffeine is a concern, do not use Total War.
Beyond Raw LIT may not be the strongest or most complete pre-workout on the market, but it is a good beginner pre-workout.
It’s a better product than others in the same category. As noted in this review, one big advantage Beyond Raw LIT has is that it is fully disclosed, there’s no prop blends. That’s huge.
If you have a product that’s nothing but prop blends, you have no idea what the dosing of the individual ingredients are. It’s also for the most part clinically dosed, another big benefit.
There’s no doubt that Beyond Raw LIT will do what it says it will. Sure, it could use a serious energy/focus complex. Still, there are only 7 ingredients in the formula.
If you’re new to pre-workouts or just want a change, give Beyond Raw LIT a try and see how it works for you!
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References:
- https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-018-0224-0
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/creatine-loading-phase#dosage
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4950767/
- Reyes-Izquierdo, T., Nemzer, B., Shu, C., et al; “Modulatory effects of coffee fruit extract on plasma levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in healthy subjects”; British Journal of Nutrition; 2013;
- T. Reyes-Izquierdo, R. Argumedo, C. Shu, B. Nemzer and Z. Pietrzkowski, “Stimulatory Effect of Whole Coffee Fruit Concentrate Powder on Plasma Levels of Total and Exosomal Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Healthy Subjects: An Acute Within-Subject Clinical Study,” Food and Nutrition Sciences, Vol. 4 No. 9, 2013, pp. 984-990. doi: 10.4236/fns.2013.49127.
- Xian-Yong Ma, Wei Qiao Qiu, Caren E. Smith, et al., “Association between BDNF rs6265 and Obesity in the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study,” Journal of Obesity, vol. 2012, Article ID 102942, 8 pages, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/102942.
- https://examine.com/supplements/citrulline/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4595023/