Is Morning Would A Nootropic Pre-Workout?

If you are like most people, you have no idea what is in your preworkout with the exception of one ingredient: caffeine. You probably get absolutely stimmed to the gills on something like 250, 300 or even 400 mg of caffeine before you go hit your chest and tris, hah. 

‘Great pumps bro!’ 

We know the feeling.

Though caffeine does have tangible mental benefits such as focus, we’ve already made the case that most people are overdoing it. In fact, most people load up on caffeine throughout the day and the only way they can have a good workout is to double down: 400 more mg straight to the gullet 15 or 20 minutes before they do chest flies on a Monday. 

The problem is you’ll start to become so dependent on caffeine that even 400 mg after a day of almost 1 g will still have you crashing basically right after you take it. You just keep yoyoing your cortisol levels day after until you inevitably burn out and all your workouts suck. You know what we are talking - it just never feels like enough.

But what if you can capture that same drive, that same focus, that Day 1 caffeine feels like without all the negative side effects that come from overstimulation? 

Well, you can. 

It's called taking a nootropic pre-workout. 

It’s called Morning Would. 

What is Nootropic Preworkout?

A nootropic pre-workout is a supplement that you take right before you lift, which has ingredients that enhance your cognitive function and give you mental clarity during your workout. 

Think focus. Think flow state. 

A nootropic is a brain supplement. It improves your cognitive function and your attention. Have you ever seen the movie Limitless? That’s the idea. Except. These are not drugs. They are supplements.

Morning Would is a nootropic pre-workout. However, we designed it so that it can be both a pre-workout for your lift, and a pre-workout for your life. 

The best part is that it has no stimulants. You aren’t going to lose sleep if you drink this later in the day but we recommend the morning… hence Morning Would. 

But back to the nootropics. 

Let’s talk about the three major nootropics in Morning Would. 

What are the best nootropics to take pre-workout?

There are tons of different nootropics people are taking these days, some with better science than others. We kept our formula relatively simple with products that are known to be efficacious.

The three best nootropics to take pre-workout are Alpha GPC, Huperzine A and Betaine Anhydrous. 

Alpha GPC

Alpha GPC is short for α-Glycerophosphorylcholine. It’s actually three chemicals combined: choline, a phosphoryl group and glycerol. It’s called alpha because the phosphorylcholine group is at the alpha carbon of the glycerol. This is what it looks like:

If you aren’t a biochemist, you are probably wondering why the hell you care. The answer lies in choline. Alpha GPC is the most bioavailable form of choline. 

What does bioavailable mean? It means the degree to which your body can utilize something. 

Most of the Alpha GPC you take survives first pass metabolism. First pass metabolism literally means the first time something you take orally that gets through the liver. 

Since the liver doesn’t significantly break it down, Alpha GPC moves into the bloodstream and is then able to pass the blood brain barrier with relative ease. Your brain cells then metabolize the Alpha GPC into choline and glycerophosphate. 

This is good because straight up choline is not well absorbed which is why it's better to supplement with Alpha GPC. Once the Alpha GPC is broken down in your brain cells, they then use the choline as a precursor to make acetylcholine.

Acetylcholine is where the magic happens. Acetylcholine is what gets you those nootropic effects: memory, attention, focus (1).

Huperzine A

Now, let’s move on to Huperzine A. It’s a bit more complicated to explain than Alpha GPC so buckle up. 

The way Huperzine A works is sort of the opposite of Alpha GPC. Where Alpha GPC supplies more choline to the brain, Huperzine A inhibits the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine. It inhibits acetylcholinesterase (2).

By inhibiting this enzyme, it allows acetylcholine to stay in the brain longer. When we say inhibiting, in simple terms, we just mean it binds with the enzyme and sort of ‘jams it up’ preventing it from breaking down acetylcholine. There’s a lot more chemistry to it but we are trying to write for the masses. 

The other thing about Huperzine A is that it has a bit longer of a half-life. That means it takes longer for your body to process it out of your system. 

And so, that’s part of the reason you can take Morning Would at any point in the day and get the mental clarity and attention benefits you’re looking for longer durations. 

Betaine Anhydrous 

Okay, let’s talk about the last nootropic in Morning Would: betaine anhydrous. 

Betaine Anhydrous is different in that it is a supporting supplement rather than having direct action. It does so by donating it’s methyl groups (CH3). Methyl groups have a number of different positive benefits in the brain:

• Neurotransmitter production

• Brain cell membrane maintenance

• DNA/RNA synthesis in brain cells

• Production of creatine, which supports brain energy

That might be difficult to conceptualize so let’s see what happens if your methylation is suboptimal.

When methylation is suboptimal, you might experience:

• Brain fog

• Memory issues

• Mood changes

• Reduced cognitive function

• Lower energy levels

There are tons of different reasons why in today’s world, a lot of people have suboptimal methylation, with the most obvious being diet: low protein and a lack of choline. Other things that can get you are chronic stress, over consumption of alcohol, environmental toxins and more. 

Methylation isn’t just important for brain health - it’s important for everything. We put it in Morning Would because it improves neurotransmitter production, regulates your mood and supports your cognitive function but it can also help with energy production, hormonal balance, and immune system support. 

The key to attaining mental clarity is actually just doing your best to be healthy. Having optimal methylation is key to being healthy. Betaine anhydrous helps you do that. 

Other Cognitive Benefits

Creatine and Brain Health

Two other ingredients we want to talk about are creatine and l-tyrosine. Creatine is typically known for its energy production. It’s ability to rapidly regenerate ATP in the cells gives you that extra boost in your workouts over time (3). 

But it also has cognitive benefits too. The ATP regeneration supports quick-thinking and mental processing. Creatine enhances mitochondrial function and prevents neurodegenerative. More data is coming out all the time on this wonder supplement. 

L-Tyrosine Nootropic

L-tyrosine has nootropic like benefits because of what it becomes. It is a precursor for three main neurotransmitters: dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine (4). 

Therefore L-tyrosine is going to work to relieve brain fog through different mechanisms: acute stress response, cognitive function and increased mental energy. Under stress, your brain will use these neurotransmitters faster but since you are supplementing with l-tyrosine, you will replenish the depleted supply faster. 

Why You Should Take Morning Would

Morning Would is more than just a nootropic pre-workout - it’s the whole package. It hydrates you, it helps you recover and it improves your brain function. 

We showed you above that you don’t necessarily need to take Morning Would pre-workout. We prefer to look at it as a pre-workout for life. 

If you’re interested, you can check it out here. 

Before you go...

You might want to read up more on the mental clarity aspects of Morning Would. We go more in depth on the specific mechanism with scientific sources. 

On top of that, check out how Morning Would stacks up against caffeine and other popular hydration beverages like Early Bird or Prime Hydration.