C4 Pre Workout Ingredients: 9 Facts From the Current Label

C4 pre workout in three numbers

Three numbers on the C4 Original pre workout label tell you most of what the scoop will do.

Label figures come from the C4 Original 5th Gen Supplement Facts panel on cellucor.com, checked on 27 October 2026. The tub got a new look in 2026, but the 5th Gen formula and 30 servings per 267 g tub stay the same. We do not sell this product and take no payment for reviews.

What this C4 pre workout review covers

C4 pre workout ingredients: the full label

Here are the C4 pre workout ingredients per scoop, in the order Cellucor prints them (Cellucor label).

Other ingredients are acids, flavors, flow agents, sucralose, acesulfame potassium and spirulina extract for color (Cellucor label).

Good news: every dose is printed. The Velox blend shows each part in grams, so nothing is hidden in a proprietary total.

The label warns that the product is for adults 18 and over, and not for pregnant or nursing women (Cellucor label).

How much caffeine is in C4 pre workout?

One scoop of C4 Original pre workout has 200 mg of caffeine anhydrous (Cellucor label). C4 Sport also has 200 mg, and C4 Ultimate has 300 mg (Cellucor product pages).

Caffeine is the ingredient with the best evidence. The caffeine position stand found benefits at 3 to 6 mg per kg of body weight (PMID 33388079).

The same paper says the minimum effective dose may be as low as 2 mg per kg. Very high doses, like 9 mg per kg, caused more side effects (PMID 33388079).

One scoop is half of that daily amount. Coffee, energy drinks and a second scoop all count toward the same total (FDA).

The position stand notes that caffeine can affect sleep and anxiety, and that people respond differently (PMID 33388079).

Beta alanine in C4 pre workout: the tingle and the dose

Beta alanine raises carnosine in muscle, which buffers acid during hard efforts. The tingle on your skin is the known side effect.

The beta alanine position stand says 4 to 6 g a day for at least 2 to 4 weeks improved performance. Effects were clearest in efforts lasting 1 to 4 minutes (PMID 26175657).

It also says tingling can be reduced with divided doses of about 1.6 g, or a sustained release form (PMID 26175657).

In an early study, 3.2 g a day for 4 weeks raised muscle carnosine by about 42 percent (PMID 16554972).

A meta analysis found the clearest benefit in exercise lasting 60 to 240 seconds, and no clear benefit under 60 seconds (PMID 22270875).

Citrulline, arginine, PeptiPump and creatine nitrate

L-citrulline and L-arginine

C4 Original pre workout gives 1.2 g of L-citrulline and 1.2 g of L-arginine (Cellucor label).

The citrulline research used much larger doses of a different form. A meta analysis of 6 to 8 g of citrulline malate found about 6 percent more reps (PMID 34010809).

In one trial, 8 g of citrulline malate increased bench press reps and cut soreness (PMID 20386132). That form and dose are not what C4 contains.

A review of nitric oxide supplements found mixed results for arginine and citrulline in trained people (PMID 22260513).

PeptiPump

PeptiPump is listed as 100 mg of lentil peptides (Cellucor label). We found no human trial on PubMed for this ingredient. Treat any pump claim as unproven.

Creatine nitrate

Creatine nitrate is creatine bound to nitrate. Roughly two thirds of its weight is creatine, so 1 g gives about 0.67 g of creatine, by our arithmetic.

The creatine position stand describes a habitual intake of about 3 g a day (PMID 28615996). Higher loading doses are also used.

In a 28 day trial, 3 g of creatine nitrate a day was well tolerated and performed like 3 g of creatine monohydrate (PMID 27034623).

Huperzine A

Huperzia serrata extract at 5 mg with 1 percent huperzine A works out to about 50 mcg of huperzine A, by our arithmetic.

A 2023 review of memory supplements found mixed results for huperzine A (PMID 37603263). We found no strong trial for training focus.

C4 pre workout doses vs research doses

This chart shows how much of each research dose one scoop of C4 pre workout supplies.

9 facts from the current C4 pre workout label

1. One scoop is 8.9 g, 30 scoops per tub. (Cellucor label)

2. 200 mg caffeine per scoop, printed on the panel (Cellucor label).

3. 2 g CarnoSyn beta alanine, half the 4 g daily research dose (PMID 26175657).

4. 1 g creatine nitrate, about 0.67 g of creatine by our arithmetic.

5. 1.2 g L-citrulline and 1.2 g L-arginine in the Velox blend (Cellucor label).

6. 100 mg PeptiPump lentil peptides, new on the 5th Gen panel (Cellucor label).

7. 5 mg Huperzia serrata extract, about 50 mcg huperzine A by our arithmetic.

8. 10 calories and 0 g sugar, sweetened with sucralose and acesulfame potassium (Cellucor label).

9. Adults 18 and over only, not for pregnant or nursing women (Cellucor label).