Reddit mentions of NOW Sports Nutrition, Beta-Alanine Pure Powder 2,000 mg, Muscular Endurance*, 500 Grams

As a note, PWO are generally really expensive for what you get. You can generally get the raw ingredients for much cheaper, tailor it to your preferred proportions, and throw it into your protein shake or make your own PWO without getting as many random add-on ingredients that don't really do much that PWO love to throw in.

The main ingredients, caffeine, beta-alanine and creatine are dirt cheap and you can mix them to your own proportions. E.g. C4 $35 for 60 servings comes out to ~$0.58/serving for 1.5g beta-alanine, 135mg caffeine, and 1g creatine.

Doing it yourself with 1.5g beta-alanine =~$0.08, 200mg caffeine =~$0.08, and 5g creatine =~$0.13 or $0.29/serving to get more caffeine and the recommended amount of creatine. You can get it even cheaper ordering in bulk powders.

You'll probably also want to get a cheap food scale ~$10 to get the correct amounts since scoop measurements can be unreliable. Definitely get a scale if you mess with powdered caffeine.

edit: mathed wrong on cost/serving of C4

Yes, coffee is a fine way to get caffeine.

Beta-alanine, BCAAs and DMAA can all be found in pre-mixed workout supplements such as Jack3d (which is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, BTW, so I hope you don't have to pee in a cup before a fencing tournament... BJJ doesn't test, however). There are a lot of discussions about which pre-workout mix is best, but they are all expensive and loaded with fillers such as artificial sweeteners. (BTW most have a ton of caffeine as well so if you go that route, no need to take extra). Each of these can be bought separately, however, which allows you to have better portion control and mix yourself. Just search on amazon. I use these: Beta-Alanine; BCAAs; DMAA

In other news, there's talk of DMAA potentially being banned because some people died from taking it, and it is not very well-studied, so take at your own risk (or stockpile it like the rest of us before it goes the way of ephedrine).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017KU74Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Most bulk beta-alanine powders should be fine, the cheapest I've been able to find is 500G for $24, by NOW. Most brands sell about 200G for $12-15 or so.

edit: found 2KG for $50 actually. Just never heard of the brand before.

Myprotein.com. I purchase everything in 2.2 lb bags; you save on bulk.

Beta Alanine I had to get from here

I do use a scale, but one scoop (provided in the bags) gets me pretty close to 5g.

A standard gram scale for the kitchen works. I got mine at target, in the kitchen goods section.

Looks pretty good, but NOW Foods version is much cheaper for the same stuff. They both (supposedly) are pure Carnosyn brand beta-alanine.

This. I've been doing this for about 6 months now. Not only is it cheaper, but you know exactly what's going into your body. I highly recommend the 200mg of caffeine, and sticking towards the top end of his BA/CM dosages.


If you're into that "focus"/"mind muscle connection" aspect of many preworkouts, you can toss in 1-2g of ALCAR as well.


Creatine can be taken any time during the day and the impact is unchanged, but you can just make it more convenient for yourself by pre-mixing little baggies with all of your supps.


Also it's important to note this is WAY CHEAPER!


Beta Alanine, 125 Servings for $24

Citrulline Malate, 25 Servings for $16

Creatine, 200 Servings for $19

ALCAR, ~500 Servings for $18

*Caffeine, 100 Servings for $5

well, depends where are you from. although i'm ~5,653 mi away from the us, i still buy supplements on amazon))
thus, Citrulline Malate 2:1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E7YL0UI/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2YD2H3KGK1F4L

Beta Alanine (Carnosyn) https://www.amazon.com/Foods-Beta-Alanine-Powder-500G/dp/B0017KU74Q/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1494529377&sr=8-1&keywords=beta+alanine+now

Creatine Monohydrate (Creapure) https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Nutrition-Creapure-Creatine-Monohydrate/dp/B0009V8MA0/ref=pd_sim_121_6?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0009V8MA0&pd_rd_r=RZRWN6CKFVHANF4HA18S&pd_rd_w=y3w33&pd_rd_wg=NHZri&psc=1&refRID=RZRWN6CKFVHANF4HA18S

Betaine TMG https://www.amazon.com/Nutricost-Betaine-Anhydrous-Trimethylglycine-Powder/dp/B01BCQ3RLE/ref=sr_1_4_s_it?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1494529481&sr=1-4&keywords=betaine+tmg

So if you're trying to add mass/strength, your biggest concern with going vegetarian is probably going to be getting enough protein. I try to take in like ~200g/day. You can calculate what you need here.

I personally get most of my protein from protein shakes. I use pea protein exclusively, this brand. Unfortunately, it comes from China but I can't pass on the price point. I also add peanut flour, cocoa powder, bananas, flax seed meal (good source of omega-3's), psyllium husk fiber (helps to slow down digestion of protein), BCAA's, creatine, and beta-alanine all in almond milk. The reason for some of those supplements can be found here.

Thanks to the fiber and the flax seed, it gets super thick almost like pudding if you let it sit. Usually, I'll mix in cold brewed coffee to get the consistency I want. It's really good. I drink like ~48 ounces a day, every day. Still have yet to get tired of it.

As far as recipes go, I try to eat high protein meals usually with beans/legumes and quinoa. I use tofu or tempeh as meat substitutes quite a bit too. I eat a lot of chili and curries. My instant pot (pressure cooker) is always getting used.

I also supplement with this multivitamin.

In response to the anti-protein focus comment, I guess I would say that I eat at a calorie deficit so it's hard to hit my protein targets unless I supplement. However, you should still count your macros at least at first to make sure you're getting in the range of where you should be.