Blood & Guts Pre-Workout by Dorian Yates – Extreme Intensity

What is Dorian Yates' Blood & Guts?

Blood & Guts is the powdered pre-workout from Dorian Yates Nutrition, the brand of the British bodybuilder and six-time Mr. Olympia winner. The name is taken from his 1990s training method. It is a product to be mixed with water and taken before your session, and it sits right at the top end of the scale when it comes to stimulation.

The formula combines three families of ingredients. Nitric oxide precursors first: citrulline DL-malate and an A-AKG complex pairing L-arginine with calcium alpha-ketoglutarate. Stimulants next: anhydrous caffeine, guarana extract standardised to 22% caffeine, green tea extract standardised to 95% polyphenols and 5% caffeine. And what is billed as a focus component: L-tyrosine, vitamin B3 as nicotinamide, black pepper extract standardised to 95% piperine. Beta-alanine is in there too.

The flavours on offer: Cola, Strawberry, Pear-Kiwi, Mojito, Mango, Bubble Gum, Blueberry and Watermelon. The product joins our selection of boosters, and the brand's full range can be found in the Dorian Yates collection.

What is in a serving of Blood & Guts?

A full serving is two scoops, or 19 g. One scoop therefore weighs 9.5 g. Here is what the manufacturer declares.

Four dosages are missing from the list — beta-alanine, tyrosine, guarana, green tea — and we are not going to invent them. That is a pity in the case of beta-alanine in particular, whose usefulness depends directly on the amount. Nor does the manufacturer publish energy values or macronutrients for the serving.

The figures that are available, on the other hand, are serious ones. 6 g of citrulline malate, of which 4.34 g is pure citrulline: that is the top of the range you tend to come across, where many pre-workouts settle for 1 to 2 g just so they can put it on the front of the tub. 2.68 g of arginine is added on top. And above all 350 mg of caffeine for two scoops, which is considerable: EFSA puts the single dose of no safety concern for healthy adults at 200 mg, and total daily intake at 400 mg. A full serving therefore takes you well above the single-dose benchmark. This is not a product to start out on.

For vitamin B3, the authorised wordings apply: niacin contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism and contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. For citrulline, arginine, beta-alanine and tyrosine, no health claim is authorised in Europe, and we will not be making any.

How should you dose Blood & Guts?

Five reference points, all of them quantified by the manufacturer. Serving: start with 1 scoop of 9.5 g to gauge your tolerance, then move up to 2 scoops (19 g) if all goes well. Liquid: 250 ml of cold water. Timing: 20 to 30 minutes before your session. Frequency: one serving a day, never two. Duration: 4 to 5 days a week, with a 1 to 2 week break every 8 weeks.

One instruction on timing that is not negotiable: nothing after 16:00. With 350 mg of caffeine, a session at 19:00 will cost you your night's sleep, and you will pay for it twice over at training the next day. Also avoid any other source of caffeine in the 6 hours before and after.

Drink more than usual during your session. And if you feel tingling on your face or forearms in the twenty minutes after taking it, that is the beta-alanine: the sensation is temporary, harmless, and fades as you get used to it. If it bothers you, the creatine-free pre-workout aisle and formulas with separately dosed beta-alanine let you adjust.

Who is this pre-workout for, and who is it not for?

It is aimed at trained adults, used to stimulants, who train early in the day and are looking for genuinely full citrulline dosages. As a first pre-workout it is a bad idea: start with a product at 150 or 200 mg of caffeine and you will keep some headroom for later.

The product is not for minors and contraindicated in pregnant or breastfeeding women. It is not recommended for people who are sensitive to stimulants or who have cardiovascular disorders. Seek advice from a healthcare professional before use if you are on any medication whatsoever. Stop immediately if you experience any adverse effect.

Two regulatory points worth knowing. The formula contains the colours Ponceau 4R and indigo carmine; for Ponceau 4R, European regulations require the statement “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children”, which comes on top of the ban on sale to minors. And the product is made in a facility that handles MILK, GLUTEN, EGGS, SOYA, NUTS and PEANUTS: traces are possible.

What you should not expect from it: no gain in strength or mass in itself. A pre-workout acts on alertness and on perceived effort. What you do with that energy under the bar remains your own work, and a product with 350 mg of caffeine makes up neither for poor sleep nor for inadequate intake.

Blood & Guts or a caffeine-free booster?

That is the trade-off that matters, and it turns not on effectiveness but on the time of your sessions and on your relationship with stimulants.

A caffeine-free booster is the better choice in three specific cases. You train in the evening: at 19:00, 350 mg of caffeine wrecks your sleep, and sleep weighs more heavily on your progress than any pre-workout. You already drink several coffees during the day and you do not want to stack more on top. Or you are only after the pump, in which case citrulline and arginine are enough — which is exactly what the non-stimulant formulas offer, often with equivalent citrulline dosages.

Blood & Guts keeps the advantage when what you are after is the stimulation itself: a heavy morning session, legs at the end of the week, training after a short night. On its 6 g of citrulline malate it stands comparison with just about everything we sell. That said, beta-alanine and tyrosine are not quantified, which rules out any serious comparison on those two actives — a point on which several competitors in the aisle do better. The isolated amino acids, for their part, are found in L-arginine and beta-alanine.

Frequently asked questions

How much caffeine is there in one scoop?

Around 175 mg for a 9.5 g scoop, since the manufacturer states approximately 350 mg for the full two-scoop serving. That is already the equivalent of two strong espressos. Start there, and only add the second scoop once you have checked your tolerance.

Why is the beta-alanine not quantified on the label?

The manufacturer declares it as present “at the clinical dose” without giving a figure. We can therefore neither verify it nor compare it, and we would rather say so. If that point matters to you, choose a product that publishes its gram amounts, or dose beta-alanine separately.

Is the tingling normal?

Yes. That pins-and-needles feeling on the face, the back of the neck or the forearms is the paraesthesia linked to beta-alanine. It comes on within twenty minutes, lasts about half an hour, and has no known consequences. It fades with regular use. If it makes you uncomfortable, cut back to one scoop.

Can you take it in the evening?

No. The manufacturer asks that you avoid taking it after 16:00, and at this caffeine level that is an instruction to follow to the letter. For late-in-the-day sessions, go for a stimulant-free formula.

How many servings per tub?

The manufacturer does not publish the net weight of the container in the data supplied to us, so we cannot work out the exact number of servings. What we do know: a full serving weighs 19 g, a scoop 9.5 g, and the recommended use is 4 to 5 sessions a week.

Should you take breaks?

Yes, the manufacturer recommends a 1 to 2 week interruption every 8 weeks. Caffeine tolerance builds quickly, and the break serves as much to bring the effect back as to give the nervous system a rest.

Which flavour should you choose?

Cola and Bubble Gum are the safest bets, Mojito and Pear-Kiwi the most refreshing with very cold water. Pre-workouts heavily dosed in amino acids all have an underlying bitterness; diluting a little more generously than the recommended 250 ml takes the edge off it noticeably.

Where can you buy Dorian Yates' Blood & Guts?

The flavours can be ordered from this page, and we ship throughout France and Europe. In our shop in Vendargues, about ten minutes from Montpellier, this is a product we never recommend without first asking two questions: what time do you train, and how many coffees have you had today. The answers are almost always enough to settle it.

The rest of the pre-workout aisle can be compared in sports nutrition.