C4 Extreme Energy Review

C4 Extreme Energy Review

C4 has been the #1 selling pre-workout in the world for almost 10 years. Why? Because it tastes amazing and delivers energy to the extreme! C4 has developed a cultlike following among bodybuilders, powerlifters, competitive strongman, cyclists, and everyone in between. In fact, it’d be hard to find anyone at your gym who hasn’t felt the extreme energy C4 delivers at one point. It’s really THAT popular.

The extreme success of C4 has led Cellucor to create a range of different versions of C4 for different needs, each offering a slightly different variation of its proven formula from the original C4 that started it all. The C4 product range includes the powdered versions along with canned and bottled, ready-to-drink (RTD) options for on-the-go convenience.

C4 Extreme Energy

C4 Extreme Energy is part of Cellucor’s ID Series, which also includes C4 Ripped, C4 Original, and C4 Ultimate. It comes in four flavours (Lemon Drop, Cherry Limeade, Strawberry Kiwi, and Icy Blue Razz) with each bottle delivering 30 servings per container and a jumbo size with 50 servings for Blue Razz and Cherry Limeade only.

C4 Extreme Energy Under the Microscope

Each serving of C4 Extreme Energy weighs 9 grams, which is approximately 33% larger than the C4 Original, and in analyzing the label, we calculated a total of 5.7265 grams of actives, which makes this a very concentrated pre-workout but with a higher dose of key actives like what you’d see in a full-dosed pre-workout such as C4 Ultimate. The formula seems actually like it’s halfway between C4 Original and C4 Ultimate in terms of performance nutrients, giving you the best of both worlds. Each scoop (9 grams of powder) mixes smoothly into one to two cups of water, depending on how sweet you like the flavour. We preferred the taste in two cups of water, and this also leads to better hydration before training, but it’s up to you. We also took it dry on the tongue with no water just to say we did, and it more than did the job! Our publisher, Scott Welch, considered brushing his teeth with the stuff—he liked the taste that much! He claims the formula will also absorb through the buccal and sublingual glands when doing this. Sounds good on paper, but none of us tried doing this—just Scott! C4 Extreme Energy is a great place to start if you’re new to pre-workouts, and it delivers exactly what’s promised—extreme energy, extreme focus, and an extreme pump—and they nailed the taste with the flavours we tried. The only flavours we didn’t try are Lemon Drop and Icy Blue Razz, so Cellucor, please send. No, pretty please send!

Patented Ingredients in C4 Extreme Energy

C4 Extreme Energy contains four patented ingredients: 3,200 milligrams of CarnoSyn® beta-alanine which is the full dose proven to work, 25 milligrams of TeaCrine, 750 milligrams of NO3-T creatine nitrate, and 80 milligrams Kinetiq bitter orange fruit, which you’re going to be reading a lot about over the next year. By using expensive patented ingredients, Cellucor aims to give athletes a unique performance fuel while protecting its formula from being knocked off by smaller (and larger) companies biting at their ankles! With C4 Extreme Energy, you’re getting an ethical pre-workout backed by real science and protected by government-issued patents. 

The Science Behind C4 Extreme Energy

With nearly two decades of experience, Cellucor has more than proven itself in the supplement industry. Driven to deliver the most effective, high-quality, yet enjoyable products, it relies heavily on science to dictate the ingredients included in each product. C4 Extreme Energy has everything an athlete needs to kick-start your body for even the toughest, most grueling workouts.

With the name Extreme Energy, C4 set the bar high when it comes to extreme energy expectations. But it delivered and didn’t have to use DMAA or DMHA to do it! The Extreme Energy Blend contains a solid 300 milligrams of caffeine to spike your energy, and also has 25 milligrams of TeaCrine, a patented ingredient proven to boost energy. The blend will not only get you going but also keep you going strong through your entire workout, without any crash later that day. We love TeaCrine for this reason and wish that more companies used it in place of megadoses of caffeine.

To keep your focus zeroed in on your workout, Cellucor has included both N-acetyl-L-tyrosine and velvet bean. Together, these two ingredients trigger the hormones adrenaline and dopamine to boost your mental performance as well as your mood, leading to an enhanced training session.

Completing the trifecta of pre-workouts, the time-tested arginine alpha ketoglutarate (AKG) aids vasodilation, allowing you to get a strong pump throughout your training session. This ingredient increases the production of nitric oxide, which leads to the dilation of blood vessels, promoting better blood flow where you need it most—the working muscles.

Premium Ingredients in C4 Extreme Energy

Using patented ingredients speaks volumes about a company, and everything in C4 Extreme Energy has been lab-tested to ensure there are no banned substances and what you’re putting in your body is exactly what’s on the label. We can confidently recommend any Cellucor product for this reason as it has too much to lose by not doing things the right way as it’s the market leader in pre-workout nutrition, selling millions of doses of C4 to date. C4 Extreme Energy also contains CarnoSyn®, the patented version of beta-alanine, which MUSCLE INSIDER fans all know we are huge supporters of because of the science, quality and reliability each dose delivers. And only this form of beta-alanine has been clinically proven to increase the muscles’ work capacity, endurance, and strength, and to delay fatigue. These factors result in your ability to train at a higher intensity for longer. Additionally, the NO3-T creatine nitrate included in each scoop is a patented ingredient proven to be 10 times more water soluble than creatine monohydrate. Because every nutrient you consume must be dissolved prior to being digested, this helps maximum bioavailability.

Extreme Solubility 

No one enjoys drinking a chunky, gritty supplement, or one that leaves a chemical aftertaste. Cellucor has covered all the bases to ensure these unpleasant factors aren’t an issue with its product. Relying on highly soluble ingredients such as dehydrated caffeine and creatine nitrate, Extreme Energy blends easily into water, leaving no gritty chunks that sit at the bottom of your shaker cup after you've finished.

C4 Extreme Energy Taste Test

When it comes to taste, Extreme Energy comes in four different flavours, allowing everyone to find their own personal favourite. From the tangy Cherry Limeade to the tropical blend of Strawberry Kiwi, there’s something for everyone. We said earlier that we haven’t tried the Lemon Drop or Icy Blue Razz, but the two we had were a 10/10 in taste. The flavours are true to their name and pack a punch of great taste, without any chemical effects or unpleasant aftertaste. Our hope is that they eventually add the legendary Pink Lemonade from the original C4, as that one has a really special place for us here at the MUSCLE INSIDER office. We covered many bodybuilding shows fueled on nothing but that stuff!

C4 Knockoff Products

Cellucor was the first sports supplement company to use metal containers with their packaging when the company first started almost 15 years ago! The signature metal packaging used on the original C4 with the grid textured label was unlike anything the bodybuilding industry had seen before. But it wasn’t just the supplement industry that was blown away by the C4 packaging; Cellucor actually won mainstream packaging design awards for it! But as happens in the supplement industry, it wasn’t long before the knock-off artists came out and countless companies tried copying C4 with their own C4-sounding product names with C4 knockoff formulas. None of these products challenged the dominance of C4, and even the biggest tried! It wasn’t long before there were so many C4 knockoff products on the market that Cellucor actually started to change the look of its own packaging just to stand out all the rip-off products masquerading as the real C4! But after the dust settled, C4 remains the #1 selling pre-workout in the world. We applaud the originality of Cellucor in bringing the metal container look to the industry and think it has the best packaging in the history of the supplement industry.

Bottoms Up

Cellucor’s C4 Extreme Energy isn’t just another pre-workout. It delivers everything you need to keep your head in the game, your blood flowing, and extreme energy through each rep. Utilizing patented ingredients ensures a high-quality product, proven by scientific studies to effectively deliver what’s promised. Throw a scoop in a shaker cup and one or two cups of ice cold water and down it 30 minutes before your workout starts and you’ll be ripping apart the plates! To change it up, throw a scoop on your tongue and take it down dry, or chew it and try blowing bubbles with the stuff—who cares what your friends think! They won’t be laughing when your warmup becomes their 1RM. But seriously, C4 Extreme Energy is truly one of the best pre-workouts we’ve ever reviewed, and we think it’s definitely worthy of the C4 name.