Staunch Pre Koala Freak Review

Pros

• Optimal 6,000mg dosage of Citrulline Malate
• Contains ‘Smart-Caffeine’ Combo (Caffeine & L-Theanine)
• Beta-Alanine can enhance muscular endurance

Cons

• Beta-Alanine also known to cause itchy & tingly skin
• Missing key pre-workout nutrients (eg. Creatine Monohydrate)
• Huperzine A reported to cause numerous side effects
• Slightly high dosage of Caffeine for those sensitive

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See Your Best Options In Our
– Top 3 Pre-Workouts Page –

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About The Product

Pre Koala Freak is a pre-workout supplement made by Staunch Nation. It costs $49 for 30 serving containers and is available in 3 flavors – Pine Koala, Peach Mango, and Aussie Apple.

Sounds tasty, but what really counts is which ingredients have been added inside Pre Koala Freak; from first impressions, we’re very happy with what we see, especially due to this pre-workout supplement containing an optimal 6,000mg dosage of Citrulline Malate, which is quite rare to see.

There are other things that excite us about Pre Koala Freak (as well as Calum Von Moger helping to market this product on social media). But we’ll save that for the next section, as for now, we’ll start off by telling you more about the company behind it.

Who are Staunch Nation? 

Staunch Nation seem to be an Australian-based supplements company, although nowhere on their website confirms this information (flavors for their products being ‘Aussie Apple’ and being promoted by Calum Von Moger make us believe this).

In fact, upon further investigation, Calum Von Moger seems to be a big part of the company (we’re unsure whether he’s a co-owner).

Anyway, Staunch Nation might not be a household name in the industry yet, but they seem to be making big steps to compete with the big boys such as Optimum Nutrition and MuscleTech.

If Pre Koala Freak is anything to go by, then they seem to be heading for big things. It also helps that Calum Von Moger is heavily respected in the industry, and we’re big fans of his ‘classic golden era’ inspired physique.

But you’re here to learn more about Pre Koala Freak. So let’s see which ingredients are inside below…

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Pre Koala Freak Ingredients Explained

Pre Koala Freak contains 13 ingredients overall; we consider this to be slightly too many, as we usually find that supplements containing over 10 nutrients are under-dosed.

However, our first impressions make us believe that Staunch Nation goes against this belief, with Pre Koala Freak containing an optimal dosage of Citrulline Malate (6,000mg per serving); it’s quite rare to find this in a pre-workout, so this definitely gets the thumbs up from us!

For the most part, Pre Koala Freak ticks a lot of our boxes, but there are some things that could be improved – but in fairness, no pre-workout on the market is perfect.

Anway, we’ll take you through each ingredient inside Pre Koala Freak. By the end of this review, you’ll have a good idea of how safe and effective this pre-workout really is.

Here’s Everything You Need To Know:

Citrulline Malate 

Citrulline Malate is one of the key ingredients we always look for when choosing a pre-workout supplement.

Why? Because it’s proven to raise your nitric oxide levels, which leads to enhanced muscle pumps while lifting iron.

Muscle pumps not only help you feel and look much better, but they also reduce muscular damage and fatigue due to pumping more blood and oxygen into your muscles.

But one thing to remember is this; studies show that Citrulline Malate works best in dosages of 6,000mg per serving. Fortunately, Staunch Nation have done their research and added this optimal dosage, so it’ll be effective here.

Arginine AKG 

Now, we’re unsure why Staunch Nation has added Arginine AKG in Pre Koala Freak. It’s believed to deliver the same effect as Citrulline Malate (raised nitric oxide levels), but there’s no need for Arginine AKG due to there being an optimal dosage of Citrulline Malate.

Ultimately, this makes Arginine AKG more of a ‘bonus’ addition here. But one slight issue is that studies haven’t shown Arginine AKG to be very effective.

Simply put, it’s a good job Staunch Nation added the best dosage of Citrulline Malate in Pre Koala Freak already.

Agmatine Sulfate 

We mentioned that Arginine AKG hasn’t shown itself to be 100% reliable in studies. Well, neither has Agmatine Sulfate.

This could be because L-Arginine has a poor absorption rate when consumed in supplements, and Agmatine is extracted directly from it. Again, none of this matters because Staunch Nation has added an optimal dosage of Citrulline Malate.

However, we would have much preferred to see another key pre-workout ingredient such as Creatine Monohydrate here instead of both Arginine AKG and Agmatine Sulfate.

L-Norvaline 

L-Norvaline is believed to keep your arginase production down (which is what puts a limit on how much nitric oxide you can produce naturally). This might sound good, but there haven’t been enough studies to prove whether it’s safe and effective.

Basically, this makes it unreliable, in our honest opinion.

Not only that, the amount of nitric oxide you can produce through supplementing with nutrients such as Citrulline Malate is more than enough to benefit your workout anyway. As a result, we consider L-Norvaline to attempt to fix a problem that isn’t really there.

Ultimately, we still consider Citrulline Malate the best ingredient when you’re aiming to enhance your muscle pumps.

Beta-Alanine 

Beta-Alanine is a controversial ingredient that’s both beneficial and can cause a side effect; it’s shown to improve your muscular endurance in the gym, but is capable of causing itchy and tingly skin (paresthesia).

As it is beneficial, we always leave it to personal preference whether you consider Beta-Alanine to be a good addition to a pre-workout. Personally, we find its side effect very distracting when trying to focus on our workout in the gym.

For this reason, we’d rather not consume Beta-Alanine. But it’s easy to see why many companies add it to their pre-workouts – it works.

Betaine Anhydrous 

We’re not fans of Betaine Anhydrous, because it’s known for causing your breath and sweat to smell fishy (a side effect officially known as ‘trimethylaminuria’); this was proven in numerous studies, with one of them being found here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23430919

Not only that, the worst part is that Betaine hasn’t actually shown to reliably deliver useful benefits to improve your sporting performance. For this reason, we consider Betaine to be an unreliable addition to any pre-workout, in our honest opinion.

We would have preferred to see a nutrient more tried-and-trusted such as Creatine Monohydrate instead (which is proven to boost your strength and endurance).

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ElevATP

This is a patented form of Ancient Peat and Apple Extract which is advertised to boost your ATP levels. Now, if this works, then it’ll raise your strength and energy levels; this is because  Creatine Monohydrate is also responsible for raising your ATP levels.

However, the bad news is that we couldn’t find any study that didn’t seem to be commisioned by the company behind ElavATP in our honest opinion, so on a personal level, we don’t believe it’s as reliable as Creatine Monohydrate.

Ultimately, it’s hard to determine 1 ingredients effectiveness after taking a whole supplement. So we can’t determine whether it’ll be effective or not here, but we would personally prefer Creatine Monohydrate instead as it’s widely known to be effective.

Choline Bitartrate 

We mentioned earlier that Betaine Anhydrous was capable of causing your breath and sweat to smell fishy. Well, Choline Bitartrate has shown to cause the exact same side effect in studies.

Also, Choline seems to have the same problem, with it not being proven in many studies either. As a result, we consider this to be an unreliable nutrient too; you can see one particular study which suggests that Choline Bitartrate is ineffective here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4920398/

So what is it believed to do? Well, Choline is thought to be able to improve your cognition, but this would make it better suited to a nootropic supplement anyway, not a pre-workout.

If it does work, then it’ll be a useful ‘bonus’, but remember that it might cause fishy odors in your breath and sweat too…

Caffeine Anhydrous 

Caffeine Anhydrous is undeniably a key addition to any pre-workout; when buying these supplements, the main thing you want is that ‘kick’ of energy to help motivate and take your training to the next level.

Well, Caffeine Anhydrous is proven to deliver this benefit, as you’ll know if you consume coffee or tea.

Now, you’ll also know that consuming too much can lead to jittery side effects. So we always advise that you consume under 200mg per serving in pre-workouts; this will ensure you avoid risks of jitters or energy crashes.

The slight issue for us personally, is that Pre Koala Freak contains 360mg Caffeine Anhydrous per serving; this might put those sensitive to Caffeine at risk from jittery side effects. But those that consume many cups of coffee daily should be safe.

Ultimately, everyone has a different tolerance to Caffeine. So you should know yourself whether 360mg Caffeine Anhydrous per serving is too much for one serving (to put this into perspective, this is the same amount as around 3 cups of coffee).

L-Theanine 

L-Theanine is another key addition to pre-workout supplements when consumed alongside Caffeine Anhydrous. As it’s a relaxing agent, it works in synergy to enhance the effects of Caffeine without adding further risk of side effects.

Now, as there’s already a big dosage of Caffeine Anhydrous in here that can cause those sensitive to it jittery side effects, we can’t guarantee that L-Theanine will keep you safe here.

Not only that, many believe that you need to consume a larger dosage of L-Theanine than Caffeine Anhydrous for it to work too. Unfortunately, there’s a 360mg dosage of L-Theanine in Pre Koala Freak, which is exactly the same amount as the Caffeine here.

For this reason, while it’s sure to still be an important addition to Pre Koala Freak, we wish that the Caffeine Anhydrous dosage was lowered here.

Higenamine 

Higenamine is another stimulant that’s believed to boost your energy levels, but it’s also been used to promote fat loss in the past.

We personally have 2 problems with the addition of Higenamine in Pre Koala Freak; there’s already a big dosage of Caffeine Anhydrous so there’s simply no need for another stimulant, and if you’re main aim is to lose body fat, then we suggest you consider fat burner supplements instead.

Ultimately, this is our personal, honest opinion. But those that are extremely tolerant to stimulants might enjoy this massive blast of stimulants contained in Pre Koala Freak.

Hordenine 

Hordenine is another ingredient that’s believed to promote fat loss when supplemented. Now, there hasn’t been enough studies to suggest that it’s actually effective, in our honest opinion – meaning we consider it to be unreliable.

Not only that, we’ll repeat that if you’re ambition is to get shredded, then you should look at effective fat burner supplements instead.

Huperzine A 

Huperzine A is believed to be able to improve your cognition, which would make it better suited to nootropic supplement instead of pre-workouts (in our honest opinion).

But the bad news is that Huperzine A has been reported to cause a few side effects after being supplemented. For these reasons, we personally choose to try and avoid this ingredient, and we would have much preferred a tried-and-tested nutrient such as Creatine Monohydrate here instead.

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See Your Best Options In Our
– Top 3 Pre-Workouts Page –

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Side Effects

For the most part, Pre Koala Freak is a great pre-workout that deserves a lot of respect.

However, there are a few things that we personally flag up for ourselves. These include the huge dosage of Caffeine Anhydrous per serving (360mg). As well as Huperzine A which has shown to cause a few side effects.

Also, Pre Koala Freak contains Choline and Betaine; this means that you’re at risk from fishy breath and sweat – which isn’t ideal.

Remember that no pre-workout is perfect, and you might not suffer any side effects at all.

Here’s the potential side effects from taking Pre Koala Freak: 

• Nausea (Huperzine A)
• Diarrhea (Huperzine A)
• High Blood Pressure (Huperzine A)
• Itchy & Tingly Skin (Beta-Alanine)
• Fishy Breath & Sweat (Choline Bitartrate & Betaine Anhydrous)
• Jitters (Over 200mg Caffeine per serving)
• Energy Crashes (Over 200mg Caffeine per serving)

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Pre Koala Freak Review Conclusion

We can see why Pre Koala Freak is promoted by some of the biggest bodybuilders on the planet; it’s guaranteed to pack a serious punch with huge dosages of stimulants, but this might be bad for those sensitive to Caffeine Anhydrous.

Ultimately, if you’re not regularily consuming coffee on a daily basis, then we wouldn’t recommend consuming over 200mg Caffeine in 1 serving. This is because those with a low tolerance to Caffeine Anhydrous will suffer jittery side effects.

But Pre Koala Freak will ensure that those with a high tolerance will still feel the kick when they enter the gym.

Personally, 360mg Caffeine Anhydrous per serving is too big for us to handle as a daily-use pre-workout. But it seems very respectable as a one-off supplement that you take every now-and-then.

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