Alpha Neon Pre-Workouts Compared
The strongest pre-workout is not the one with the most caffeine. That sounds like a line, but it is the single most useful thing to understand before you pick one, and it is why this page exists.
The short answer
- Hits hardest: Darkside V2, 350mg in a single 6g scoop
- Most caffeine on paper: Darkshred V2, 390mg, one serving a day maximum
- Best place to start: Maximum Carnage V2, 244mg
- No caffeine at all: Pumped TF and Pumptropic TF
How much caffeine is in each Alpha Neon pre-workout?
Every figure below is the full dose.
| Pre-workout | CaffeineAt full dose | Full dose | ServingsFull dose / single scoop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darkshred V2 | 390mg | One 10g scoop | 30 |
| Darkside V2 | 350mg | One 6g scoop | 50 |
| Darkside Onslaught Ultima | 333mg | Two scoops, 20g | 30 / 60 |
| Darkside Onslaught | 333mg | Two scoops, 16g | 30 / 60 |
| Maximum Carnage V2 | 244mg | Two scoops, 25g | 25 / 50 |
| Pumptropic TF | 0mg | Two scoops | 20 / 40 |
| Pumped TF | 0mg | Two scoops, 19g | 20 / 40 |
Where two numbers are shown, the first is the number of full two-scoop doses in the tub and the second is the number of single scoops. Pumped TF, for example, is a 380g tub: 20 full 19g doses, or 40 single 9.5g scoops. Darkside V2 and Darkshred V2 are single-scoop products, so there is only one figure.
Which Alpha Neon pre-workout is the strongest?
Ranked by how hard they actually land, rather than by the caffeine column:
-
1
350mg in a single 6g scoop. Onslaught and Ultima carry slightly less caffeine spread across 16g and 20g of two scoops, alongside citrulline, glycerol, beta-alanine and everything else in the formula. V2 is stripped back on purpose: caffeine on N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine, Citicoline, ENXtra® and Zynamite®, and very little else. One small scoop, nothing competing with it, built for head-down sessions. Because it all arrives in one small scoop, start on half a scoop.
-
2
Sits above Onslaught on identical caffeine because of the 4000mg of beta-alanine. Most people feel beta-alanine as a tingle across the skin, and that sensation reads as intensity even though the stimulant load has not moved.
-
3
The original Darkside formula at the same 333mg, without the beta-alanine. One scoop to find your tolerance, two for the full hit.
-
4
The most caffeine, and the caffeine is not the point. At 390mg in a 10g scoop it tops the table, but it sits alongside a 3g triple L-carnitine blend, taurine and CaloriBurn GP®. It is a different product doing a different job, and the experience reflects that rather than reading as a bigger hit. It is also the one with a hard ceiling: one 10g serving a day, no more. Start on half a scoop here too.
That is close to the reverse of the caffeine order. Look at the dose column and you can see why.
Which pre-workout should I start with?
New to high-stim pre-workouts
Maximum Carnage V2 at 244mg. It is the daily driver of the range and the sensible place to find out what you tolerate.
You want focus more than noise
Darkside V2. Also the one that lasts longest, at 50 servings against 30 for most of the range, because the scoop is small.
You want the full Darkside formula
Onslaught, or Ultima if you want the beta-alanine with it.
You train late, or you are already caffeinated
Pumped TF or Pumptropic TF. Both are completely caffeine-free, and both can be taken on top of a stim pre-workout when you want more pump without more caffeine.
The two caffeine-free options
Pumped TF is built on 10,000mg of stabilised glycerol with betaine, taurine, Rednite® beet extract, grapeseed extract and Himalayan pink salt, finished with AmentoPump®.
Pumptropic TF runs 10,000mg of GlycerSize® glycerol with Nitrosigine®, CDP-choline, N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine, Lion's Mane and AmentoPump®, so it carries a focus element the way the stim pres do, without the stim.
Before you order
Every pre-workout in this range is for healthy adults aged 18 and over. The high-stimulant products are not suitable if you are sensitive to caffeine or stimulants, and not suitable if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
All the Darkside stim pre-workouts and Maximum Carnage V2 contain walnut.
Dosing is not the same across the range, so check the label rather than assuming. Darkside V2 is a single 6g scoop. Darkshred V2 is a single 10g scoop with a strict limit of one serving a day. Onslaught, Ultima, Maximum Carnage V2, Pumped TF and Pumptropic TF are all dual-scoop.
If you are new to any of them, start lower than you think. On the two single-scoop products, Darkside V2 and Darkshred V2, start with half a scoop and see how you respond before you go to a full one. On the dual-scoop products, start with one scoop and build from there.
Food supplements should not replace a balanced and varied diet and a healthy lifestyle.