Arms Race Nutrition Harness RTD Pre-Workout Revealed with New Branding

Published on November 10, 2023 · Updated January 13, 2024 by Mike Roberto | No Comments

Arms Race Nutrition Harness RTD

Arms Race Nutrition, the active sports supplement company co-owned by Doug Miller and Julian Smith, is well-known for their Harness pre-workout supplement. But sometimes, you want some on-the-go, no mixing necessary.

On November 10, 2023, the team announced the forthcoming Arms Race Nutrition Harness RTD,[1] a ready-to-drink pre-workout supplement with about 355 milligrams of caffeine from two sources in each bottle. We also have a large 5 gram dose of citrulline for pumps and added elevATP for enhanced ATP (energy) production, which can lead to improved gains.

The Arms Race Harness RTD: Pumps, Energy, Focus, and Flashy New Branding

This article shows the label reveal, and the incredible new branding that ARN’s taking — which is a perfect reflection of Julian Smith’s personality! It’s first launched on Black Friday 2023. Check PricePlow’s deals and the available flavors, and be sure to sign up for our Arms Race Nutrition news alerts — we’re very excited to see more ARN products with these label designs!

Arms Race Nutrition Harness RTD – Deals and Price Drop Alerts

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Harness RTD Ingredients

Inside, we have an action-packed formula revealed to contain the following in each 12 fl. oz bottle:

Ingredients

  • L-Citrulline – 5,000 mg

    Arms Race Nutrition Harness RTD Ingredients

    The amino acid citrulline increases nitric oxide (NO) production.[2] Here’s how it works: Citrulline → Arginine → NO.

    As you can see, arginine, another amino acid, is actually the most direct precursor to NO. Naively, we might assume that it would be more efficient to supplement with arginine instead. However, that is a false assumption – citrulline’s bioavailability is so much better than arginine’s that, even though the conversion of citrulline to NO involves an intermediary step, citrulline supplements are still better at increasing NO than arginine supplements.[3,4]

    So why do we want more NO anyway? The answer is that NO causes your arteries to expand in diameter, a process called vasodilation. During vasodilation, your cardiovascular system is pushing the same volume of blood through a bigger “pipe,” so blood pressure and heart rate can decrease significantly.[5-7]

    Unsurprisingly, vasodilation can have health benefits, but it also supports performance and recovery. That’s because it increases the efficiency of cellular nutrient delivery and cellular waste removal, as well. Research shows that citrulline supplementation can improve:

    • Power and oxygen uptake[8]
    • Endurance[9]
    • Soreness following exercise[9]
    • Growth hormone production[10]
    • The sparing of protein from breakdown[11]
    • The body’s anabolic response to workouts[12,13]

    For these reasons, citrulline is almost always the headliner ingredient of any serious pre-workout formula.

  • Beta-Alanine – 3,200 mg

    Arms Race Nutrition Harness RTD: Venice Beach

    The Arms Race Nutrition Harness RTD not only boasts an incredible formula, it showcases ARN’s hot new branding coming in 2024

    Beta alanine is an ergogenic aid, meaning it increases the body’s exercise capacity.

    When beta-alanine reacts with the amino acid L-histidine, it forms a molecule called carnosine, which clears lactic acid from muscles. The accumulation of lactic acid during exercise causes muscular fatigue,[14] so helping your body get rid of lactic acid delays the onset of fatigue – in other words, it boosts endurance.

    Again, you might wonder, why not just take carnosine instead? The answer is that as with arginine and citrulline, carnosine’s bioavailability is bad, whereas that of its precursor beta-alanine is much better. Thus, beta-alanine supplementation ends up being a more efficient strategy for boosting carnosine.

    And since the standard diet contains tons of histidine, it’s basically never necessary to take it as a supplement. Beta-alanine is almost always the bottleneck on your body’s ability to create the carnosine it needs.[15,16]

    Beta-alanine is best at supporting high-intensity, sustained physical efforts between 30 seconds and 10 minutes in duration.[17,18]

    Beta-alanine tingles are no big deal

    If you get the beta alanine tingles after taking this, don’t worry. We affectionately call them “tingles” for a reason – they’re harmless and non-toxic.[19]

  • Alpha GPC 50% (L-Alpha Glycerylphosphorylcholine) – 300 mg

    Alpha-GPC is a form of choline, an essential B vitamin used to construct and maintain the phospholipid bilayer membranes that form the outer layer of all your body’s cells.[20] Choline also plays a key role in helping cells communicate with each other via the signaling functions carried out by those membranes.[20]

    PricePlow’s Harness RTD Beta Test

    We beta-tested this, and some flavors were spectactular. Highlights are below:

    Further, choline needed for acetylcholine (ACh) synthesis. We call ACh the learning neurotransmitter because it plays an indispensable role in the neurochemical processes that enable learning and memory.[21] Unsurprisingly, then, research shows that upregulating ACh through strategic choline supplementation can significantly improve cognitive performance, particularly the conversion of short-term to long-term memories.[22,23]

    There are lots of different choline forms, each with specialized effects. Alpha-GPC is one of the nootropic forms of choline, because it crosses the blood-brain barrier.[24] Nootropic support in pre-workout formulas is important – it greatly enhances the user experience, which typically depends on having the motivation to do challenging workouts.

    However, alpha-GPC also seems to help increase strength gains. One 2015 study found that six weeks of supplementation with 600 mg/day significantly increased subjects’ peak force production during a mid-thigh pull exercise,[25] a test whose results correlate strongly with deadlift performance.[26] Of course, we don’t have a dose that big in ARN Harness RTD, but it’s still worth noting – other studies have shown that alpha-GPC can increase growth hormone production, even in young adults,[27] a population who have high GH levels to begin with. And since GH, as we all know, is a powerful anabolic hormone, there seems to be a convincing mechanism of action here.

  • Caffeine Anhydrous – 300 mg

    Caffeine is a widely-used methylxanthine alkaloid stimulant, with anti-fatigue, mood-boosting, and ergogenic properties. Caffeine can powerfully influence cognition and neural metabolism thanks to its ability to traverse the blood-brain barrier.

    Caffeine Sports Performance: 3mg/kg

    Even a moderate dose of caffeine (3mg/kg, which is about 240 milligrams caffeine for a 175 pound person) can lead to improvements in performance, reaction time, and fewer errors in sports like tennis.[28]

    The famous fatigue-fighting effects of caffeine can be explained by its status as an adenosine antagonist.[29,30] Adenosine, a byproduct of ATP hydrolysis, accumulates in the brain during wakefulness, causing fatigue as it builds up. Caffeine counteracts this effect by blocking adenosine at the receptor level, preventing adenosine from exerting its fatiguing effect.

    Caffeine’s ergogenic effects are a function of its ability to support cellular metabolism by inhibiting the enzyme phosphodiesterase. This elevates cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels,[29,30] promoting increased cellular energy production and calorie expenditure[31] which can translate into extra energy for your toughest workouts.

    The International Society of Sports Nutrition states that caffeine consumed in a dose range of 3-6 mg/kg can significantly improve athlete performance – particularly for sustained maximal endurance and high intensity exercise. Interestingly, the organization also holds that anhydrous caffeine is more effective for this purpose than an equivalent dose from coffee.[30]

    If you weigh 255 pounds or less, then the 350 milligrams of total caffeine found in ARN Harness RTD gets you over that 3 mg/kg threshold.

    Caffeine’s capacity to boost cAMP levels also upregulates thermogenesis, a process where the body burns calories to produce heat. Supplementing with caffeine to enhance thermogenesis increases the calorie burn even farther,[32,33] which can make healthy weight management a little easier. According to a 2019 meta-analysis of 13 studies, caffeine intake is positively correlated with reductions in weight, body mass index, and fat mass.[34]

  • ElevATP (Ancient Peat Extract and Apple Extract) – 150 mg

    ElevATP is a trademarked blend of botanical extracts derived from peat moss and apples.

    Preliminary studies have shown that ElevATP has the ability to elevate extracellular ATP levels,[35] a critical factor for optimizing various cellular-metabolic processes. Given that ATP serves as the fundamental unit of cellular energy, ATP deficiency or bottlenecking during periods of increased demand can significantly impact both health and performance — since ATP is depleted during exercise, supplementing with ElevATP holds the potential to mitigate some of the adverse effects associated with physical activity. By the same token, having elevated ATP levels is generally advantageous.

    Arms Race Nutrition Vanilla Waffle Cone Foundation

    Take Harness RTD before, and Vanilla Waffle Cone Foundation protein after!

    A 2016 study looked into whether this theoretical mechanism could have practical benefits for real-world performance. Subjects who received a daily dose of 150 milligrams of ElevATP over an eight-week period, and compared to a placebo control, showed significantly better one-repetition maximum values for squat and deadlift.[36] They also did better when it came to vertical jump velocity and power.[36]

  • Dicaffeine Malate – 75 mg

    Dicaffeine malate is a compound of two caffeine molecules chemically bound to malic acid (malate). It’s roughly 75% caffeine by weight, so a 75 milligram dose gives us about 56 milligrams pure caffeine – bringing the total amount of caffeine in ARN Harness RTD up to ~350 milligrams.

    It comes with all the same benefits as anhydrous, but thanks to the chemical bond, dicaffeine malate is digested slower. This means that it reaches peak concentration in the bloodstream slower, too, and at a lower level. It also tapers off more gradually, which is the key characteristic that has earned dicaffeine malate a place in so many pre-workout formulas – combining it with anhydrous helps mitigate potential withdrawal symptoms as the anhydrous wears off.

  • Huperzia serrata Extract (leaf and stem) (1% Huperzine A) – 10 mg

    Huperzine A, the most sought-after bioactive compound in Huperzia serrata, functions by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase, the enzyme responsible for degrading acetylcholine.[37] This mechanism of action complements alpha-GPC – as alpha-GPC enhances acetylcholine production, huperzine A prolongs its lifespan, thereby increasing its overall activity.

    Additionally, Huperzine A has the capacity to trigger neurogenesis, the growth and differentiation of new neurons.[38]

Flavors Available

Harness RTD launched in five flavors. You can see them in the list below:

Arms Race Nutrition Harness RTD Ingredients

    Harness RTD is Here, and the new branding is just as exciting

    This is a very solid, affordable pre-workout RTD that brings no crazy surprises and has some deliciously sweet flavors. With 5 grams of citrulline, the pumps will be solid, and we’re excited about the additional performance from elevATP (caffeine goes without saying).

    Thank you to David Dodrill (from Episode #083 of the PricePlow Podcast) for providing the labels!

    Since Arms Race is now at Gold’s Gym, we’re hoping some will be available in their fridges as well, and updated in early 2024, there are also Harness RTD Variety Packs to try!

    As always, if you’re looking for a powdered form, check out Harness and Harness Evolution and sign up for our ARN news and deal alerts below:

    Arms Race Nutrition Harness RTD – Deals and Price Drop Alerts

    Get Price Alerts

    No spam, no scams.

    Disclosure: PricePlow relies on pricing from stores with which we have a business relationship. We work hard to keep pricing current, but you may find a better offer.

    Posts are sponsored in part by the retailers and/or brands listed on this page.

    Arms Race Nutrition Harness RTD Label

    Every label is epic in its own unique way – this is the Rainbow Sherbet flavor

    About the Author: Mike Roberto

    Mike Roberto

    Mike Roberto is a research scientist and water sports athlete who founded PricePlow. He is an n=1 diet experimenter with extensive experience in supplementation and dietary modification, whose personal expertise stems from several experiments done on himself while sharing lab tests.

    Mike's goal is to bridge the gap between nutritional research scientists and non-academics who seek to better their health in a system that has catastrophically failed the public.

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    References

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    28. Strecker, Estevam. “The Effect of Caffeine Ingestion on Tennis Skill Performance and Hydration Status.” Auburn University; 15 May 2007; https://etd.auburn.edu//handle/10415/799
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    33. Icken, D, et al. “Caffeine Intake Is Related to Successful Weight Loss Maintenance.” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 70, no. 4, 11 Nov. 2015, pp. 532–534, doi:10.1038/ejcn.2015.183; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26554757/
    34. Tabrizi, Reza, et al. “The Effects of Caffeine Intake on Weight Loss: A Systematic Review and Dos-Response Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.” Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, vol. 59, no. 16, 2019, pp. 2688–2696; 10.1080/10408398.2018.1507996; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30335479/
    35. Joy, J. et al; “Supplementation with a Proprietary Blend of Ancient Peat and Apple Extract May Improve Body Composition without Affecting Hematology in Resistance-Trained Men;” Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism; (2015); https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283077352_Supplementation_with_a_Proprietary_Blend_of_Ancient_Peat_and_Apple_Extract_May_Improve_Body_Composition_without_Affecting_Hematology_in_Resistance-Trained_Men
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    37. Zhao, Qin, and Xi Can Tang. “Effects of Huperzine a on Acetylcholinesterase Isoforms in Vitro: Comparison with Tacrine, Donepezil, Rivastigmine and Physostigmine.” European Journal of Pharmacology, vol. 455, no. 2-3, 29 Nov. 2002, pp. 101–107, 10.1016/s0014-2999(02)02589-x. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12445575/
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