The long-awaited day is upon us: On February 18, 2024, Nutrabolt has announced the next generation of C4 pre-workout supplements, unveiling seven formulas specifically targeting weightlifters, athletes, and exercise enthusiasts from around the world.
The new 2024 C4 Series is here from Nutrabolt, with a new C4 formula, new pump ingredient named PeptiPump, and a total of 7 pre-workout supplements!
For well over a decade, Nutrabolt has been the tip of the spear for the sports and active nutrition landscape thanks to the mighty C4 brand, making pre-workout supplements a household staple. Athletes can move up and down the lineup to get a great training session regardless of their goals, and when in doubt, anyone can trust the yellow and black tubs to amp up the workout energy and taste great every time.
Meet the new 2024 C4 Lineup… and its new pump ingredient
If you’re keeping count, this is the 5th Generation, and it comes with a few major changes and a groundbreaking new ingredient:
- All formulas now have fully-disclosed active ingredients — no more proprietary blends!
- Each formula has more packed inside, some so much as doubling their active ingredient doses.
- A new pump ingredient named PeptiPump — an ACE-inhibiting peptide network discovered by Nuritas Ltd through the use of artificial intelligence — is introduced in the Original and Ultimate pre-workouts for a monumental upgrade in muscle pumps.
- Uncompromisingly good flavor, a standard with C4, remains, with new flavor collaborations on the way. One example? Hawaiian Punch. Another? Creamsicle.
- A slight shake-up in the lineup, with new C4 Ultimate Strength, C4 Sport Ripped, and C4 Sport Strength variations.
- The products are first available at The Vitamin Shoppe and the Cellucor website, but are now available at GNC as well
Seven Formulas to Reach all Goals and Mindsets
This leads us to the seven C4 Gen5 products launched in 2024, which will be detailed in the article below:
- C4 Original
- C4 Ultimate
- C4 Ultimate Strength
- C4 Ultimate Shred
- C4 Sport
- C4 Sport Strength
- C4 Sport Ripped
The C4 Sport series is NSF Certified for Sport, so drug-tested athletes can rest assured that they’re not using any banned substances.
Let’s get into the formulas below. But first, sign up for our C4 news alerts below so you don’t miss out on these new releases. We’ll have deeper scientific breakdowns and a discussion on PeptiPump over time:
The 2024 C4 5th Generation Lineup
Starting with the classic:
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C4 Original
C4 Original has a newly-opened formula showing increased energy, now with 200 milligrams of caffeine per serving, yet still providing 30 servings per container. As you can see from the images on this page, there’s a slightly updated logo and brighter new container.
200mg caffeine paired with 4 pump ingredients… including PeptiPump
The big news here is that we have four pump ingredients, headlined by the new PeptiPump Bioactive Lentil Peptides alongside Kyowa’s patented 2.4 gram Velox blend (a synergistic combination of L-citrulline and L-arginine), while keeping the NO3-T creatine nitrate that’s become synonymous with C4’s pumps.
A move to better B Vitamins!
Not to be missed on this label is a solid dose of choline (provided by choline bitartrate) and high-quality B-vitamins with our preferred form vitamin B6 (Pyridoxal-5-Phosphate or “P5P”), methylated vitamin B12 as methylcobalamin, and even some high-end folate.
Behind closed doors, we’ve long been suggesting these B-vitamin upgrades to Nutrabolt’s development team, and we’re absolutely thrilled that C4 Original users are going to get the good stuff from here on out.
Beta-alanine disclosed
And finally, now you know how much beta-alanine is in C4 – 2 grams worth. The goal here is to elevate your muscle carnosine levels. Some love this ingredient, others really love it — if you want more, keep reading, because C4 Ultimate’s coming next with even more.
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C4 Ultimate
As expected, the new C4 Ultimate brings more of… basically everything:
Tri-Stim Experience
We’re now looking at 300 milligrams of caffeine paired with the dynamic duo of Dynamine and TeaCrine… all topped off by a gram of L-Tyrosine and a milligram of Rauwolfia bark extract to bring the intensity up several notches compared to C4 Original.
More Pumps
The pump ingredients are the same as C4 Original, you simply get more: 6 grams of Velox (from 3 grams each of L-citrulline and L-arginine), 200 milligrams of PeptiPump, and 1.5 grams of creatine nitrate.
The pumps from this one are going to come heavy, with PeptiPump being the “X-factor” that everyone will need to try out. Stay tuned to PricePlow for the science.
More beta alanine
As teased above, if you really love the effects of beta-alanine, then C4 Ultimate’s where you belong – it has a full 3.2 gram dose, which is the daily dosage that’s most frequently studied in research.
Added electrolytes
While C4 Ultimate isn’t specifically a “hydration” supplement, it does have a fair amount of electrolytes in the form of sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride, and phosphorus. There’s nothing worse than sweating out your sodium and having too little left in the tank, so C4 Ultimate has some added to keep you topped off and electrically charged.
The quality B vitamins of P5P, Methylcobalamin, and Folate (as 6S-5-Methyltetrahydrofolate) remain as well, so you don’t get depleted. But the real story here is the energy and pump situation, C4 Ultimate has long provided a fantastic value, and too few people really understand how great it is at its price level.
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C4 Ultimate Shred
Now here’s where things get interesting — C4 Ultimate Shred has the creatine nitrate removed, but where that’s lost in pumps, we gain a lot in terms of thermogenic heat.
Ultimate Shred’s Metabolic Boosters
- The legendary synergistic combination of MitoBurn and CaloriBurn GP.
The previous version of Ultimate Shred had NNB Nutrition’s CaloriBurn GP, a grains of paradise extract known to activate brown adipose tissue and increase energy expenditure. But now, they’ve stacked in MitoBurn, a muscle messenger signaling molecule that activates metabolic pathways, including one that helps the body convert more white adipose tissue to the metabolically-active brown adipose tissue.
This stack is discussed in detail in our “WAT to BAT“ article, and is well worth a read later on.
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Oligonol, an extract combination of lychee fruit and green tea distributed by Maypro Industries that’s been shown to support better lipid and glucose levels, reduce visceral fat, and improve circulation! That’s right — this added fat loss ingredient may also improve the pump even more!
- Cayenne pepper extract – as if CaloriBurn GP didn’t provide enough thermogenesis, C4 Ultimate Shred has some added capsaicin to throttle up the brown fat mechanism even further!
We’re extremely excited to see Nutrabolt enter the world of MitoBurn — we’ve been researching it for nearly a decade, and are thrilled to see this next-generation ingredient go mainstream.
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- The legendary synergistic combination of MitoBurn and CaloriBurn GP.
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C4 Ultimate Strength
Not looking for as much thermogenesis as above, but instead want to dial up the strength? Then there’s C4 Ultimate Strength, which brings the creatine nitrate back and more.
Weighing in at an impressive 27.5 grams, this is the heaviest C4 scoop, and its driven in a large part by these two ingredients:
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Creatine Monohydrate (4g)
Paired with the 1.5 grams of creatine nitrate, you get a full 5 grams of creatine with every workout.
Now’s not the time to dive into the endless benefits of this safe and effective ATP boosting ingredient, but with regular creatine use, you can expect far more than just strength improvements — creatine has been linked to everything from muscle gains and body composition improvements to faster sprinting to improved cognition to better overall sense of well-being… and even improved testosterone levels!
Long story short – if you’re not getting in creatine here, you should still explore it separately, generally 3-5 grams per day is the go-to dose. Hopefully Nutrabolt has more creatine coming out elsewhere…
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PeptiStrong (2.4g)
Not to be confused with the new PeptiPump ingredient (which is still here in Ultimate Strength), PeptiStrong is the original peptide network ingredient made by Nuritas, who discovered it using AI technology.
Extracted from fava beans, this anabolic signaling network tells the body to ramp up mTOR, an enzyme that regulates protein metabolism and promotes muscle growth. It works as a myostatin inhibitor and boosts the right kind of inflammatory markers post-workout. By doing so, PeptiStrong supports recovery, strength gain, and reduced muscle damage.
Nutrabolt has already used PeptiStrong in previous products, and it took the industry by storm in 2023. If the new PeptiPump is anywhere nearly as impressive, these formulas are going to be incredibly exciting.
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elevATP (150mg)
Additionally, C4 Ultimate Strength includes a clinically-studied dose of elevATP, which includes polyphenols shown to help the body produce more ATP. Recall that ATP is the “energy currency” of the cells – its high-energy bonds are carried throughout the body to make it all happen. With more ATP comes more strength and performance.
It’s pretty fair to say that we’re excited about this one. Too many pre-workout supplement formulators have ditched creatine, and very few have a de-facto muscle builder like PeptiStrong inside. C4 Ultimate Strength has both.
Learn more in our detailed C4 Ultimate Strength article.
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C4 Sport
Now it’s time for the C4 Sport series, which again, is all NSF Certified for Sport. If you’re a drug-tested athlete or doing anything that requires WADA-approval, then you’ll want to look for a certified product like this one.
The Sport series wisely keeps the electrolytes that were added to C4 Ultimate, but lowers the amount of pump, relying only on L-arginine to support the classic gram of creatine nitrate.
A popular ingredient we haven’t seen yet — taurine (1 gram) — is added to promote hydration, endurance, and all-around mitochondrial support.
The caffeine dose remains the same as C4 Original, with an even 200 milligrams. This is perfect for an athletic outing and not too much to get you jittery.
With 20 servings per container, we foresee this as the lowest-cost pre-workout, an entry-level effort that won’t over-pump an athlete, yet trustworthy with the NSF Certification in tow.
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C4 Sport Ripped
While C4 Ultimate Shred made waves with its synergistic MitoBurn/CaloriBurn, C4 Sport Ripped takes things in a different direction by adding a 2 grams of L-Carnitine Tartrate. This ingredient is massively important for the body’s transport of fatty acids to the mitochondria.
Numerous research studies have shown that this dose of carnitine can improve metabolism and support better recovery — both of which make a great deal of sense in a “Ripped Sport” supplement.
Additionally, we have a 1-2 punch of thermogenesis in a small dose of cayenne pepper extract and black pepper extract (known as Bioperine). We often see Bioperine used as a way to boost ingredient absorption, but its key constituent, piperine, also has some research backing its use for metabolic support.
Alongside the 200 milligrams of caffeine, we also keep the gram of the do-it-all ingredient, taurine, great for endurance but also supportive of the “WAT to BAT” mechanism discussed above with C4 Ultimate Shred.
While C4 sport has the electrolytes but not the enhanced B-vitamins, C4 Sport Ripped does include both sets.
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C4 Sport Strength
Like C4 Ultimate Strength, the all-new C4 Sport Strength includes another solid dose of creatine monohydrate – 4 grams to coincide with a gram of creatine nitrate. And on top of that, strength-boosting elevATP is also added, so you can get both a short-term and long-term ATP boost from the combination.
On top of that, a nice spin that’s added to this formula is an added 3 grams of leucine, which is the most anabolic branched-chain amino acid, at a dose that can help trigger muscle protein synthesis.
The other ingredients in C4 Sport are still included – taurine, arginine, beta-alanine, and some betaine anhydrous, all paired with 200 milligrams of caffeine. The electrolytes and B-vitamins also remain.
All in all, this is a nice combination of energy and ATP-boosting ingredients, but without over-the-top muscle pumps that athletes generally don’t need (or even want).
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So What is PeptiPump Then? (Update: an ACE Inhibitor)
Boost your muscles’ natural performance and recovery abilities with PeptiStrong, a natural anabolic peptide network found in fava beans.
The update in late February 2024 is that PeptiPump is an ACE Inhibitor. We cover Nutrabolt’s official announcement in our new article titled “PeptiPump™: A Lentil Protein Hydrolysate Containing Bioactive Peptides“.
The background on the discovery of this type of ingredient can be read in our article on PeptiStrong. A difference here is that the peptide network used in PeptiPump is best found in lentils, while PeptiStrong (more of a muscle-building agent) is found in fava beans.
ACE inhibition is a popular way to increase blood flow and pumps, because the ACE enzyme (angiotensin-converting enzyme) is vasoconstrictive. By inhibiting that, we get less vasoconstriction, and that means more vasodilation — meaning greater blood flow, generally lower blood pressure, and more pumps. It’s also using a different mechanism than the nitrates and citrulline/arginine.
We’ll definitely need to get someone from Nutrabolt and/or Nuritas onto another episode of the PricePlow Podcast to follow-up on Episode #112 where we explored the research behind PeptiStrong.
Attacking pre-workout powders with the ambition of the cans
With the new C4 Series, Nutrabolt’s message is clear: The company spent a lot of time and resources dominating the carbonated energy space, but powders are where their spirit was born and molded. It’s time to shake the space back up. And they’re bringing more energy, open formulas, and a new pump ingredient to do it.
To top it off, these products bring value. While these aren’t the $59 pre-workouts that we often write about here on PricePlow, they’re affordable. Meanwhile, we can pit C4 Ultimate against most of the premium formulas on the market.
This is just the beginning for C4. There’s more coming — including the flavor collaborations like Hawaiian Punch — and those energy drink cans are obviously not going anywhere.
We’re excited to see the open formulas, and we’re even more excited to learn more about PeptiPump. If it’s anything like PeptiStrong, C4’s going to be delivering some excellent pre-workouts. Stay tuned to PricePlow, where we’ll continue to update the science and link to individual scientific articles as they come.
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