C4 AlphaBomb Sport: Cellucor's NSF Certified Pre-Workout Powered by enfinity Paraxanthine

Cellucor built a second AlphaBomb, and this one has zero caffeine. C4 AlphaBomb Sport runs on 200mg of enfinity® paraxanthine alongside 5g creatine, 3.2g beta-alanine, and roughly 5g total citrulline, all NSF Certified for Sport.

Cellucor is expanding the AlphaBomb name with a second, more accessible entry: C4 AlphaBomb Sport. Like the original, it ships in a tub molded into the shape of a bomb, with this version in a bright yellow finish that matches the rest of the C4 shelf.

The original C4 Alpha Bomb built its reputation on d9-Caffeine, a deuterated caffeine molecule and a $50-plus price tag to match its flagship positioning. When Nutrabolt CEO Doss Cunningham previewed AlphaBomb Sport on the PricePlow Podcast, he framed it as a way to bring new alternative-energy innovation to a wider, lower-priced audience. But instead of deuterated caffeine, AlphaBomb Sport skips caffeine entirely and builds its energy profile around 200mg of enfinity® paraxanthine, the other major non-caffeine stimulant to gain traction across the industry over the past few years.

That swap fits the "Sport" name. Like C4 Sport, AlphaBomb Sport carries NSF Certified for Sport status, meaning every batch is tested against a list of more than 270 substances banned by major athletic organizations. The campaign imagery leans on that same drug-tested-athlete framing, and the formula backs it up with a calmer stimulant profile than the flagship Alpha Bomb runs.

Underneath the paraxanthine, the formula covers the same bases many other training-focused pre-workouts do: creatine and beta-alanine for strength and muscular endurance, a dual-source citrulline setup for pump, and a small stack of focus-oriented ingredients built around a dopamine-precursor botanical and a whey-derived peptide. Here's what a full scoop provides.

C4 AlphaBomb Sport Nutrition Facts

• Calories - 10

• Total Carbohydrate - 1g

  • Total Sugars - 0g

    • Added Sugars - 0g

• Vitamins and Minerals

  • Calcium - 25mg (2% DV)

  • Sodium (from Sea Salt) - 225mg (10% DV)

  • Potassium (from Dipotassium Phosphate) - 190mg (4% DV)

Cellucor C4 AlphaBomb Sport Ingredients

Each 23.9g scoop provides the following:

• Creatine Monohydrate - 5g

  Creatine monohydrate is the most-studied ergogenic supplement in sports nutrition, and it's the ingredient AlphaBomb Sport leans on for its strength claim. Creatine tops off the body's phosphocreatine stores, which muscle cells draw on to quickly regenerate ATP during short, powerful efforts like heavy lifts or sprint intervals. More available phosphocreatine means more of those efforts before fatigue sets in.

  A 2022 critical review from creatine researcher Dr. Richard Kreider and colleagues summarized decades of trials on creatine's bioavailability, efficacy, and safety, concluding that monohydrate remains the best-absorbed and most extensively validated form for supporting muscular power, strength, and training volume.^[1] The 5g dose here lands right at the standard daily maintenance amount used throughout that research.

  Creatine's reach has also expanded past the weight room. A 2024 trial found that a single dose improved cognitive performance and shifted markers of brain energy metabolism during sleep deprivation, a scenario plenty of athletes and shift workers know well.^[2]

• CarnoSyn® Beta-Alanine - 3.2g

  CarnoSyn® Beta-Alanine is the amino acid responsible for that familiar tingling sensation in pre-workouts, and it works by raising muscle carnosine levels over time. Carnosine buffers the hydrogen ions that build up during high-intensity exercise, which helps delay the drop in muscle pH that contributes to fatigue.

  A 2006 study first established that consistent beta-alanine supplementation measurably raises carnosine content in the vastus lateralis muscle,^[3] and a 2007 follow-up connected that carnosine increase to measurable gains in high-intensity cycling capacity.^[3] A more recent 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis in trained young men found consistent benefits for maximal-intensity exercise performance.^[4]

  

  The research supporting these effects almost always uses daily beta-alanine intakes in the 3.2g to 6.4g range, so the 3.2g here sits at the low end of the effective zone rather than a token amount.

• L-Citrulline & L-Citrulline Malate 2:1 - 3g + 3g

  AlphaBomb Sport uses two forms of the same amino acid: 3g of free-form L-Citrulline plus 3g of L-Citrulline Malate in a 2:1 ratio, which itself splits out to roughly 2g of citrulline and 1g of malic acid. Added together, that's approximately 5g of total citrulline, the compound behind citrulline's pump and endurance reputation. Once absorbed, the body converts citrulline to L-arginine, the substrate for nitric oxide production, which relaxes blood vessels and increases blood flow to working muscle.

  A 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis of citrulline malate found that 6g to 8g taken 40 to 60 minutes before training increased the total reps completed before failure by about 6%, a small but real ergogenic effect.^[5] A separate 2020 meta-analysis found that citrulline supplementation also modestly lowers post-exercise ratings of perceived exertion and blood lactate.^[6]

  A 2025 head-to-head trial directly compared 8g of free-form citrulline against 12g of citrulline malate over six weeks of resistance training and found both forms similarly improved upper-body muscular endurance and post-exercise nitric oxide markers, with no clear advantage for either form.^[7] That study used considerably higher total doses than the roughly 5g citrulline equivalent AlphaBomb Sport provides, worth keeping in mind for anyone chasing the exact effects reported in the research.

• Taurine - 2g

  Taurine is one of the most abundant amino acids in skeletal muscle, where it helps regulate cell volume and calcium handling inside muscle fibers, both relevant to contraction and fatigue resistance.

  

  A 2025 meta-analysis pooling 23 randomized trials found that a single acute dose of taurine produced small-to-moderate improvements in exercise performance overall, with the clearest benefits showing up in aerobic endurance, strength and power, and agility tasks.^[8] The analysis didn't find a clear dose-response relationship within the 1g to 6g range typically used in research, which puts AlphaBomb Sport's 2g squarely inside the range where benefits have been observed. The authors did rate the overall certainty of evidence as low, so it's fair to call taurine's ergogenic effect real but modest rather than dramatic.

• L-Tyrosine - 1g

  L-Tyrosine is the amino acid precursor to dopamine and norepinephrine, the catecholamines involved in alertness and stress response. The idea behind supplementing it is that replenishing tyrosine stores can help maintain catecholamine synthesis during physically or mentally demanding conditions, when those neurotransmitters get used up faster.

  A 2016 study tested tyrosine at doses of 75mg/kg and 150mg/kg of body mass (roughly 6g to 12g for a 175lb adult) before a military-style load-carriage task performed in the heat and found it supported cognitive and physical performance under that combined heat and exertion stress.^[9] A more recent 2024 trial using a 2000mg dose before a stressful virtual-reality training drill found tyrosine didn't blunt physiological stress markers, but it did reduce missed responses on a Stroop cognitive challenge compared to placebo, pointing to a performance-under-pressure benefit even without a measurable stress-hormone effect.^[10]

  Both of those trials used doses well above the 1g included here, so AlphaBomb Sport's tyrosine is better read as a supporting piece of the focus stack than a dose matched to the research on its own.

• Alanyl-L-Glutamine - 250mg

  Alanyl-L-Glutamine pairs the amino acid L-glutamine with L-alanine into a single dipeptide, a form the body absorbs more efficiently than free glutamine alone. It's the ingredient doing the heavy lifting behind AlphaBomb Sport's hydration claim.

  

  A 2012 pharmacokinetic study compared equivalent glutamine doses delivered as free L-glutamine, as alanyl-L-glutamine, or via hydrolyzed wheat protein, and found alanyl-L-glutamine produced the highest peak plasma glutamine concentration of the three (284 μmol/L versus 179 μmol/L for free glutamine) while keeping levels elevated for up to four hours instead of two.^[11] That improved and sustained absorption is the mechanistic reason suppliers reach for this form specifically for hydration and endurance formulas.

  On the applied side, a 2010 study examined acute alanyl-L-glutamine ingestion under hydration stress during endurance exercise,^[12] and a related 2012 trial in NCAA Division I basketball players found it helped maintain jump power, reaction time, and shooting accuracy across a full competitive game.^[13] Both represent the kind of real-world, intermittent-effort scenario this pre-workout is built for.

• enfinity® Paraxanthine - 200mg

  enfinity® Paraxanthine is the ingredient doing the most work in this formula's story. Paraxanthine is the primary metabolite the body produces when it breaks down caffeine, and roughly 80% of a typical caffeine dose gets converted into it. Rather than relying on that conversion to happen naturally, enfinity supplies purified paraxanthine directly, which is the entire reason AlphaBomb Sport can market itself as delivering stimulant energy without any actual caffeine on the label.

  Human research on paraxanthine has grown quickly. A 2021 double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial out of Texas A&M tested 50mg, 100mg, and 200mg doses against placebo and found acute and short-term (7-day) improvements in measures of cognition, memory, reasoning, and response time, with the most consistent effects appearing at the 100mg and 200mg doses used here.^[14] A companion trial from the same research group found that a single dose improved cognition, short-term memory, and sustained attention compared to placebo.^[15] Notably, neither trial reported clinically significant side effects at any dose tested, including the 200mg amount used in AlphaBomb Sport.

  

  Separate from the cognitive data, a 2024 dose-response study found that 200mg of paraxanthine increased resting energy expenditure and blunted the rise in hunger ratings seen with placebo, without significantly changing heart rate or blood pressure.^[16] That last point speaks to the "clean energy" positioning: a 1995 comparison found paraxanthine produces sympathomimetic effects similar to caffeine at matched doses, but its distinct metabolic pathway is part of why some users report a smoother feel with less of a crash.^[17]

• Velvet Bean (Mucuna pruriens Seed Extract, std. 60% L-Dopa) - 175mg

  Velvet Bean, the seed extract of the Mucuna pruriens plant, is included here as a natural source of L-Dopa (levodopa), the direct precursor the body converts into dopamine via the enzyme dopa decarboxylase. Standardizing to 60% L-Dopa, as this label does, means the 175mg extract delivers roughly 105mg of L-Dopa per scoop.

  Most of the human clinical research on Mucuna pruriens comes from a very different context than a pre-workout: neurodegenerative disease, where L-Dopa is the standard treatment for restoring dopamine signaling that the disease impairs.^[18] That's obviously a different population and a different purpose than a healthy exerciser looking for a mental edge, so we can't assume the same dopamine-restoring mechanism produces the same magnitude of effect in someone with normal function to begin with. What the mechanism does plausibly support is more circulating L-Dopa available for conversion to dopamine may help support the drive and motivation athletes associate with training, even without dedicated sports-performance trials to point to.

  One more reason standardization matters here: independent lab analyses have repeatedly found that commercial Mucuna pruriens supplements often contain far less L-Dopa than their labels claim, sometimes by a wide margin.^[19] A named extract with a stated standardization percentage, as used here, gives buyers something more verifiable to go on than a generic "Mucuna pruriens extract" listing.

• LANDKIND® Pure Salidroside - 60mg

  

  Nutrabolt refreshed the C4 Smart Energy cans and added a few flavors, but left the good part alone. Cognizin® citicoline sits ahead of the 200mg natural caffeine on the label, which tells you what this line is built for.

  Salidroside is the compound most closely tied to the traditional energy and fatigue-resistance reputation of Rhodiola rosea root. Rather than using whole Rhodiola extract, which naturally contains only small amounts of salidroside and comes from a slow-growing, cold-climate plant under increasing conservation pressure, this approach isolates the compound itself at a fixed, verifiable dose.

  A 2024 exploratory randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial gave healthy, active young adults 60mg of salidroside daily for 16 days, the same daily amount used here, and measured its effects on exercise performance, mood, and recovery markers.^[20] The supplementation group showed a significantly higher percentage of predicted oxygen uptake during high-intensity intermittent exercise compared to placebo, along with less exercise-induced muscle damage as measured by serum myoglobin.

  On the mechanism side, a 2026 study identified the dopamine D2 receptor as a direct molecular target of salidroside, giving a plausible biological pathway for the fatigue-resistance and mood effects reported in human trials.^[21]

• β-Lactolin (Whey-Derived Tetrapeptide) - 1.8mg

  β-Lactolin is a naturally occurring tetrapeptide made of four amino acids (glycine, threonine, tryptophan, and tyrosine, hence the alternate name "GTWY") isolated from whey. Despite the milligram-level dose, it's one of the more heavily studied ingredients in this formula, with over a dozen published trials behind it.

  The strongest human data for cognitive effects at rest comes from a pair of randomized controlled trials in healthy adults. One used near-infrared spectroscopy and found that six weeks of β-lactolin supplementation increased blood flow to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during a working memory task compared to placebo.^[22] Another used EEG and found that β-lactolin enhanced neural activity, measured by event-related P300 amplitude, in the same healthy-adult population.^[23] A 2024 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in healthy adults ages 45 to 64 found that 1.6mg per day for six weeks improved trait anxiety and subjective stress scores compared to placebo.^[24]

  

  A separate 2025 trial used the exact 1.8mg daily dose included in AlphaBomb Sport, though in a different population: adults 50 and older with mild cognitive impairment, tracked over 24 weeks. The primary cognitive test scores didn't differ significantly from placebo overall, but delayed recall scores improved specifically within the β-lactolin group at both the 12 and 24-week marks.^[25] That's not exactly a pre-workout situation, but it does show safety and long-term plausibility at this dose.

  Very solid find by Nutrabolt's team on this ingredient, and a great way to close out the active ingredients.

• Electrolytes: Calcium, Sodium, and Potassium

  Rounding out the label, AlphaBomb Sport includes 25mg of calcium, 225mg of sodium from sea salt, and 190mg of potassium from dipotassium phosphate. Sodium and potassium are the two electrolytes lost in the highest quantity through sweat, and replacing them alongside fluid intake supports normal hydration status during longer or hotter training sessions. Calcium plays a supporting role in muscle contraction signaling. None of the three are dosed here at anywhere near a multimineral-style amount, so they're best understood as a light hydration assist that rounds out the taurine and alanyl-L-glutamine already doing that job, not a standalone electrolyte supplement.

Flavors Available

AlphaBomb Sport launches in a single flavor, Lightning Lemon Berry, sweetened with a combination of sucralose and acesulfame potassium rather than sugar, which keeps the 23.9g scoop at just 10 calories and 1g of carbohydrate.

Here's an up-to-date list of all flavors of Cellucor C4 AlphaBomb Sport:

More flavors tend to follow a successful pre-workout launch, so check back on this page as the lineup grows.

Who It's For

• NSF Certified for Sport athletes: Anyone competing under drug-testing rules, from high school and college athletes to professionals, gets a pre-workout that's independently verified against a list of banned substances rather than just trusting the label.
• Caffeine-sensitive lifters and cardio athletes: Since the stimulant here is paraxanthine rather than caffeine itself, it's worth a look for anyone who wants a training boost without adding to their daily caffeine total from coffee, tea, or other supplements.
• Value-conscious AlphaBomb fans: Anyone curious about the AlphaBomb name but not ready to commit to the original's premium price point gets a lower-cost entry point into the same general training-day use case.

Conclusion: A More Accessible Take on AlphaBomb

Nutrabolt CEO Doss Cunningham joins the PricePlow Podcast to talk Cellucor's rebrand, C4 Energy growth, the Bloom investment, and building the Proctor & Gamble of supplements and welness in Episode #222.

C4 AlphaBomb Sport isn't a scaled-down clone of the original Alpha Bomb. It's a completely different formula built around a different headline stimulant, with its own price point, its own NSF Certified for Sport positioning, and its own case to make. Paraxanthine, creatine, a dual-source citrulline setup, and a small stack of dopamine-adjacent, focus-oriented ingredients give it a complete profile without leaning on the deuterated caffeine that made the original Alpha Bomb such a story on its own.

Whether AlphaBomb Sport ends up as the gateway Nutrabolt hopes for or a standalone option in its own right, it adds a genuinely different tool to the C4 pre-workout lineup rather than just a cheaper tub with a familiar name on it. Between this launch and the recently refreshed C4 Smart Energy line, Cellucor and Nutrabolt are clearly betting on ingredients most lifters haven't tried yet.

Sign up for Cellucor and C4 news alerts on PricePlow to catch new flavors and any updates to this formula as they land, and check the listings below for current AlphaBomb Sport availability and pricing.