WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Pre- and post-workout nutrition mixes
- Customized for endurance athletes
- Organic formula, available in vegan and gluten-free options
- Able to utilize Strava training history to create a personalized formula
- Not your average protein shake
BEN: PWURE (pure + power) touts itself as the “hyper-personalized” pre-and post-workout nutrition. It’s founded on the principles that nutrition should be tailored to each athlete and their training. By consuming the right carbs-to-protein ratio immediately after activity speeds up glycogen and muscle protein synthesis. Their foundation is based on data-driven formulas, quality ingredients, and they include vegan options.
The pre-workout is a mix of carbohydrates and has an option to add caffeine. It’s intended to fuel the workout and improve performance. The post-workout includes both protein and carbs with the option to add vitamin B12 and vitamin D with the intent to optimize recovery. The protein can be chosen as plant-based or whey isolate. The difference between a protein shake and PWURE is that it’s not just some arbitrary amount of extra protein, but it’s a full pre and post nutrition strategy that customized to each athlete.
Start by entering your e-mail, name, gender (optional), height, weight, and then link up your fitness tracker. Options include Strava, Garmin, Fitbit, Suunto, Polar, and Apple Watch. If you don’t use any of these it can still create a customized mix based solely on your responses to the questionnaire, including manual workout history. The PWURE system looks at both your training history via Strava and your expected future training via questionnaire. Next, it asks if you want caffeine, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and if you want pea, brown rice or why isolate protein. Flavor options are unflavored, chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla.
THE GOOD
BEN: All of the above might sound a bit confusing or complicated, and probably seems quite time-consuming. The good news is that it’s not. The entire questionnaire only takes a couple of minutes and is very intuitive. The Strava connection correctly pulled my training history and showed that the last 4 weeks I averaged 8 workouts a week for a total of 384 minutes. I chose the caffeine and vitamin add-ins, and the chocolate flavor. The process is great and has many resources available to explain what is in the mix and why it’s there. My order shipped within a couple of days and arrived soon after.
The mixes arrive in paper pouches with customized labels that include your name – a neat feature! The aesthetic is very “organic” and certainly a lot different than the normal plastic tub of protein powder with reflective graphics and catch-phrases written all over it. The pouches are appropriately lined with a moisture barrier plastic and have Ziploc-style closure. They don’t come with a scoop, so get ready to raid the kitchen for some measuring spoons. For my dosages, it worked best to use a tablespoon for the pre-workout, and a ¼ cup for the post-workout.
Once you actually get into it, you’ll notice that the powder is pure white regardless of flavor. The team at PWURE confirmed this. I found that mine only had a slight hint of chocolate flavor but it was pretty good. One of the main ingredients is tapioca and this is what I found myself taking the most. The amount of mix needed is considerably more than the scoops of pre and post-workout I’m used to, so hopefully, your bottle is big enough. A Blender Bottle worked well in my experience.
The next surprise came as I began doing workouts and syncing to my Strava account per my normal routine. PWURE’s analysis doesn’t stop once the mix is created and sent to you, it happens in real-time and sends an e-mail with a custom serving size based on your workout, which is next-level big brother stuff.
EXAMPLE 1: “Hi Ben, nice work!
Based on your activity, three-quarters of a dose should be enough for this time to help your body recover. You should have 61 grams of your post-workout dose meaning 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp, which will bring you 42 grams of carbs and 14 grams of protein.”
EXAMPLE 2: “Hi Ben, way to go!
You really made a big effort! We recommend that you take a full post-workout dose to speed up recovery. This means 81 grams or 3/4 cup, which will bring you 56 grams of carbs and 19 grams of protein.”
THE BAD
BEN: I enjoyed the flavor and had no issues with digestion, energy levels, or anything related to the consumption of the mix. A very minor nitpick is that the packaging does not come with any measuring scoops, so it requires some scrounging through drawers. The pouches are nice, but the mix made a mess all over myself and the counter.
The dosages are also kind of different. Some days I’d run for an hour and get an e-mail saying I didn’t need to take any post-workout. I’m not sure if this is truly a bad thing but it seemed surprising and was unexplained aside from being told my calorie loss was “limited.”
My biggest gripe is with the price. This is a customized, premium product, that uses natural ingredients, and the price reflects that. If you’re looking for a budget protein powder, this isn’t it. That said, they are offering BITR readers 20% off with code NEXTLEVEL, so you should probably take advantage of that.
PWURE NUTRITION CONCLUSION
BEN: PWURE is a high-end nutrition solution made by athletes, for athletes. It uses a data-driven process to create a custom mix tailored to your activity level. It looks good, tastes good, and makes you feel good. The price is premium, but so is the product. If you want a formula tailored to your activity level without having to any of the work or research yourself, this is your easy button.