For the longest time, Greg Gallagher was anti-supplements. In fact that was often the pitch towards buying Kinobody programs – “supplements suck, follow this program, get jacked, and save money”.
Now, that appears to have changed with the introduction of his very own pre workout, Kino Octane.
While we would love to bash on Greg, he really didn’t do either. Yes he is making more money now by selling supplements, which may seem like an evil thing on the surface; but let’s face it…
- The majority of people want to take a supplement to make getting into shape easier.
- The average person isn’t mentally strong enough to make it through Greg’s Kinobody program.
If making Kino Octane helps with either of these, then Greg did the right thing and is a straight shooter in our book. Plus the formula isn’t too bad for a keto friendly pre workout as you’ll see below.
Related: The Top 10 Pre Workouts for Women [ 2021 Update ]
Our Experience Taking Kino Octane
Taste
We reviewed the Lemonade flavor of Kino Octane and to begin the experience it smelled good but didn’t taste that great. The best way to describe it, is it had that blandness that you experience when eating a grapefruit. That, paired with a little raw ginger nails the taste on the head.
It wasn’t a crazy strong taste, rather a very mind distaste. Nothing to like, but nothing to complain home about.
Note: Kino Octane is sugar free and doesn’t contain any carbs or artificial flavoring, this is why it has a bland taste.
Kick-In
For a pre workout that only contains 150 mg of caffeine, it kicks in pretty fast and feels more like a 225 mg experience. Within 15 minutes you’ll be feeling energy and mental clarity. A good feeling sensation.
Endurance
Kino Octane doesn’t last for crazy hours like some other pre workouts do, but the experience is very clean and as it tapers down, it does so gracefully. Kino Octane isn’t going to make you crash out, if anything, it’s one of the rare few pre workouts that you can take a second serving of hours later and keep on going.
Strength Effects
I really didn’t notice any strength gains with Kino Octane, but I felt great while taking it. More of an endurance + mood booster for sure. Will you experience strength increases? You totally could. I’m likely WAY more used to pre workouts than you are.
Kino Octane versus Other Pre Workouts
For a Ketogenic diet friendly pre workout, Kino Octane is at the top of its game. Nothing else is going to be as clean cut.
For keto pre workouts: The only competitor would be ThenX Ignite, which is a bigger energy kick and tastes good.
Comparing Kino Octane to all pre workouts, it’s definitely in the upper 80% for those who care about active ingredients (plus avoiding synthetic non-active ingredients).
Think of Kino Octane like a guilt free C4 that’s going to give you way better pump but not taste as good.
The Ingredients in Kino Octane
L-Citrulline is a power nitric oxide promotor. Old science used to tout l-arginine as the ultimate nitric oxide booster, since it precedes nitric oxide production directly. However, upon oral ingestion the majority of L-arginine in supplemental form will never make it past the gut. L-Citrulline on the other hand bypasses this enzymatic death camp and upon entering the blood stream transitions to l-arginine where NO can then be produced after slight delay.
6,000 is a hefty dose. Honestly we’d prefer L-Citrulline DL-malate over L-Citrulline – but no denying it works well in Kino Octane.
Eleutherococcus 300 mg
Also known as Siberian ginseng, this ingredient has a potent effect on mood and endurance. Pairs well with caffeine.
Natural Caffeine 150 mg
Interestingly enough, the pre workout Pre-Kaged by Kaged Nutrition contains natural caffeine like Kino Octane, 6 grams of straight L-Citrulline like octane, and a laundry list of other ingredients… However that stuff gives me a crazy headache every single time!
Kino Body on the other hand cuts the caffeine in half, delivering a more direct and clean experience.
L-Theanine 100 mg
Simply put, pre workouts with L-theanine accompanying caffeine are always better. Kino Octane provides 100 mg l-theanine per every 150 mg caffeine. Ideally, it’d be 2:1 l-theanine:caffeine… But we’ll take it!
Fluff Ingredients – Thiamine, Biotin, Sodium, Potassium 250 mg
These other ingredients are so dirt cheap that we really don’t consider them valid. With or without, nothing really changes.
Final Verdict: Should you try it?
Overall, Kino Octane is a bit of a wonder in unto itself. Basically its 4 main ingredients, super freaking cheap to manufacture, yet – its good stuff.
- Yes, it could taste better.
- Yes, it could use citrulline malate.
- Yes, it could offer 30 servings instead of a lazy 21.
So should you buy it? Unless you are spoiled by top rated pre workouts, then you’re going to really enjoy Kino Octane. Likewise, if you are on the keto diet, then you are kind of stuck with it. We rate it an 8/10 overall and just wish there were more servings per container because the price per gram is off the chain expensive…
