Zero stimulants. Ten grams of citrulline. Apollon Diet Naked Knuckle V6 sits on the analysis ceiling on practically each ingredient, plus 508mg VasoDrive-AP for a pump pathway most non-stims skip.
Apollon Diet Naked Knuckle V6 is the most recent model of the model’s totally disclosed, stimulant-free pre-workout, constructed to take a seat alongside Hooligan, Apollon Diet’s flagship high-stimulant pre-workout, for lifters who need the pumps and focus with out the jitters. The place Hooligan leans on a heavy caffeine stack (and extra), Naked Knuckle V6 skips stimulants solely and leans as an alternative on huge doses of pump, focus, and endurance substances.
Apollon Diet has constructed its repute within the hardcore coaching house on scientific dosing and totally clear labels, a narrative founder Robert Samborsky walked by intimately on our podcast protecting Apollon Diet’s origin story, Hooligan, and its 2026 roadmap. Naked Knuckle V6 continues that method with zero proprietary blends and nil fillers, an vital element in a stim-free class the place “stim-free” usually finally ends up which means underdosed.
Naked Knuckle V6 ships in a half scoop (20.5g) or full scoop (41g) serving, good for 40 or 20 servings per tub, and is at the moment accessible in flavors together with Grape, Pineapple Blackout Margarita, and Strawberry Margarita.
Model copy for V6 frames it as a push previous what “the unique” Naked Knuckle supplied, with heavier doses throughout the board. What’s on this V6 label stands by itself no matter what got here earlier than it, and we’ll stroll by it ingredient by ingredient beneath. First, join our Apollon information alerts, after which let’s dive in:
Every full scoop (41g) serving gives the next (a half scoop gives half these quantities):
L-Citrulline – 10,000mg
L-Citrulline is a non-essential amino acid finest identified in pre-workout formulation for its function within the nitric oxide pathway. Not like arginine, which the liver and intestine break down closely earlier than it reaches circulation, citrulline passes by untouched and will get transformed to arginine primarily within the kidneys, making it a extra environment friendly strategy to elevate plasma arginine ranges and help nitric oxide manufacturing.[1] That pathway is the premise for citrulline’s repute round pumps and vascularity.
The efficiency analysis is smaller in magnitude than the advertising and marketing constructed round it. A scientific assessment and meta-analysis restricted to acute doses of no less than 3g discovered a small however statistically vital profit for energy and energy efficiency.[2] Naked Knuckle V6’s 10,000mg full-scoop dose sits properly above that 3g threshold and above the 6g to 8g vary utilized in many of the citrulline malate literature particularly, although remoted L-citrulline and citrulline malate aren’t all the time interchangeable gram for gram within the analysis. However there’s much more to this:
Why 10 Grams Is the Go-To Ceiling
Naked Knuckle V6’s 10,000mg full-scoop dose strains up with a particular information level within the citrulline analysis, not only a spherical quantity picked for the label.
A dose-ranging pharmacokinetic research gave eight wholesome males single a great deal of 2g, 5g, 10g, and 15g of citrulline and tracked plasma arginine over the following eight hours. Arginine’s space beneath the curve, the usual measure of whole publicity, rose in a roughly linear sample by the 10g dose. At 15g, that sample broke: renal conversion of citrulline into arginine appeared to saturate, so citrulline constructed up within the blood as an alternative of constant to transform as effectively.[3] A later assessment of the citrulline literature cited this identical saturation level in concluding that the maximal efficient dose sits at roughly 10g per day, with the minimal efficient dose as little as 3g.[1] Previous that time, added citrulline runs into the legislation of diminishing returns: every additional gram provides value and intestine quantity with out a proportional achieve in arginine supply. At 10,000mg, Naked Knuckle V6’s full scoop sits proper at that research-backed threshold as an alternative of previous it. Excellent.
Beta Alanine – 6,400mg
Beta Alanine is the rate-limiting precursor to carnosine, a dipeptide saved in skeletal muscle that buffers the hydrogen ions produced throughout onerous anaerobic efforts. As a result of carnosine itself is not effectively absorbed from meals, beta alanine supplementation is the usual strategy to elevate its ranges.[4]
The clearest efficiency profit exhibits up in efforts lasting roughly 30 seconds to 10 minutes, the vary the place acid buildup is the limiting issue. A 2017 systematic assessment and meta-analysis of 40 research discovered a big general impact, with capacity-to-exhaustion exams responding greater than fixed-distance time trials.[5]
Why 6.4 grams wins, in the event you can deal with the tingles
The 6,400mg full-scoop dose right here sits on the high of the Worldwide Society of Sports activities Diet’s really useful 4g to 6g each day vary.[4] Loading takes about 4 weeks of constant use to achieve its full impact, so the profit builds over time slightly than displaying up in a single session. The well-known tingling sensation some folks really feel (paresthesia) is innocent and dose-dependent, and splitting doses reduces it… however that is probably not the Apollon means now, is it?
A handful of research used this precise 6.4g dose, and so they make a powerful case for going this excessive as an alternative of the extra widespread 3.2g. The unique beta-alanine dose-response trial discovered 6.4g per day for 4 weeks raised muscle carnosine by 64.2%, versus 42.1% at 3.2g.[6] That 6.4g consequence practically matched the 65.8% enhance from ingesting an isomolar dose of carnosine immediately, suggesting oral beta-alanine is not leaving a lot on the desk at this dose. A 2024 meta-analysis backs up that dose-response sample, discovering 5.6g to six.4g per day produced a considerably bigger impact on maximal-intensity train efficiency than decrease doses.[7]
The case holds up exterior the lab, too. An 8-week trial in elite male basketball gamers utilizing this identical 6.4g dose discovered a big bounce in anaerobic peak energy together with reductions in C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), inflammatory markers that are likely to climb over a demanding in-season coaching block.[8] A separate 6.4g trial discovered a 13.2% enchancment in isometric knee-extensor maintain time, the sort of sustained-effort profit that strains up with Naked Knuckle V6’s personal positioning round energy and endurance work.[9]
So if anybody’s questioning or asking if the additional tingles are price it… have a look at the above two paragraphs and resolve for your self. We all know that true Apollon customers say sure.
L-Tyrosine – 6,000mg
L-Tyrosine is the amino acid precursor to dopamine and norepinephrine, the catecholamines tied to alertness and drive. The physique’s synthesis of those neurotransmitters is not totally saturated with tyrosine at baseline, so supplementation primarily helps when catecholamine demand rises, akin to throughout a tough coaching session, slightly than at relaxation.[10] That stress-dependent sample is why tyrosine exhibits up in non-stimulant formulation constructed round focus and drive with out caffeine.
A scientific assessment of dietary dietary supplements for cognitive efficiency in wholesome younger adults and navy personnel discovered tyrosine improved outcomes beneath situations of sleep deprivation and bodily stress particularly, although the authors rated a lot of the underlying analysis as inconsistent in high quality.[11]
Most analysis protocols land someplace between 2g and 10g-plus relying on physique weight, however most pre-workout dietary supplements cease at 2g. Naked Knuckle V6’s 6,000mg full-scoop dose sits comfortably above the common, and inside that analysis window.
Betaine Anhydrous – 5,000mg
Betaine Anhydrous, often known as trimethylglycine, is finest often called a methyl donor that feeds into the physique’s creatine and cell-hydration pathways, and as an osmolyte that helps cells and enzymes maintain up beneath bodily stress.
A 2024 systematic assessment and meta-analysis of 17 research discovered betaine supplementation produced a big enchancment in maximal muscular energy, an impact pushed principally by lower-body actions.[12] In younger athletes, a 14-day crossover trial utilizing 2,500mg each day discovered betaine improved whole repetitions accomplished at 80% of 1-rep max whereas decreasing post-exercise lactate and cortisol.[13]
Why 5 Grams, Not 2.5 Grams
Many of the betaine analysis above lands at 2 to 2.5 grams each day as a result of that is the vary most trials have chosen to check, not essentially the place betaine’s results run out. A pair of companion research out of the College of Connecticut’s Human Efficiency Laboratory pushed straight to five,000mg, delivered as a single pre-exercise dose in a liter of rehydration fluid earlier than 75 minutes of treadmill working and a efficiency dash in a 31°C setting. That trial discovered betaine shifted plasma quantity, oxygen consumption, and lactate through the dash, with a non-significant pattern towards an extended time to exhaustion.[14]
A companion evaluation utilizing the identical runners and protocol tracked how that very same 5g dose moved homocysteine, lipid, and glucose markers over the train bout.[15]
The Armstrong researchers famous their protocol examined a single acute dose slightly than repeated each day loading, and pointed to creatine as a cause a bigger dose may nonetheless be wanted to construct a measurable efficiency edge over time. That undoubtedly applies right here, since a pre-workout will get used acutely, but in addition session after session, a combination of each a loading protocol and a one-off. Betaine additionally runs on two dose-dependent programs, an osmolyte impact that wants sufficient intracellular buildup to carry cell quantity, and a job feeding BHMT for homocysteine clearance. A full 5,000mg scoop provides each extra to work with than the two.5g most different formulation accept.
Arginine Nitrate (as NO3-T®) – 4,200mg
Within the podcast with Robert Samborsky, he defined how he was going huge with this ingredient, and right here it’s!
Arginine Nitrate, patented and bought beneath the model identify NO3-T®, pairs the amino acid arginine with a nitrate salt, giving the physique two separate routes towards nitric oxide manufacturing: the basic arginine-to-NO enzymatic pathway, and the nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway that does not require an enzyme in any respect.
Most human analysis on dietary nitrate comes from beetroot juice and nitrate salts slightly than this particular arginine-bound type, however the findings are nonetheless related to how the nitrate portion of this ingredient works. A 2025 umbrella assessment protecting 20 separate meta-analyses concluded dietary nitrate supplementation advantages a number of domains of train efficiency.[16] A story assessment of that literature experiences efficient doses cluster round 300mg to 1,041mg of nitrate taken two to a few hours earlier than train.[17]
As you possibly can see, the compound dose here’s a substantial one – you are getting a stable quantity of arginine and an amazing quantity of nitrate right here!
Taurine – 3,000mg
Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid plentiful in skeletal muscle, the place it helps calcium dealing with, mitochondrial operate, and antioxidant protection.
A 2025 meta-analytic assessment of 23 randomized trials discovered acute taurine supplementation produced a small-to-moderate enchancment in train efficiency throughout cardio endurance, energy and energy, and agility duties, with no clear dose-response relationship contained in the generally studied 1g to 6g vary.[18] A broader assessment of taurine’s cardiometabolic and security profile locations the noticed protected stage for wholesome adults at 3g per day, based mostly on the accessible scientific trial information.[19] As anticipated at this level, Naked Knuckle V6’s 3,000mg full-scoop dose sits proper at that ceiling, so anybody stacking extra taurine from different sources, like power drinks or different dietary supplements, on high of a full scoop ought to maintain the mixed whole in thoughts.
Alpha GPC 50% (as GPCgold™) – 800mg
Alpha GPC, standardized right here to 50% as GPCgold™, is a choline compound that crosses into the mind and is a direct constructing block for acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter tied to focus and the mind-muscle connection. At 800mg of the 50% materials, this dose delivers roughly 400mg of lively alpha-GPC.
A randomized, double-blind, crossover research in resistance-trained males discovered that each 630mg and 315mg doses of alpha-GPC improved Stroop take a look at efficiency and response time in comparison with placebo, measured about three hours after a resistance coaching session.[20] That vary brackets the roughly 400mg of lively alpha-GPC delivered right here. A broader assessment of choline dietary supplements notes alpha-GPC’s phospholipid construction makes it extra bioavailable than choline salts like choline bitartrate.[21] Unsurprisingly, it is one other massive dose, past the 600mg we usually see.
Vaso-Drive AP® (Casein Hydrolysate) – 508mg
Vaso-Drive AP® is the place Naked Knuckle V6 breaks from the standard non-stim pump playbook. Most stim-free pump substances, like citrulline, arginine, and dietary nitrates, work by nitric oxide manufacturing. Vaso-Drive AP works by a distinct mechanism solely: it is a casein-derived hydrolysate standardized for 2 milk-derived tripeptides, Val-Professional-Professional (VPP) and Ile-Professional-Professional (IPP), that inhibit angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), the identical enzyme pharmaceutical ACE-inhibitor blood strain drugs goal.
Peptides are having a second in sports activities diet. VasoDrive-AP® did not arrive with the wave. It has been a clinically studied cardiovascular ingredient for 30 years, and a brand new 2026 research lastly exams it for muscle pump in lifters.
This ingredient is provided by Maypro, a PricePlow ingredient companion, and it is price spending additional time on given how a lot scientific historical past these tripeptides carry. PricePlow coated the ingredient’s full analysis historical past and mechanism in a devoted deep dive if you would like the entire image.
The analysis base goes again practically twenty years and facilities on cardiovascular and vascular endpoints. A randomized, double-blind trial in sufferers with high-normal blood strain or first-degree hypertension discovered a 6-week course of those lactotripeptides considerably lowered workplace systolic blood strain and improved pulse wave velocity, a marker of arterial stiffness.[22] A separate randomized trial in hypertensive topics discovered the identical VPP/IPP mixture improved central blood strain and lowered arterial stiffness over an 8-week intervention.[23] A crossover trial in males with gentle hypertension discovered the identical tripeptides improved vascular endothelial operate, measured through reactive hyperemia within the forearm, impartial of any blood-pressure-lowering impact.[24]
Nearer to how this product truly will get used, a 2026 placebo-controlled research in resistance-trained males examined high and low doses of those tripeptides immediately in opposition to muscle pump and hypertrophy markers. The high-dose group noticed considerably larger pre-exercise thigh circumference and lean physique mass versus baseline, plus a considerably larger enhance in post-exercise thigh circumference versus placebo, whereas the low-dose group reported considerably higher subjective pump scores.[25] That is a direct line from this ingredient’s vascular analysis to the pump and training-motivation claims a pre-workout formulation truly makes.
Many of the scientific trials behind these results used VPP and IPP within the low single-digit milligram vary, since that is how potent the remoted tripeptides are relative to the total casein hydrolysate they’re extracted from. The doses equate to 254mg of precise VasoDrive-AP on the low-end, and 508mg on the excessive finish. As you possibly can inform, Apollon Diet did what they do – they went huge.
At this level, it’s a must to imagine that this formulation goes to provide otherworldly pumps.
Himalayan Pink Salt – 500mg
Himalayan Pink Salt provides the majority of this formulation’s sodium (200mg, 9% DV per full scoop) together with a small quantity of potassium (50mg). Sodium is the first electrolyte misplaced in sweat, and it does greater than change losses: it sustains the drive to maintain ingesting and helps the physique retain fluid slightly than dropping it straight again out by urine.[26]
Apollon Diet Time beyond regulation V6 is right here, and it does not pull punches. The rebuilt formulation runs a dual-PEA stack (ThinFen + NeuroPEA), 700mg theobromine, and ~500mg caffeine. Noopept’s gone. Begin at 4 caps, as a result of this one will get you wired.
Sweat sodium losses fluctuate enormously between people, from roughly 15 to 99 mEq/L in a single research {of professional} soccer gamers, which is a part of why the Nationwide Athletic Trainers’ Affiliation recommends including sodium chloride to fluid substitute within the 0.3 to 0.7 gram-per-liter vary for longer or hotter periods, slightly than one fastened quantity for everybody.[27] The 200mg of sodium in a full scoop is a modest contribution towards that vary, finest considered a complement to fluid and meals consumption slightly than a substitute for it, particularly on longer or hotter coaching days.
Grape Seed Extract (Vitis vinifera) (Seed) – 400mg
Grape Seed Extract is a concentrated supply of proanthocyanidins, polyphenol compounds that activate the identical endothelial nitric oxide pathway focused by this formulation’s different pump substances, whereas additionally offering antioxidant help.
In a 14-day crossover research, elite collegiate basketball gamers taking 300mg of grape seed extract each day confirmed considerably decrease submaximal oxygen consumption and longer time to exhaustion in comparison with placebo, alongside a roughly 22% enhance in flow-mediated dilation, a marker of blood vessel operate.[28] In prehypertensive males, a single 300mg dose blunted the rise in blood strain throughout biking and improved flow-mediated dilation by about 6 proportion factors versus placebo.[29] Each research used doses near the 400mg present in a full scoop of Naked Knuckle V6… one other knockout dose.
AstraGin® [Panax notoginseng (Root) and Astragalus membranaceus (Root)] – 50mg
AstraGin®, made by NuLiv Science, is a standardized mix of Astragalus membranaceus and Panax notoginseng root extracts included right here in a supporting function, to assist the physique take up extra of the aminos and different actives sitting alongside it. PricePlow’s podcast dialog with NuLiv Science covers the ingredient’s broader analysis portfolio in additional element.
In a randomized, double-blind, crossover trial in wholesome adults, 50mg of this extract taken alongside 5g of L-arginine elevated arginine’s space beneath the curve by 17.3% and boosted the arginine-to-ADMA ratio, a marker tied to nitric oxide availability, by 167% in comparison with placebo.[30] Given how a lot of this formulation leans on arginine-related pathways between the citrulline and arginine nitrate, that absorption increase is immediately related right here. The 50mg dose utilized in that trial matches the full-scoop quantity in Naked Knuckle V6.
Huperzine A – 400mcg
Most collagen dietary supplements cease at one ingredient. Apollon Diet Collagen stacks 5 round a 15g marine base, protecting exogenous provide, endogenous manufacturing, enzymatic safety, and joint help in a single scoop.
Huperzine A is a plant-derived alkaloid that inhibits acetylcholinesterase, the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine, the identical focus-and-mind-muscle-connection neurotransmitter that Alpha GPC feeds into from the availability aspect. By slowing acetylcholine’s breakdown, huperzine A works from the opposite finish of the identical pathway.
In rodent research, oral huperzine A dose-dependently raised acetylcholine ranges within the frontal cortex and hippocampus, with results lasting a number of hours, and produced a comparable rise in cortical acetylcholine to donepezil, a prescription acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, at roughly one-eleventh the dose.[31] In vitro comparisons put huperzine A at roughly 8 instances stronger than donepezil and 64 instances stronger than tacrine at inhibiting this enzyme.[32] The 400mcg dose here’s a widespread serving dimension within the sports activities diet house, properly beneath the multi-hundred-microgram, twice-daily protocols utilized in most scientific analysis on cognitive populations, since this formulation is constructed for a single pre-training dose slightly than a therapeutic routine.
Severely, what extra is there to say right here? If you cannot get a pump with this, then you could must verify your potassium ranges — that is the one factor remaining that may very well be slowing you down.
Naked Knuckle V6 is obtainable throughout Apollon Diet’s taste lineup, together with Grape, Pineapple Blackout Margarita, and Strawberry Margarita.
Apollon Diet is again with CreaSmash — the primary complement that includes CreaSol SSAT! Analysis exhibits 28% larger energy positive aspects and 51% higher endurance vs creatine alone. In the event you’re severe about your coaching, this may very well be the creatine improve you’ve got been ready for.
You would legitimately make this tub final practically two months. However in the event you’re the Apollon sort athlete, a month is the place the candy spot is at.
Robert “Robik” Samborsky, founding father of Apollon Diet and proprietor of the legendary Apollon Fitness center in Edison, NJ, shares his full origin story from Soviet-era Ukraine by Muay Thai title fights in Thailand to constructing one of the crucial trusted hardcore complement manufacturers within the trade on Episode #211 of the PricePlow Podcast.
Insane. Completely insane formulation right here.
Naked Knuckle V6 is Apollon Diet’s reply to a stim-free class that is usually underdosed. Each ingredient right here exhibits up at a serving dimension that matches or exceeds what’s sometimes used within the analysis behind it, from a ten,000mg full-scoop dose of citrulline right down to Vaso-Drive AP®’s decades-deep vascular analysis base.
It is also a nitrate dose we have by no means seen earlier than. Robik warned us it was approaching our podcast, and he delivered.
The formulation stays true to Apollon Diet’s customary method: no proprietary blends, no fillers, and doses printed in full on the label. That transparency issues most in a class the place “stim-free” usually turns into shorthand for underdosed.
Examine PricePlow for present Naked Knuckle V6 pricing and availability throughout flavors, and join Apollon Diet model alerts to catch no matter’s subsequent for Hooligan and the remainder of the lineup as quickly because it publishes.
