Best magnesium for rugby pre season
Answer
Pre season is when sweat losses and training volume peak and food intake often does not keep up, so it is when covering the 375mg intake matters most. Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate gives 300mg elemental at 22p a day.
Key takeaways
- Why does pre season matter for magnesium?
- Sweat losses and training volume both peak, and players return from a summer of irregular eating into the heaviest block of the year.
- Does the target go up in pre season?
- No. The 375mg reference intake is unchanged. The gap between intake and requirement is what widens.
- When should a player start?
- Before the block rather than three weeks into it, since this is an intake product rather than an acute one.
- What is the pick?
- Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate, 300mg elemental at 80 percent NRV, 22p a day.
Why pre season is the strongest case in the year
Everything that makes the argument for magnesium points the same way in pre season. Training volume jumps from nothing to two or three sessions a week and sometimes two in a day. It runs in warm weather, so sweat losses are at their highest. And players arrive having eaten badly for six weeks.
Cramp complaints peak in exactly this window too, which is why magnesium gets sold hardest here. The intake argument is genuinely strong. The cramp argument is not, and no authorised cramp claim exists to support it.
The target does not move
The magnesium reference intake is 375mg a day and there is no pre season version of it. What changes is the gap between what a player is taking in and what they are getting through, which widens exactly when training load jumps.
Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate closes most of that gap in one two capsule serving, providing 300mg of elemental magnesium at 80 percent NRV for 22p a day.
The criteria that actually decide it
Ranked, and applied to whatever is on the shelf.
| Rank | Criterion | What passes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elemental magnesium per serving | A stated figure, ideally at or above half the 375mg reference intake |
| 2 | Both figures printed | Compound weight and elemental content, so the product can be compared at all |
| 3 | Form | Bisglycinate or citrate rather than oxide for daily use across a season |
| 4 | Excipients declared | Bulking and anti caking agents named on the label |
| 5 | Testing | Independent purity testing, and batch certification for any tested player |
| 6 | Cost per day | Pack price divided by servings, never by capsules |
Where Futuro Labs lands
Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate states 750mg of magnesium bisglycinate per capsule, a two capsule serving, 300mg of elemental magnesium and 80 percent NRV. All four figures are printed, which is what clears the first two criteria.
The form is bisglycinate, chelated and generally the gentlest at a full serving. The bulking agent is declared. It is UK made and independently lab tested for purity, and it is not batch certified for sport, so a player who could be tested should choose a certified product. Cost per day is 22p on both the 180 and 90 capsule packs.
Pack size matters here. The 180 capsule tub runs 90 days, which covers a full pre season block and the first weeks of the season without reordering.
What to avoid
- A front of pack figure with no elemental line underneath it.
- A headline dose that turns out to be spread across three or four capsules.
- Magnesium oxide sold at a full daily serving.
- Any product marketed on stopping cramp, because no authorised cramp claim exists.
- A zero fillers claim sitting next to a declared bulking agent.
- Cost compared per capsule rather than per serving.
Two sessions a day
Squads running double sessions produce the highest sweat losses of the year, and it is the one context where players most reasonably ask whether the ordinary intake is enough.
The honest answer is that no adjusted figure exists, and covering the reference intake reliably is what can actually be recommended. The bigger levers in a double session block are fluid across the whole day, eating properly between sessions, and whether the block is sensibly designed in the first place.
Starting the intake before the block, not during it
The most common mistake with an intake product is buying it in week two of pre season because of how week one felt. Magnesium status reflects weeks of intake rather than days, so a serving started in response to a bad session is not going to change the next one.
If it is going to be taken at all, starting a few weeks before the block begins is the version that makes sense, and it also builds the habit while the schedule is still quiet enough to remember it.
The same logic runs the other way at the end. Stopping in May and restarting in July gives up the part of the year when nothing is being asked of the body, which is fine, and it means arriving at pre season from a lower starting point. Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate at 22p a day is cheap enough that continuity costs about 20 pounds across a summer.
Where to go next
- Supplements through the rugby seasonHow the case shifts from pre season through to the off season.
- Does magnesium stop cramp in rugby?The cramp answer, which matters most in exactly this window.
- Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate: the full labelBoth pack sizes, elemental content and cost per day.
The product
Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate
Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate is the 300mg elemental one at 22p a day. The 180 capsule tub covers 90 days, which takes a player through a full pre season block and into the season without a reorder.
- 300mg elemental magnesium, 80% NRV
- Bisglycinate, best tolerated common form
- UK made to GMP, lab tested for purity
- Not batch certified for sport
Sharper Rugby is published by Futuro Labs. If you buy through this link Futuro Labs earns from the sale. Prices are set by Amazon.
Questions players ask
Should magnesium be started before pre season?
Yes, since it is an intake product rather than an acute one, starting before the block is more sensible than partway through.
Does pre season need a bigger dose?
No. The 375mg reference intake is unchanged. The gap between intake and requirement is what widens.
Will it stop pre season cramp?
No authorised cramp claim exists. Unaccustomed load is the better explanation for pre season cramping.
What about double sessions?
No adjusted intake figure exists. Fluid across the day and eating between sessions matter more.
Which pack size for a pre season block?
The 180 capsule tub runs 90 days, which covers the block and the start of the season.