Rewiring Nicotine for Athletes: Inside Athletic Nicotine with Founder Jason Winn
For decades, “nicotine” has meant one thing: tobacco.
Gas stations. Warning labels. Shame behind the counter.
But in locker rooms and high-performance environments, there’s always been a quieter truth: a lot of elite athletes already use nicotine as a tool to lock in, calm nerves, and stay sharp during long days, film sessions, and big moments.
Jason Winn is trying to drag that conversation into the light.
He’s the co-founder of Athletic Nicotine, a low-dose, slow-release, tobacco-free nicotine pouch built specifically as a performance tool — not a quit aid, and not a gas-station vice.
And he’s on a mission to destigmatize nicotine for responsible adult use while setting a new standard for quality, transparency, and testing.
“Some of the best-trained athletes in the world were sneaking off to use this thing that actually helped them perform — but everything about the branding told them they had a ‘problem.’ That felt broken to me.” – Jason Winn
What Is Athletic Nicotine?
Athletic Nicotine is a tobacco-free, low-dose nicotine pouch designed for:
- Cognitive lift without the “rip your head off” spike
- Slow-release clarity instead of a hard hit and crash
- Adult, performance-focused use – not flavored candy
Key details from Jason:
- Low-dose first:
Pouches come in 1.5 mg (lowest on the market) and 3 mg, with a 6 mg option coming primarily to help heavy users step down from things like dip or high-dose pouches. The philosophy is simple: less is more. - Slow-release design:
Instead of a massive jolt, the formula is engineered for a smoother, more gradual lift — the feel Brooks and founders in your world are chasing when they say “clean energy.” - Tobacco-free, quality-focused:
Athletic Nicotine uses pharmaceutical-grade nicotine and leans into adult flavors like Cinnamon and Wintergreen, with a coffee flavor in the works. No candy-style flavors. No kid-facing aesthetic. - Tested for athletes:
The product is Informed Sport / WADA-tested for banned substances, making it one of the only nicotine products positioned for drug-tested athletes who care about what’s in their system.
Jason is clear: this is not for kids, and not something he’s pushing on anyone. It’s a cleaner, more transparent option for adults who are already using nicotine — especially those trying to move away from tobacco, vapes, or sketchy gas-station pouches.
Destigmatizing Nicotine (Without Sugarcoating It)
Say “nicotine,” and most people still picture cigarettes.
Jason’s goal isn’t to pretend that history doesn’t exist — it’s to separate nicotine from tobacco in the cultural conversation.
In his words, nicotine has been:
- Demonized because of its association with combustible tobacco
- Quietly used in sports for decades as a tool for focus and composure
- Poorly served by products that treat users like addicts instead of high-performers
Walk into a gas station today and most options are branded around quitting or shame: “stop this bad habit.” Meanwhile, some of the most dialed-in athletes in the world are still sneaking pouches or tins out of their locker like teenagers.
Jason’s take:
- Nicotine can be powerful, so it deserves respect.
- It should be for adults only, with crystal-clear age gating.
- And if you’re going to use it, you deserve a product that’s tested, transparent, and actually aligns with a performance lifestyle.
He’s also careful not to over-hype it. He points people to existing research and neuroscientists who have talked publicly about nicotine’s impact on alertness, focus, and anxiety — and lets the science speak for itself.
From Bonk Breaker to a New Category
This isn’t Jason’s first time building in the performance world.
Before Athletic Nicotine, he founded Bonk Breaker, a sports nutrition brand that started with a peanut butter & jelly energy bar out of his apartment kitchen. Over time, Bonk Breaker:
- Became a staple at endurance events
- Expanded into energy chews and electrolytes
- Grew into one of the more recognized fueling brands across NCAA, collegiate programs, and NFL environments
That journey led him deep into:
- Sports nutrition formulation
- Working with top performance dietitians
- Understanding what athletes actually use — not just what shows up on marketing decks
He also lived the athlete journey himself:
- College QB at Texas Tech
- Transitioned into triathlon and Ironman
- Logging endurance miles while watching what athletes really reached for when no cameras were around
That’s where the idea clicked.
He kept seeing the same pattern:
- Elite athletes, trainers, and staff quietly using nicotine to stay sharp
- Hiding cans, checking over shoulders, tucking them away mid-session
- Using products that felt misaligned with their lifestyle and values
In his words: “There was clearly a branding and product misalignment. We needed something that matched the reality of how high-performers actually live.”
Building the Right Team (And Doing It the Right Way)
Jason co-founded Athletic Nicotine with:
- Chris Motley – his brother-in-law and close friend, a creative who used nicotine more for flow and creativity
- Dan Victor – a former college athlete who owns the production facility and brings deep expertise in manufacturing and supply chain
Jason’s biggest lesson from Bonk Breaker?
“Partners are everything. Ideas are cheap. Getting through the turbulence with people you truly trust is the whole game.”
The three of them aligned on a few non-negotiables:
- Adults only. No marketing to kids. No kid-coded branding. No gaming the line.
- Transparency. Third-party testing, clear dosing, and slow-release design.
- Principles over promos. No aggressive discounting to push usage. The brand is there if and when an adult athlete chooses to reach for it.
They also know what they’re up against:
- Big tobacco legacy
- Heavy regulation
- Massive lobbying power in the nicotine, alcohol, and oil categories
But they see an opening at the performance edge of culture — where athletes, creatives, and founders are already using tools like caffeine, creatine, ketones, and nootropics to manage their state and sharpen their output.
Athletic Nicotine is their attempt to clean up and reframe one of the most misunderstood tools in that stack.
Jason’s Flow Stack
When he’s not building the brand, Jason keeps his own flow stack surprisingly simple — and very “real life” dad-founder energy:
Supplements & Inputs
- Caffeine / Coffee – foundation layer (often paired with Laird Superfood, backed by his long-time friendship with Laird & Gabby)
- Creatine – a core performance staple
- Athletic Nicotine – low-dose pouches (Cinnamon and Wintergreen) used:
- Before Zoom calls
- Before workouts
- As an afternoon pick-me-up
- Even at night in low dose to “take the edge off” and calm his mind
Training & Movement
- Daily trail runs with his two Aussie Shepherds
- Single-speed climb up a local mountain road – 45 minutes up, 45 minutes down as “active meditation”
- Lifting 2x/week with a regular group
- Pool sessions at Laird Hamilton’s house when youth sports and life allow
- Rucking with a GoRuck pack on trail sessions for added resistance and a faster route to runner’s high
Recovery & Modalities
- Hot/cold exposure (sauna + cold plunge) when he’s at Laird’s
- Morning sunlight exposure every day to wake the system up and sync circadian rhythm
- “No tech” approach to wearables – he prefers to go by feel, not by his watch telling him how he slept
Family & Life
- Three kids:
- Two daughters deep into competitive dance (“the most I’ve ever seen anyone train”)
- A son juggling club soccer, club baseball, and now flag football
The through line: simple tools, consistent movement, and a mindset built on curiosity, community, and long-game health.
Where to Find Athletic Nicotine
For adult athletes and high-performers already using nicotine — or trying to step away from heavy tobacco and high-dose vapes — Jason’s building a cleaner lane that actually respects the lifestyle.
The Playbook Take:
If caffeine is the morning meeting, nicotine is the closed-door focus session. Athletic Nicotine isn’t trying to convince the world to start — it’s trying to give the people already in the game a cleaner, lower-dose, performance-aligned option with fewer secrets and more standards.
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