Do you love working out? If your answer is a resounding yes, you are probably here because your body is not conditioned to meet the demands of your workout session. There are many different things you can do to improve the status of your workouts, one being supplementing with a pre-workout powder.
Often times pre-workouts are used to increase energy for a workout, but they carry a variety of other benefits as well. Today, we are going to discuss pre-workout supplements. We’ll dive into how it works, the benefits of pre-workout, the potential side effects, and some top pre-workout choices.
What Is A Pre-Workout?
As the name implies, pre-workout supplements are drinks, mix, or substances in any form intended to be taken just before your workout.T he general purpose of pre-workout supplements is to heighten your senses, energy, mind, and body for the upcoming activity or performance.
While this is their most popular feature, they actually have a range of benefits depending on the ingredients. Often times these supplements can also include things like amino acids, or digestive enzymes that can be beneficial in their own ways.
Of course, after hearing, you might be wondering how they work. So, how do these supplements work?
How Do Pre-Workouts Work?
Pre-workout supplements work by increasing your exercise performance, mental awareness, endurance, strength, and other bodily functions by exposing you to high levels of caffeine.
These supplements increase blood flow in the muscles during intense workout sessions. They target the systems of the body like the central nervous system to enhance brain function to help you be more productive and efficient in your workout.
Depending on the type of supplement, they can work in different ways, within your body. For instance, if your preowrkout contains creatine, which increases energy production in muscle cells, you will see an increase in performance and strength. We will dive into the common ingredients and their possible benefits that pre-workouts usually include below.
Benefits Of Pre-Workout
The most common objective of taking pre-workout supplements is to stimulate the quality of your workouts. To accomplish this, it depends on the ingredients found in the supplement of your liking.
The crafting of the supplement, from its very inception, to its ingredients will determine how effective your training sessions can be. While companies producing these supplements argue that their product is unique, they tend to have more in common than not. Most supplements include one thing as their base ingredient that boosts energy for a workout – caffeine.
This caffeine is included to increase the energy levels, in combination with other substances, to make your body ready to handle the demands of your workout.
In order to truly break down the various benefits of a pre-workout supplement, it’s important to dive into each ingredient and detail each specific benefit of each.
Pre-Workout Main Ingredients
While there are a plethora of ingredients that are commonly used in pre-workouts, we are going to cover the top five here. These ingredients alone have a variety of benefits, but when working together, they can really increase the intensity of your workout.
1. Caffeine
Caffeine, an ingredient primarily known for it’s involvement in coffee, is typically the first ingredient in any pre-workout supplement. This added ingredient can help temporarily increase energy, and get your body ready for an intense workout, whether that is HIIT training, a spin class, or something else.
The caffeine content in your supplement is known to:
- increase metabolic rate
- aid in fighting tiredness
- improve endurance
- give your energy levels a boost
- reduce fatigue
- improve mental awareness
- improve fat burning
- stimulate the nervous system
These benefits allow you to perform better and more efficiently during your workout, eventually leading to the stimulation of muscle growth.
2. Creatine
One of the reasons pre-workouts can provide quick bursts of energy can be attributed to the ingredient creatine. Unbeknownst to many, it is a chemical compound produced in the body primarily found in the skeletal muscle.
Creatine plays a big role in producing the energy required for you to do your sessions and also responsible for muscular strength. Because of this, you will be better ready to train faster and longer compared to when you did not take a supplement.
Creatine helps in developing a better performance where you burn calories and gain muscle mass. This compound is particularly famous among weightlifters and bodybuilders because it gives them the strength they need to lift heavy objects.
As research has shown, here are some of the other benefits of creatine:
- Helps improve recovery time
- Improves athletic performance during high-intensity sessions
- Aids in improving endurance
3. B-alanine
Using pre-workout supplements can do wonders for your body beyond just providing energy. It will help you feel sharper and mentally aware as well. The ingredient that primarily helps increase these factors is B-alanine.
B-alanine, commonly referred to as beta-alanine, is an amino acid primarily produced in the liver. It promotes nerve signal function allowing you to clear your mind and keep your focus on what you are doing.
Anyone who engages in sports would know that working out requires intense mental activity, and if you are not focused enough, you might just want to quit and never try again. This is where B-alanine comes in. What this does is delay the onset of neuromuscular fatigue and athletic performance through increasing mental awareness.
Use this ingredient with caution as it may overstimulate the cells, so taking it with caution is advised.
4. L-Arginine
For many, one of the signs of an accomplished workout is the soreness and fatigue that you feel. That may be true; however, it can also delay in getting you back for your next workout session.
L-arginine, an amino acid responsible for creating nitric acid, helps in speeding up the recovery time by relaxing your muscles and blood vessels. The acid that this compound produced will help the sore muscles to recover more rapidly and promote faster healing.
If you are able to recover quickly, it greatly impacts your time between workouts and you can be more efficient in your workouts.
5. Taurine
In working out, it is equally vital that your body gets to absorb nutrients from the food you eat. This would result in a healthy lifestyle and a good indicator of wellness.
Taurine, one of the most abundant and common amino acids found in the brain, is specifically responsible for regulating the transport of nutrients throughout the body. Moreover, it acts as a neurotransmitter that stabilizes the cell membranes, giving the body a relaxed sensation after the workout.
Recommended Pre-Workout Brands
Looking forward to your pre-workout supplement? Below are some of the most popular brands out on the market today.
1.) Cellucor C4 Sport Pre-Workout Powder
Cellucor C4 pre-workout is one of the most popular pre-workouts on the market. Known for its powerful punch, this pre-workout is a great choice if you are looking to increase your energy.
GET THE BEST PRICE ON CELLUCOR C4 SPORT PRE-WORKOUT POWDER2.) 4 Gauge Pre-Workout
Another formulation you do not want to miss is the 4 Gauge Pre-Workout. It contains ingredients specifically determined to bring about a boost of clean energy during your workout with a guarantee of no side effects. There are no artificial flavors or sweeteners added only 100% natural ingredients.
GET THE BEST PRICE ON 4 GAUGE PRE-WORKOUT3.) Legion Athletics Pulse
If you have been longing for a supplement that comes in many flavors, I would highly recommend the Legion Athletics Pulse. This supplement does not contain the same amount of ingredients as compared to the previous supplements, but it does boast about its scientific studies that the ingredients included are of the highest efficacy.
GET THE BEST PRICE ON LEGION ATHLETICS PULSE4.) Alani Nu Pre-Workout
From the creators of Alani Nu Balance comes one of the top-selling pre-workouts on the internet, Alani Nu Pre-Workout. This is a widely popular supplement for those that love to workout. Alani Nu is known for their high-quality products, and their pre-workout will not disappoint.
GET THE BEST PRICE ON ALANI NU PRE-WORKOUTIs Pre-Workout Safe?
Although some pre-workout supplements are safe, it is inevitable that there are side effects attached to them. Here are the potential side effects of using pre-workout supplements:
- It may make you feel jittery – Remember that caffeine is one of the main ingredients of pre-workout supplements. Even though they are good, a dosage of caffeine at high levels may make you feel jittery.
- Insomnia -It is important to look at the ingredients of the supplement of your choice before taking it at a certain time frame.
- Diarrhea – If you are not careful, some of the ingredients in pre-workout supplements have a laxative effect that will send you to the toilet if you have a sensitive stomach.
Always remember that it is important to be cautious when trying out new products. Everybody is different so reactions to different supplements will be different as well. If you do have an adverse reaction to a supplement, make sure to contact your doctor.
