If you don’t properly fuel yourself before exercises or hard workout sessions, you’ll be less motivated, weaker, and fatigued faster than usual. That is a proven fact. Pre-workout is intended to help combat this by allowing you to go harder and for longer periods of time. So, while the supplement can be taken in a variety of forms — from meals to shakes to pills — they’re all designed to increase energy and focus.
Given its beneficial traits, potent pre-workout powder for weight loss is typically mixed with a drink and consumed 30 minutes before the start of a workout. This is because the glucose in the pre-workout helps raise levels of blood sugar and provide additional energy during a workout by supplying your muscle with extra carbohydrates. In short, they’re far more energising than a banana, espresso shot, or black coffee.
What Pre-Workout Ingredients Should You Look For?
In the world of pre-workout supplements, some ingredients are more beneficial than others. Of course, your response to each ingredient will vary depending on your body and goals, as well as your metabolic rate.
Monohydrate Creatine
Creatine is a popular supplement among gym-goers because of its ability to increase muscle power and performance during exercise, it’s why it is so often one of the main ingredients in pre-workout powder for weight loss. Oral creatine is also used to treat brain disorders, neuromuscular conditions, congestive heart failure, and other conditions. To treat ageing skin, topical creatine may be used.
BCAAs
Branch chain amino acids have been shown to improve workout endurance and strength by maintaining cellular energy and promoting protein synthesis. BCAA additives have been found to increase muscle mass, decrease fatigue, and reduce muscle soreness. They have also been used successfully in hospitals to prevent or slow muscle loss and to help treat liver disease.
Taurine
Taurine is a sulfonic acid found in various animal types of meat that help your metabolism and combat oxidative stress during workouts. Taurine also serves important functions in the heart and brain. It promotes nerve growth. It may also help people suffering from heart failure by lowering blood pressure and calming the nervous system. This could help prevent heart failure from worsening.
B-Vitamins
Vitamins B1, B2, B5, and B6 are all important parts of weight loss with pre-workout ingredients for energy production and efficiency, while Vitamin B12 helps with blood production and Vitamin B3 promotes DNA repair. B vitamins are also necessary for the proper functioning of the body’s cells. They aid the body in the conversion of food into energy (metabolism), the formation of new blood cells, and the maintenance of healthy skin cells, brain cells, and other body tissues.
NO2-enhancers
Arginine, for example, is a nitrogen dioxide booster and a ‘vasodilator’ amino acid. Arginine (and other similar nitrogen dioxide supplements) basically expand your veins and arteries, making it easier for blood to flow around your body and deliver nutrients more quickly and efficiently. While this produces a pleasing aesthetic result in vascularity, it also aids in the maximisation of hypertrophy as muscle growth.
Caffeine
Caffeine is the go-to stimulant in pre-workout drinks. If you want something less intense, try Theobromine, which is found in chocolate, or the increasingly popular Rhodiola Rosea, which has properties for endurance and mood enhancement.
This particular ingredient has been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine and is known to have anti-aging qualities, thanks to its ability to help modulate hormones and increase energy. Even though it’s not a stimulant, it does help with focus and has fat-burning benefits.
Are There Side Effects?
Because a pre-workout is intended to help you get through a particularly difficult workout, it should come as no surprise that it contains sugar, caffeine, and other energy-boosting stimulants.
However, before purchasing a new batch of pre-workout, read the ingredients label. Caffeine is the key ingredient to look for because the amount can range from mild to excessive, and in extreme cases, high levels of caffeine can cause serious health issues such as anxiety, insomnia, and high blood pressure.
Pre-workout is a safe supplement to take for most men, but even at the safe end of the spectrum, its side effects can cause jitters, itching, and interrupted sleep, which is all harmless but still uncomfortable. If you’re new to pre-workout supplements, start with half doses and see how your body reacts.
How Long Does It Take for Pre-Workout to Work?
You want to get your workout started as soon as possible. You don’t want to be waiting for your pre-workout to take effect, so find the sweet spot to take it. Most people should take their pre-workout supplement 30 minutes to an hour before their workout — this gives the supplement enough time to enter their bloodstream and amp them up before their session.
However, the ‘half-life’ of caffeine should be considered. Caffeine typically has a half-life of three to seven hours after ingestion. If you normally train in the evenings, cut the recommended dose in half or substitute a pre-workout supplement. We’ve included a few examples below.
