The Guide to Pre-Workout.
The Guide to Pre-Workout
The grind starts when you wake up in the morning. You get dressed make your coffee, brush your teeth, and you’re out the door within the hour. You make it to the gym guzzle down another Blender Bottle full of C4, and you’re on your way to building your body the way you want it.
This might sound familiar, or maybe you work out midday or at night, or whatever the time of day, you always do the same thing, don’t you? You get to the gym, plug in your headphones and guzzle down that 16 oz of pre-workout without giving it a second thought. Well, this article is all about those first 5 mins at the gym, this article is about that second thought.
Pre-Workout
You’ve taken it, you’ve felt it, and you think you know it. But in all reality, you don’t know as much as you think you do. Just because your muscular friend told you to drink this pre-workout over that pre-workout doesn’t mean he is right. His size doesn’t justify his credibility, unless he is a supplement engineer or a certified nutritionist, then let’s assume he doesn’t know what he is talking about.
Pre-Workout might be the only supplement other than Whey Protein that is crucial to your workouts; it gives you energy, increases muscle pumps and extends the length of your workouts. But what does this energy inducing beverage has in it that makes your workouts significantly better? And what should you know about pre-workout before you put it in your body?
The Basic Big Three
Caffeine: Every pre-workout is going to have some amount of caffeine. The amount of caffeine depends on each brand, or kind of pre-workout. Here is what you should know: Caffeine is dangerous. According to the Mayo Clinic, the human body can only process 400mg of caffeine safely every day. That is the equivalent to 4 cups of coffee, or 2 energy shots, or 4 12 oz Red Bulls. Caffeine is a stimulant and it will have adverse side effects on your heart in the future if you continue to take 400mg daily.
Caffeine affects your body in a couple of different ways, but first and foremost it is a stimulant and the way it stimulates your body is through constriction of your blood vessels. Caffeine compresses your blood vessels and increases the pressure that the blood is following through them. Picture a hose with a tiny nipple on the end that is spraying water through a small hole. This is what caffeine does to your blood vessels, and that is why your heart rate increases when you intake caffeine because it needs to keep up with the pressure that your blood is flowing at.
Now, this is a good thing when you’re working out because it allows your body to maintain a constant anabolic state, with anaerobic induced exercise. But if you take to much, your heart can easily be overworked, and you can suffer cardiac arrest at a much younger age than usual.
Creatine: Okay, so this is a big one, you have to know that creatine is the most studied workout supplement on the market. You should also know that creatine has one primary function and that all the benefits will not outweigh the adverse side effects of creatine.
Now that might have been a bold statement for you to hear, Creatine is the end all be all supplement, how could I make such a drastic claim on such a fantastic product!?
Here’s the deal, creatine is incredible, it makes us swell up like a balloon and look our best, it helps us increase our max weight, and helps maintain higher levels of rep range. But, creatine is ONLY effective if you drink enough water to make it work. This is what I mean when I say that the benefits do not outweigh the negative side effects, the benefits are only included when you drink a gallon of water for every 5 grams of creatine you take. Yes, this is a lot of water, but it is the safest route around creatine. If you do not maintain a healthy amount of water with the amount of creatine that you are intaking, then over time your body will start to crystallize the creatine in your kidneys, and you will develop large, and excruciating kidney stones.
These kidney stones you will then have to pee out, through your urethra, and they can be about the size of a pea and are not usually very smooth. The pain is not worth benefits. Drink enough water when you take creatine.
Beta-Alanine: Beta Alanine is interesting. You either love it, or you hate it. But other than the extreme tingles, and copious amount of sweating, what does Beta-Alanine do for you?
According to WebMD, Beta-Alanine is a non-essential amino acid; this means that it places a role in the creation of protein and protein synthesis for your body. The protein that Beta-Alanine synthesizes is called Carnosine. Carnosine increases muscular endurance in high-intensity exercise; this is crucial when you are working out because if you do not work at a high-intensity rate, then you will see no change in your body, and you are just wasting time.
Beta-Alanine also plays a massive role in how sore you are going to be the day after the gym. The chemical that makes you sore after the gym is called lactic acid. Lactic acid is a by-product of exercise and breaks down micro-muscle fibers and tightens fibrosis which then, in turn, make your muscles sore and hard to move the days after a workout. Beta-Alanine excretes Lactic Acid through sweat pores; this is what makes your skin feel itchy and tingly when working out.
When Using Pre-Workout
Understanding the main chemicals in pre-workout is crucial because it helps to make a just decision when purchasing pre-workout. Unfortunately, the supplement market is not regulated by the FDA and manufacturers often do not create products the same every single batch which then leads to inconsistent products.
Inconsistency is dangerous in the supplement world and should always be avoided. Products that do not release a manufacturer reports should be avoided. And products that are sold by non-reputable brands without a stable customer base should be avoided until active research has taken place.
Here are a few rules of thumb when purchasing a pre-workout. Safety first always, the energy that you come to the gym with his 60% mental and 40% chemical. So, with that being said, less is always better. Less caffeine is safer than more, it is common for people not to keep track of how much caffeine they take in a day, and you do not want your pre-workout to push you over the edge of safe amount of caffeine. The second rule of thumb, more expensive does not always mean better. Some pre-workouts are $80.00+, and that is a ridiculous expense for a product that gives you energy for the gym. The third rule of thumb, if you do not know what the chemicals in the formula are then do not put them in your body. Like previously stated in this article, the supplement industry is not regulated by the FDA, and it is incredibly easy for manufacturers not to make the products that they say they are making.
Recommended product
Transparent Labs Bulk Pre-Workout
This pre-workout has a safe amount of caffeine, Beta-Alanine, and many other active ingredients. The best thing about transparent labs is that they openly post all of their ingredients in their supplement’s description and explain what every part of the formula does for the user. Transparent Labs also has a section of their website (link here) that posts the quality control checks of every batched product in their line-up. Which is extremely important and beneficial to the consumer.
