Pre-Workout Supplements: Are They Worth Considering?

As you have noticed, pre-workout supplements have become popular these days. Most advocates believe that these products can help improve your fitness. Not only that, but they also claim that it can provide you with enough energy to help you power through any challenging workouts you might want to consider.

What Are Pre-Workout Supplements?

Pre-workout supplements are considered multi-ingredient dietary formulas. They are designed to help boost athletic performance and energy. Moreover, there are many kinds of these supplements. To know more, you can check out the 12 best supplements in 2021.

Pre-workout supplements most likely come in a powder form. You typically mix it with your water and drink it before starting your exercise. It can be really easy for you to consume.

Although countless formulas exist in pre-workout supplements, there is little consistency in the ingredients. Often, creatine, B vitamins, amino acids, caffeine, and artificial sweeteners are included in the ingredients. However, it is vital to know that the quantities of these ingredients might vary based on the brand.

Ingredients That Might Improve Your Athletic Performance

The following are some ingredients found in a pre-workout supplement that might help improve your athletic performance:

Creatine

Your body can produce creatine naturally. It is typically stored in your skeletal muscle. Moreover, it is a chemical compound that plays an essential role in muscular strength and energy production.

Creatine is most likely an ingredient included in a pre-workout supplement. However, you can also buy it as a standalone supplement. Furthermore, creatine is extremely popular among bodybuilders, weightlifters, and other power athletes.

Supplementing with creatine can help increase the stored supply of this chemical compound in your body. This means improving your muscle mass, exercise performance, recovery time, and strength.

Caffeine

Another ingredient that is believed to improve your athletic performance is caffeine. This ingredient can help increase your focus and energy. Moreover, caffeine is one of the most popular stimulants which might improve your memory, fat burning, mental alertness, and exercise performance.

Nitric Oxide Precursors

Your body can produce nitric oxide naturally. It is a compound responsible for improving your blood flow and relaxing your blood vessels. Moreover, several of the common compounds that your body uses to produce nitric oxide are infused in pre-workout supplements. This includes L-citrulline, L-arginine, and sources of dietary nitrates like beetroot juice.

Some studies believe that supplementing with the mentioned compounds above can help boost the nutrient and oxygen transport to your muscles. This, in turn, potentially enhances your athletic performance.

Potential Side Effects of Taking Pre-Workout Supplements and How to Avoid Them

Below are some of the potential side effects you might encounter after taking pre-workout supplements, plus tips on how to avoid these side effects:

Might Make You Feel Jittery

Pre-workout supplements most likely have caffeine in them. This type of stimulant helps in increasing your output during an exercise. Not only that, but it also increases your muscle strength while reducing fatigue.

On the negative side, caffeine might also have potential side effects, especially when you take too much of it. This includes nausea, insomnia, drowsiness, jitteriness, anxiety, increased heart rate, or headaches.

How to Reduce Any Side Effects

When it comes to caffeine, some people tolerate its effects better than others. The best way to reduce the side effects is to start consuming caffeinated pre-workout supplements with a small dose. Moreover, you can then choose to increase what you usually consume to see how much you can tolerate.

Might Increase Your Water Retention

Pre-workout supplements usually have creatine in them. It has been shown that creatine helps increase lean body mass gained from exercising and increase your high-intensity exercise capacity. On the other hand, creatine might also be associated with bloating, water retention, digestive issues, and weight gain.

How to Reduce Any Side Effects

Although it carries some side effects, it is vital to know that consuming creatine supplements is safe. In order to reduce any side effects, it would be best to ensure proper dosing. That way, you can easily monitor the status of your body after taking pre-workout supplements with creatine in them.

Might Trigger Some Mild Reactions

Pre-workout supplements usually have niacin (vitamin B3) and beta-alanine in them. Niacin is responsible for your body’s energy metabolism. However, too much of it (500mg or more) might trigger a blood rush that results in red patches at the surface of your skin.

On the other hand, beta-alanine helps reduce the acidity in your muscles during your workout. This might also help you sustain your exercise slightly longer. However, it has been shown that beta-alanine might cause paresthesia, which is a tingling sensation experienced in your hands and feet. Although this side effect is considered harmless, it might be uncomfortable for some.

How to Reduce Any Side Effects

The best way to reduce the tingling associated with taking beta-alanine is to reduce your intake. You can choose to divide your dose into two separate doses. Moreover, to prevent any blood rush from niacin, it would help if you take less than 500mg of the said ingredient.

Might Cause Digestive Upset

Several ingredients are infused in most pre-workout supplements that might cause digestive upset. This includes creatine, sodium bicarbonate, caffeine, and magnesium. 

Sodium bicarbonate can only cause digestive upset if you take 200 to 500 mg per kg of body weight. However, it is vital to know that most pre-workout supplements don’t contain this much sodium bicarbonate.

On the other hand, magnesium might have some laxative effects. This means, taking too much might cause diarrhea.

How to Reduce Any Side Effects

It will help if you mix your pre-workout supplement with 240 to 350 ml of water to minimize any side effects. This is because using too little water might increase the potential of upsetting your digestion. Moreover, since it might be challenging to know which ingredient might cause your digestive issues, it would be best to try different pre-workout supplements and find one that fits you.

Conclusion

It is vital to know that taking pre-workout supplements might not benefit everyone. If you are having some difficulty or lack the energy to finish a workout, taking pre-workout supplements shouldn’t be your automatic resort to solve the problem. Furthermore, it would be best to know that adequate sleep, hydration, and diet are vital for any workout routine to help repair your muscles and optimize your energy levels.