Before using pre-workouts and other supplements, it is important to know that the ultimate key for continual progression is the life style itself, which represents in nutrition, recovery, exercise, mental health and others.
Since maintaining such commitment for long time is not easy, it is a good idea to use external factors to trick you mind and helps you keep progressing; It can be cup of coffee, different workout, cheat meal, 2 days off, adding supplements to your diet, etc..
However, This article will discuss the supplements factor, specifically pre-workouts and I will share my experience in using pre-workouts following below points:
What are Pre-workouts & How it works | When to Use Pre Workouts & when not to | Best Pre Workout, How to Choose the Correct Pre Workout | Pre-workouts Disadvantages and When to Stop Using it.
What are Pre-workouts & How It Works:
Pre-workouts are a group of supplements used to enhance performance and focus in a workout. There is no standard formula of ingredients for every pre-workout available in the market, but they do share the same approach which is mostly represented in improving blood flow (using amino acids like arginine and citrulline), producing more energy from muscle cells (mainly by using creatine) and stimulating the nervous system (mainly by using caffeine).
However, Creatine considered to be the most effective ingredient ever discovered in fitness. Meaning, if you would choose one ingredient to improve muscle mass and heavy lifts, it would be creatine. And even though it can be taken any time in a day, it remains the most used ingredient in pre-workouts.
Caffeine also shows significant effect in improving your focus and mood during a workout, which as a result improves your performance. A cup of coffee is the simplest and yet the strongest pre-workout you could have.
Depending on the brand you choose, you can find additional ingredients like beta-alanine, taurine, vitamins, minerals and herbal extracts. On the other hand, some pre-workouts exclude some ingredients to fit customer’s needs like removing caffeine from the formula so you can use it at night or removing creatine for people who may experience creatine allergy.
As mentioned above, the ultimate purpose for a pre-workout is to help you perform better and improve your numbers especially if it contains creatine.
Let us say you are used to bench press 200 lb for maximum of 5 reps, and you stuck at that number for months. After using a pre-workout for a week or so, this number can reach 10 reps or more for the same weight.This progress makes you go for heavier weight which you could not lift before, for example; 250 lb, and bench press it for 5 reps or may be more. Such progress is very possible especially when choosing creatine containing pre-workouts.
This creates higher resistance which never exists before, and forces your muscle to grow and absorb more nutrients in order to adapt to the new changes (reps and weights) you have made.
When To Use Pre Workouts & When Not To :
Don not use pre workouts if you are in the beginning of your fitness journey. Although pre-workouts can give impressive results, using it anytime without a plan is totally not recommended, especially for beginners. Personally, I would not recommend using any supplement (especially creatine) before spending at least 1 year of consistent training.
This is very applicable for people who have been working out for just few months. Adding such supplements to your routine is needed ONLY when you see no improvement on your performance or your body for a long period of time (like 6 months).
During that time, you should try your best to get the most energy without using such supplements. Make sure to have a high quality of consistent nutrition and recovery, and see how much improvement your body can achieve before using any supplements.
Supplementing in general can make a significant difference, but giving your body enough time to progress on its own especially in the beginning, will reward you better in the long term.
On the other hand, if you already have achieved good progress and spent enough time of consistent training, you might feel the need of something to push you further and boost your performance, especially when progressing becomes harder and demands more requirements from your lifestyle which you could not fulfill because of your work, school or other responsibilities.
How To Choose The Best Pre-workout for Best Results:
Choosing the correct pre-workout can be confusing especially for beginners because of the different formulas, ingredients, and concentrations available in the market. However, since the most effective ingredients in fitness are Creatine and Caffeine, I will try to summarize the variation between pre-workouts based on these two ingredients and cover the most important points to consider. There are three categories here depends on your purpose of use:
1- Heavier Lifts and More Muscle Mass
2- Cardio, High Intensity Training and Endurance
1- Best pre-workout for heavier lifts and more muscle mass:
This is because of the distinguished benefits of creatine for first time users. I would not recommend going with creatine products that include other ingredients especially for first time users. Also, I would not mix it with anything other than water. This is very important in terms of absorption and dosing. The reason for that is the fixed dose of creatine needed daily for best results which is 5 grams. So you need to make sure to have the very exact dose consumed, and the full absorption of it.
Although some studies showed no effects on creatine absorption when taken with other ingredients like caffeine, calcium (when mixing with milk), and others, I would not risk the first time experience for the best supplement ever found in fitness.
Check This (Everything You Need to Know About Creatine).
2- Best pre workout for cardio, endurance and high intensity interval training
Whether it is low or high intensity, cardiovascular activities demands more stimulus from our nervous system. Therefore, caffeine is a key ingredient if you want to increase your performance in such activities. Beside nervous system stimulation, some electrolytes can be found in some pre workouts in order to maintain hydration and minerals supply to your cells especially in long workouts.
3- Best pre workout for overall performance.
If you already experienced the benefits from supplementing with creatine only. You can now proceed for a real pre-workout. The core ingredient of any strong pre-workout would always be Caffeine. Although caffeine cannot improve muscle mass and heavy lifts like creatine, it does have a superior effect over any other ingredient you could think of. This is due its effect on nervous system by increasing the sensitivity of certain chemicals in brain which results in better focus and mood. Caffeine also has real benefits on weight loss, because it increases body metabolism.
The combination of caffeine with creatine represents the main formula for many great pre-workouts. This combination can be enhanced further when other amino acids like beta-alanine, taurine and citrulline are added to improve blood flow and stamina. This combination gives you the ultimate formula needed for a pre-workout.
However, I would recommend using such formula only when applying both below conditions:
- You are working out at morning or at least not in the evening.
- You already took pure creatine previously for at least 2 months.
The first point is due to the negative effect of caffeine on sleep quality at night, which as a result affects recovery especially for people who needs to wake up early in the morning. Caffeine can stay in blood around 9 hours which make it challenging to sleep early if you consume it few hours before you sleep.
On the other hand, some people may manage to sleep enough hours even while consuming caffeine at evening because they have a flexible life style which allows them to wake up late. However, personally I would not sacrifice night sleep for some extra performance, and this is mainly because HGH (Human Growth Hormone) is primarily released before midnight while you are sleeping. As a result, missing such essential part of recovery will significantly affect your physical progress.
The creatine point is already discussed in details in the previous paragraph.
How much caffeine is needed to boost performance?
The concentration of caffeine in different pre-workouts can range between 100 – 300 mg which is definitely more than enough for improving performance. Some products especially fat burners, goes to above that range but a caution should be considered especially if you already consume coffee in a regular basis. Beside the dose concentration itself, the total amount of caffeine you consume daily can play a role on how your body responses to a certain dose like 200 mg for example. If you are someone who used to have coffee and other caffeinated beverages daily on regular basis, you might develop tolerance, meaning a 200 mg of caffeine before a workout may not affect you as it does with other individuals. Therefore, it is recommended to have a break from caffeine from time to time and avoid consuming it whenever you want. This will keep your body more responsive to caffeine and caffeine containing pre-workouts.
NO Explode by BSN might be the perfect example to match the above formula.
3- Best pre-workout for fat loss.
For Fat Loss Pre-workouts, Use Carnitine Instead of Creatine. This is applied also if you are looking for extra energy but you do not want to use creatine for certain reasons.
But why it is not recommended to use creatine if you are trying to lose weight ?
Answer:
Creatine is the most powerful supplement ever existed, but although it brings you more energy & power, it is also the fastest supplement to make you gain more weight in just one month. On the other hand, the improvement boost seen on supplementing with creatine is mostly felt in the first 2 months, while progressing becomes slower after that period.
Therefore, using it while you still have belly fat is just pointless and will ruin your experience toward the most effective supplement because you will not feel the significant improvement that happens in the first 2 months of creatine loading.
Some argues that creatine helps you burn more fat because it fuels your muscles with energy and increases your muscle mass, but the reality is that when you use it, you will gain more weight from the first month. Therefore, you could experience some difficulties in free weight exercises that are used a lot in weight loss. Another point is that most of the over weighted people are usually beginners and might not have enough basic physical foundation for their muscles to use creatine efficiently.
Check This (What is Carnitine).However, if you are looking for a pre-workout for fat loss, using pre-workouts that includes carnitine & caffeine is very recommended. Caffeine was and still the most effective ingredient for burning fat. Thus, combining it with carnitine can give great results. Check Animal Cuts by Universal which includes a considerable amount of carnitine combined with 200 mg of caffeine and different herbal extracts. Although mentioned product is not known as a pre workout, its unique combination is very powerful for better performance, fat burn and focus.
Pre-workouts Disadvantages
Before discussing the disadvantages, it is important to know that the way you use your pre-workout plays a significant role on whether you will experience these disadvantages or not. In general, after using a pre-workout for some time (may be 2-3 months), it is very recommended to have a break and stop using it for a while. Avoid becoming very attached to pre-workouts as eventually it will make you feel very weak without it.
Over stimulation, insomnia and dehydration, can be the most common disadvantages. However, you can easily avoid over stimulation by monitoring your caffeine intake throughout the day (not more than 300 mg/day) . Drinking enough water and having healthy diet can easily prevent dehydration. For insomnia, as it mentioned previously in caffeine paragraph, it is very important to avoid having a pre-workout in the evening or even in the afternoon. Insomnia can be the most concerned disadvantage here, because less sleep can harm important organs like kidneys and liver that are mainly responsible for detoxing the body.
As most if not all pre-workouts are not regulated by FDA, there will always be a concern on the ingredients and concentrations used in it. This is the main reason why you should cycle off pre-workouts from time to time and avoid excessive use on the long term. Caffeine is the least concerned ingredient in a pre-workout formula, because it is well studied and known from a pharmacokinetics perspective. However, other ingredients (like, herbs extracts, vitamins and amino acids) can be found in high concentrations without declaring the benefits or risks associated with such concentration. Some stimulants like yohimbine and DMAA are dangerous enough to avoid it completely.
As a result, a safe usage of a pre-workout can be easily applied by doing the following:
- knowing the ingredients included in its formula and make sure it does not have banned substances like DMAA.
- Monitoring your caffeine intake though out the day.
- Cycling it off from time to time.
- Healthy life style, enough water, and enough sleep.
- Avoid using it in the evening or afternoon.