Pre-workout supplements have become a popular way for athletes and fitness enthusiasts to boost their energy levels and enhance their workout performance. These supplements, typically available in pill or powder form, are designed to be taken before exercise to help reduce fatigue and improve overall performance. While some ingredients in pre-workouts can offer potential health and workout benefits, it's essential to be aware of the possible side effects and risks associated with their use.
What are Pre-Workout Supplements?
Pre-workout supplements are dietary aids consumed before physical exercise, containing a mixture of ingredients used to boost physical performance. These supplements often include a combination of ingredients like caffeine, creatine, amino acids, and other compounds, all intended to increase the availability of energy substrates, reduce fatigue, and create conditions that favor physical performance, endurance, strength, and muscle mass gain. Product makers claim that pre-workouts can keep you focused, give you energy, and improve your overall performance.
Common Ingredients in Pre-Workout Supplements
Many pre-workout formulas consist of a flavored mixture of several ingredients, each with a specific role in improving performance. Here's a breakdown of some common ingredients and their potential effects:
Caffeine: This stimulant is a primary ingredient in many pre-workout supplements. It’s known to increase muscle strength and output during exercise while reducing fatigue. Pre-workout supplements typically contain a range of 150 mg to 300 mg of caffeine per serving, which equals about three cups of coffee. Caffeine works by antagonizing adenosine receptors, which allows for the release of catecholamines, altering cardiovascular responses.
Creatine: Often included in pre-workout supplements, creatine helps increase high-intensity exercise capacity, lean body mass, muscle strength, power, and size, and decrease recovery time. Creatine works to replenish your ATP stores, which gives your muscles energy to contract.
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Beta-Alanine: This amino acid reduces acidity in your muscles during exercise, potentially helping you sustain your workout for slightly longer. Beta-alanine helps buffer the acid buildup in your muscles during intense workouts. It may cause paresthesia, a tingling sensation in your hands and feet, which is a harmless nervous system reaction.
Amino Acids: Branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) in pre-workout supplements help increase lean body mass. BCAA has also been shown to promote muscle growth and helps reduce damage to your muscles after an intense workout.
Niacin (Vitamin B3): Niacin is included in many pre-workout supplements for its skin-flushing effects. In high doses, it can trigger a blood rush to the surface of your skin, resulting in red patches known as niacin flush.
Citrulline: Some pre-workout supplements include citrulline, which increases blood flow to your muscles during exercise, resulting in enhanced muscle building. This amino acid works by boosting nitric oxide levels in your blood.
Benefits of Pre-Workout Supplements
Fans of pre-workouts say these concoctions give them extra energy to exercise and help them recover faster afterward. The potential benefits of taking a pre-workout supplement include:
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- Increased Energy: Caffeine stimulates the body’s central nervous system, improves reaction time, and can reduce fatigue.
- Improved Exercise Performance: Ingredients like creatine, beta-alanine, and citrulline can enhance strength, endurance, and muscle growth.
- Faster Recovery: Amino acids grow and repair muscles, decrease muscle soreness, and aid in energy production. Nitric oxide can also help reduce inflammation and enhance recovery.
- Cardiovascular Benefits: Multi-ingredient pre-workout supplements may offer physical and cardiovascular benefits, including increased energy, focus, endurance, and strength during exercise, as well as having potential positive impacts on blood pressure and triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and homocysteine levels.
Risks and Side Effects of Pre-Workout Supplements
Despite the potential benefits, pre-workout supplements are associated with side effects like digestive issues, water retention, and headaches. It's important to carefully read and follow the instructions on the labels of pre-workout supplements and to speak with a doctor before using them. Some potential side effects include:
Caffeine-Related Side Effects: High levels of caffeine can lead to jitteriness, insomnia, nausea, increased heart rate, headaches, anxiety, and restlessness. Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor, meaning it makes blood vessels smaller and reduces flow to the muscles.
- How to reduce side effects: Start with a small dose of a caffeinated pre-workout supplement, slowly increasing your dosage to see what you can tolerate. Limit drinking coffee 9 hours before bed or taking pre-workout supplements over 13 hours before bed to help prevent sleeplessness. Consider choosing pre-workout supplements without any caffeine.
Weight Gain: Creatine can cause weight gain due to water retention in the muscles. There are also anecdotal reports of other side effects, such as digestive issues, dehydration, and muscle cramps.
- How to reduce side effects: Ensure proper dosing of creatine. You can take a single daily dose of 3 g for 28 days.
Paresthesia: Beta-alanine may cause paresthesia, a tingling sensation in your hands and feet.
- How to reduce side effects: Divide the lower daily dose of 4 g into separate doses of around 1.6 g each. Alternatively, you can buy sustained-release formulas that prevent this side effect.
Niacin Flush: High doses of niacin can trigger a blood rush to the surface of your skin, resulting in red patches known as niacin flush.
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- How to reduce side effects: Keep your dose of niacin to less than 500 mg, avoid hot showers immediately after taking niacin, or take aspirin or ibuprofen before supplementation. Alternatively, you can purchase niacin-free products by checking the ingredients on the label.
Digestive Upset: Several ingredients in pre-workout formulas may cause digestive upset, including sodium bicarbonate, magnesium, and caffeine.
- How to reduce side effects: Mix your pre-workout supplement with 8 to 12 oz (240 to 350 mL) of water.
Headaches: Citrulline, which increases blood flow, may lead to headaches and migraine due to blood pressure changes in your brain’s small blood vessels.
- How to reduce side effects: Decrease your dosage of citrulline.
Cardiovascular Issues: Pre-workout supplements that contain synephrine have been linked with chest pain, heart palpitations, arrhythmias, and even heart disease.
Important Considerations
- Consult a Doctor: As with any supplement, you need to talk to your doctor before you take a pre-workout, especially if you have any health conditions or you take any medicines.
- Dosage and Timing: Take a pre-workout 20-30 minutes before you exercise. This gives the supplements time to kick in. Don’t take too much. Adjusting your dosage or avoiding supplements with certain ingredients may help.
- Consistency: Take the pre-workout consistently. Studies have shown that this has better effects than using it once every so often. After 3 weeks, your workouts may last longer, and you might feel less tired during and after them.
- Ingredient Awareness: Check ingredient lists for anything you may react to. You may also want to avoid proprietary blends, as these conceal the specific amounts of each ingredient used.
- Third-Party Certification: Look for a stamp from an independent lab that ensures quality.
Natural Alternatives
Many of the safe, natural ingredients typically found in pre-workouts can be obtained through eating real food instead. Products made from natural ingredients like green tea and beets are much safer alternatives.