Pre-Workout Supplements
In my honest opinion there are so many pre-workouts that are nothing more than a waste to money not really doing much for you other than a short lived glittery caffeine rush.. There are always a few truly good products that are worth taking though... They are few and far between though, and you have to know what to look for and sort though all the unnecessary garbage most add to them...
You don't need them to have a list of ingredients a mile long, there are only a few ingredients that actually work wonders.. Some companies try to hide their less than idea products by simply listing their ingredients as a Proprietary Blend.. When I see that it means to me they have loaded it with a ton of useless stuff with very limited amounts of quality ingredients that actually give you the added pump and boost to really get at your workout... Most of those products are the ones that normally have upwards of 500mg of caffeine vs the 80mg of a cup of coffee... Taking that much caffeine will just leads to a huge caffeine crash shortly after taking, most times even before your workout is finished... They also most the time only add trace amounts of the good stuff so they can list it, making it look better product than it really is.. Personally for me, I want to know the exact amounts of all the compounds I am ingesting to know they will work the way I want them to...
A good workout blend will show the exact amounts of each item in it, not this proprietary blend stuff.. And won't have all the unnecessary junk fillers added into them making them appear to be the next biggest thing to hit the market ... I prefer to make my own pre-workout mixture though... Not only is it the best way to know exactly what you are using without all the artificial flavors and colors... It is also way more cost efficient to buy each ingredient in bulk... I would just be taking a guess, but I'll say it's around 1/4 of the price to do it yourself... I make mine consisting of only a few key ingredents:
Branched-Chain Amino Acids:
Also known as BCAA's, they are amino acids that your can't produce naturally in you body, they must either be eaten though food or other form of supplementation... They are key to promote muscle growth... The 3 BCAA's are Leucine, Isoleucine, and Valine.. I take a minimum of 5 grams pre-workout and again another 5 grams afterwards again.. Out of these 3 Leucine is the most important to look for...It has been shown to
stimulate muscle protein synthesis, so that's why it should be the
highest amino acid in your blend... The most common ration found is 2:1:1, which is perfectly fine, but I prefer to go with the 8:1:1 still.
Beta-Alanine:
Beta-Alanine main purpose is to increase muscular endurance.. Meaning it can help
improve your overall training volume, and give you the ability to keep your intensity up for longer
periods of time. In other words more volume equals more gains.
If you take a large dose of Beta-Alanine, which is in most pre-workouts to give you the all mighty pump feeling,
you will most likely also experience a slight tingling sensation. Don't worry this is normal if taking a quality supplement containing it... The most common dose of this is around 2.5 grams pre-workout, but I have seen people use as much as 5 grams, in my opinion that's a bit over kill and a waste of money..
Creatine Monohydrate:
One of the biggest reasons is it is meant to help with explosive strength.. It's is one of the ingredients
that is going to help most with lower-rep workouts. It is something that is built up in your body over continued use and saturated into your muscles... It helps
to produce a fast, big energy pump required for those really big and heavy lifts.
I personally take 5 grams a day, half pre-workout and the the other half post-workout... On my non-training days I will still take creatine to keep the levels up in my body, those day I use it right after breakfast.. Some people recommend a week "loading phase" I will argue that theory, because it is built up over time in your body.. I think it is just a waste to do the 20 grams a day some suggest for the first week of use... You will still get the same results in the end I can guarantee and save a ton of product...
Caffeine:
For me this may be as simple as a cup of coffee I don't necessarily go and but the powder every time of this, but when I do I only add up to 100mg of it.. If i am going to do a late evening workout I will leave it out as well simply because it will hinder your sleep for several hours after taking it... We all know how important sleep is to recovery, don't want to hurt that process either... So as far as this one is concerned I would say use it and the amount to your own personal preference, but wouldn't go over 100mg to keep you from having that crash later on..
My final thoughts:
You should take your pre-workouts
roughly 30 minutes before getting to your actual workout. That way it has time to absorb into your body and start to take effect.. I typically drink
mine just before leaving my house to the gym... Taking it to late it may not kick in till half way though your workout and you will miss out on the awesome benefits from it.. To answer the question if I think they are worth taking,
YES I personally do, most of my workouts are either really early morning or after a long day of work.. I need a little kick in the butt sometimes to get myself in gear to keep my intensity up... Others my not feel this way because of either their lifestyle allows for lost of rest or other personal choices, for me I almost always take one..
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