What do "pre-work out" supplements help with?

GreatDepression

Yeah, I'm a little torn on whether I should get some sort stimulant for my work outs. I think I really need that extra push right now.

Aaron_K123

I think most things that are marketed as pre-workout supplements are just caffeine basically to make you feel perky and ready for a workout.

Of course the side effect of that is caffeine elevates your heart rate by vasoconstriction of your blood vessels. This isn't really going to help you at all if you are out of shape because your heart rate being elevated already is just going to make your workout harder to complete. I don't even think I'm that out of shape and frankly if I have coffee right before a workout I find it more difficult to do my workout because my heart is just pounding.

Honestly as long as you are eating sufficient food to have energy for a workout you don't need a pre-workout supplement.

ninerbuff

I'm looking into these products I see at the gym and GNC. What do they do? Since I work out after a long nine hour day at work, I feel like I need some sort of stimulant to help me not be sluggish.

Well if you're looking for a stimulant, that's what a pre work is.

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Aaron_K123

I'm looking into these products I see at the gym and GNC. What do they do? Since I work out after a long nine hour day at work, I feel like I need some sort of stimulant to help me not be sluggish.

Well if you're looking for a stimulant, that's what a pre work is.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Basically. If that is what you want it'd probably be cheaper to just drink a cup of coffee rather than pay for a "pre-workout" supplement from GNC.

GreatDepression

Can you guys recommend some of the highest quality pre-work out supplements? I'm not too concerned with pricing as long as the product is high quality.

ninerbuff

I would go with something sugary, like a banana! You know how sugar is supposed makes kids bounce off walls? That's exactly what you're aiming for here! Additionally, it would help fuel your workout.

A banana would just be adding carbs in the form of sugar (fructose) to my diet. That won't help with the fat burning goal at the gym if my insulin levels are elevated.

Fat burning isn't really done in the gym. It's done at rest. You burn calories at the gym. Yes if your glycogen is depleted enough, you'll burn fat, but it takes quite a bit of intense long effort to deplete glycogen stores in the body.

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ninerbuff

I would go with something with sugar, like a banana! You know how sugar is supposed makes kids bounce off walls? That's exactly what you're aiming for here! Additionally, it would help fuel your workout.

Even better--an energy bar with a mix of sugar, complex carbs, and protein!

Don't necessarily need carbs before a workout. Lots of people, including athletes train fasted.

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ninerbuff

Can you guys recommend some of the highest quality pre-work out supplements? I'm not too concerned with pricing as long as the product is high quality.

IMO, buy them separate and in generic form if you can since most supplement companies hire a 3rd party to manufacture the products.

Caffeine, BCAA, and beta alanine. Find the cheapest ones and take them before a workout.

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Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

GreatDepression

Can you guys recommend some of the highest quality pre-work out supplements? I'm not too concerned with pricing as long as the product is high quality.

IMO, buy them separate and in generic form if you can since most supplement companies hire a 3rd party to manufacture the products.

Caffeine, BCAA, and beta alanine. Find the cheapest ones and take them before a workout.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

That sounds confusing for a noob like me which is why I was drawn to mixed, packaged ones.

vismal

The best preworkout currently available in my opinion is Totalis. I guess we aren't supposed to direct link products here but I'm sure you can google it. It has no proprietary ingredients, no secret blends, nothing like that. You could easily copy the ingredients and make it yourself you'd just have to add flavor. Every ingredient in it has research backing it's usefulness in the preworkout setting. As far as PWO goes, it's the best.

I personally only take a PWO when I feel like I really need one. You know the kind of day where you are battling yourself just to get to the gym, let alone have a good workout. If I am just feeling tired or sluggish but am still motivated, I usually stick with caffeine only in the form of coffee usually. I would say I PWO maybe once a week but I take coffee or some form of caffeine before training more often then not.

As far as preworkout nutrition is concerned, it really doesn't matter. Obviously I would not eat a large, heavy, meal directly before training. If you've worked all day long I would try and at least make sure you've had some kind of mixed meal at some point in the day. I train fasted myself but I wouldn't recommend working all day fasted and then training fasted. That seems counterproductive.

ndj1979

I take some BCAA's and that is it …

IMO unless you are an advanced lifter or training for some kind of competition there is really no need for a pre-workout supplement and you really do not need to worry so much about timing protein and carb intake around pre and post workout…

save your money …if you want to drink a protein shake an hour before you workout…I personally do not like to eat before a workout as it makes me feel sluggish…I always have my largest meal post workout, but that is just me...

GreatDepression

Thank you for the responses detailing your experiences. Can you take a pre-workout every day or will you build up a tolerance too quickly? Is it like those other supplements where you have to stop altogether after some weeks due to tolerance issues? My gym has Cellucor's C4 Extreme on sale for a good price. I'm thinking of picking it up. Is it pretty decent for a pre-work out supplement? Here is the nutrition info:

Vitamin C 250mg 417%
Calcium 23mg 2%
Niacin (As Niacinamide) 30mg 150%
Folate 250mcg 62%
Vitamin B12 35mcg 588%
Beta Alanine 1500mg †
Creatine Nitrate 1000mg †
Arginine AKG 1000mg †

Explosive Energy Blend: 741mg †
Vitamin C (As Ascorbic Acid), N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine, Caffeine Anhydrous (135mg), Mucuna Pruriens (Standardized For L-Dopa), Bitter Orange (Citrus Aurantium)(Fruit)(30% Synephrine)(Advantra Z®), Niacinamide, Folate (As Folic Acid), Pyridoxine 5-Phosphate, Vitamin B12 (As Methylcobalamin)

LolBroScience

C4 is ok. It's probably the top selling preworkout currently on the market, if I'm not mistaken.

Totalis is another one mentioned a few posts above. It's more under the radar, but it's not filled with a bunch other useless stuff. Same goes for the Citadel Tier 1, and Bare Performance Flight.

abadvat

I second the beta Alanine, caffeine and BCAA's motion... cheapest ones in the shop will be absolutely fine.
With regards to tolerance, yes, you will build resistance to it and will have to increase dosages of most if not all pre-workouts.
Better cycling a PWO IMO - 1 month on 1 week off or 1.5 months on 2 weeks off kind of thing.

Capt_Apollo

Yeah, I'm a little torn on whether I should get some sort stimulant for my work outs. I think I really need that extra push right now.

try coffee.


or work out early in the morning when you have the most energy.