Energy Pill almost killed me

MissMarquez23

So a couple days ago i went to get my protein from the health store i go to, when i asked the guy if he knew of anything i could do to increase my energy while at the gym he suggested a energy pill, so he gave me a sample to try and said take both pills 30 minutes prior to working out so i got home only took one, and then hit the gym.... Well it was amazing during the workout i was a beast in there, but when i got home it was like i had drank 3 gallons of straight up caffeine shots! long story short i was not able to keep any food down the rest of the day, and my heart was racing until i finally fell asleep.

My question is, is their any healthy/organic/product that i could eat, or drink, or take before hitting the gym to increase my energy, but not kill my body afterwards?

tnrunningnurse

I use Spark and/or Slam by Advocare.

126siany

So a couple days ago i went to get my protein from the health store i go to, when i asked the guy if he knew of anything i could do to increase my energy while at the gym he suggested a energy pill, so he gave me a sample to try and said take both pills 30 minutes prior to working out so i got home only took one, and then hit the gym.... Well it was amazing during the workout i was a beast in there, but when i got home it was like i had drank 3 gallons of straight up caffeine shots! long story short i was not able to keep any food down the rest of the day, and my heart was racing until i finally fell asleep.

My question is, is their any healthy/organic/product that i could eat, or drink, or take before hitting the gym to increase my energy, but not kill my body afterwards?

None that are safe, no. Frankly, I am utterly amazed that you didn't learn this from your first experience with them.

kdiamond

So a couple days ago i went to get my protein from the health store i go to, when i asked the guy if he knew of anything i could do to increase my energy while at the gym he suggested a energy pill, so he gave me a sample to try and said take both pills 30 minutes prior to working out so i got home only took one, and then hit the gym.... Well it was amazing during the workout i was a beast in there, but when i got home it was like i had drank 3 gallons of straight up caffeine shots! long story short i was not able to keep any food down the rest of the day, and my heart was racing until i finally fell asleep.

My question is, is their any healthy/organic/product that i could eat, or drink, or take before hitting the gym to increase my energy, but not kill my body afterwards?

None that are safe, no. Frankly, I am utterly amazed that you didn't learn this from your first experience with them.

Agreed. Obviously you have an adverse reaction to them so I wouldn't take anything. Drink coffee!

healthinside

Bananas!

Ph4lanx

Bananas!

Quoted for truth! Two bananas, 20-30 minutes before you start.

MsMartyMac

Apples!!!

Pedal_Pusher

I'd stay away from all of them...................

jesusHchris

NOXplode

Kidding! That stuff makes me feel like I'm going to have a heart attack.

Green tea is nice.

KittyMarie13

I take a packet of Emergen-C fizzy vitamin drink mix. Just vitamins / no caffeine; I get a little boost from the B vitamins in it but it won't keep me up all night.

ekz13

Bacon :happy:

DiannaMoorer

It's a good you didn't take both of the pills.

I you need more energy get more sleep, eat some carbs, whole wheat bread, bananas,etc.

rml_16

I would think simply working out regularly and eating healthy would be enough. I've never felt the need to increased energy to exercise, even when I was doing two-hour bouts of it every day.

krithsai

Coffee helps me like nothing else does! I have a lot of energy post coffee, but I can also calm down quickly with a nice cold shower...I guess because of coffee's natural high-dip effect, it works out well..

justjenn1977

I tend to avoid things like energy pills/shots whatever... I drink me some espresso in the morning... (one coffee every day) and when I work nights (3 nights per week) I usually have a big one (ok a liter bottle... but hey... I am up all night on little sleep)

I find that just the fact of moving helps me be energized... yes it is difficult to get started but once the ball is rolling...

some of the different energy "solutions" have cause some pretty tremendous health issues... and some of them we aren't discovering until after they have been on the market for years...

that being said... a b-complex is good for energy... and healthy... and something that probably won't hurt you

Lesa_Sass

Royal Jelly with bee pollen. It is a super food, all natural and does many other things besides give energy.

I started using it when I stopped smoking to curb my crazy appetite, it gave me energy and it also helped with my allergy symptoms. We run by around 70 restaurants on our 5 mile jaunt around the city and it also keeps us from chewing our arm off when we are at mile 4.5 and pass by the wood fired grill.

You get it at GNC in a tub. It is going to cost around 18 bucks and if you are allergic to bees, DO NOT TOUCH IT.

chocolateandpb

I take a tablespoon of l-carnitine before my workouts, and also first thing in the morning. It gives me a boost and I feel I am able to workout harder, but doesn't make me feel sick or make my heart race. It sounds like you are sensitive to energy pills, so if I were you I'd avoid them entirely.

jeddy3mcc

Some people just have a bad reaction to them and seems like that is what you got. I would say maybe try a bar. More important thing here is to stay safe.

jennifer52484

Try these.


There is no caffeine or stimulants. Just B-12. They sell them at walgreens. I love them.

JustJennie1

Peanut butter usually works for me.

As for the bee pollen - for me the jury is still out on that one. I bought bee pollen granules and have used it about three times -- once in my yogurt and the other times in my smoothie -- and I have yet to feel that "burst of energy" that it's supposed to give you when you take it.

T34418l3angel

Eggs, edamame, goji berries, water. There's a few others too but these are my favs.
Here's a link showing a few more good natural energy sources:

http://m.mensfitness.com/training/pro-tips/10-energy-foods

bcf7683

There is water, pork chops, waffles.

........:huh:

inkjetcanvas

I find I have a better workout (in the AM) if I have a protein shake, with a 1000mg BCAA (branch chain amino acids), and sometimes I'll add a scoop of Glutamine in my shake too. A Banana with the shake and I'm good to go.

Right now I'm trying a scoop of greens in my shake and skipping the banana, which seemed to do OK this morning, but I'll need to test more to be sure.

In short, if you can, opt for more nutrients over a stimulant so you're feeding your body what it needs over a temporary push.

donyellemoniquex3

5 hour energy !

MrDude_1

There is water, pork chops, waffles.

........:huh:

I agree with the water, pork chops, waffles... Its also a super food combo.

al369

I take a packet of Emergen-C fizzy vitamin drink mix. Just vitamins / no caffeine; I get a little boost from the B vitamins in it but it won't keep me up all night.

I do this sometimes if I'm working out in the morning! It does help. But so does eating fruit just before working out.

MrDude_1

Seriously though, I take 25mg of ephedrine and 200mg of caffeine about 40mins before I start working out.
I sweat a lot...but I have energy. LOL

Mellie289

Why do you need to increase your energy at the gym? Are you generally sluggish or not getting enough sleep? You should have enough energy just from proper nutrition and sleeping enough every night. Maybe you need to work on those things - take a multivitamin and make sure you're in bed 8 hours. The workout should charge you up. If it doesn't and you are working at eating properly and sleeping enough, you should go to a doctor if you feel sluggish and get your iron and thyroid levels tested to make sure you don't have a physiological imbalance making you feel fatigued.

IronSmasher

http://www.jissn.com/content/7/1/7

Strategic Eating and Refueling
In addition to the general nutritional guidelines described above, research has also demonstrated that timing and composition of meals consumed may play a role in optimizing performance, training adaptations, and preventing overtraining [1,6,33,50]. In this regard, it takes about 4 hours for carbohydrate to be digested and begin being stored as muscle and liver glycogen. Consequently, pre-exercise meals should be consumed about 4 to 6 h before exercise [6]. This means that if an athlete trains in the afternoon, breakfast is the most important meal to top off muscle and liver glycogen levels. Research has also indicated that ingesting a light carbohydrate and protein snack 30 to 60 min prior to exercise (e.g., 50 g of carbohydrate and 5 to 10 g of protein) serves to increase carbohydrate availability toward the end of an intense exercise bout [51,52]. This also serves to increase availability of amino acids and decrease exercise-induced catabolism of protein [33,51,52].

When exercise lasts more than one hour, athletes should ingest glucose/electrolyte solution (GES) drinks in order to maintain blood glucose levels, help prevent dehydration, and reduce the immunosuppressive effects of intense exercise [6,53-58]. Following intense exercise, athletes should consume carbohydrate and protein (e.g., 1 g/kg of carbohydrate and 0.5 g/kg of protein) within 30 min after exercise as well as consume a high carbohydrate meal within two hours following exercise [1,31,50]. This nutritional strategy has been found to accelerate glycogen resynthesis as well as promote a more anabolic hormonal profile that may hasten recovery [59-61]. Finally, for 2 to 3 days prior to competition, athletes should taper training by 30 to 50% and consume 200 to 300 g/d of extra carbohydrate in their diet. This carbohydrate loading technique has been shown to supersaturate carbohydrate stores prior to competition and improve endurance exercise capacity [1,6,50]. Thus, the type of meal and timing of eating are important factors in maintaining carbohydrate availability during training and potentially decreasing the incidence of overtraining. The ISSN has a adopted a position stand on nutrient timing [13] that was summarized with the following points:

1. Prolonged exercise (> 60 - 90 min) of moderate to high intensity exercise will deplete the internal stores of energy, and prudent timing of nutrient delivery can help offset these changes.

2. During intense exercise, regular consumption (10 - 15 fl oz.) of a carbohydrate/electrolyte solution delivering 6 - 8% CHO (6 - 8 g CHO/100 ml fluid) should be consumed every 15 - 20 min to sustain blood glucose levels.

3. Glucose, fructose, sucrose and other high-glycemic CHO sources are easily digested, but fructose consumption should be minimized as it is absorbed at a slower rate and increases the likelihood of gastrointestinal problems.

4. The addition of PRO (0.15 - 0.25 g PRO/kg/day) to CHO at all time points, especially post-exercise, is well tolerated and may promote greater restoration of muscle glycogen when carbohydrate intakes are suboptimal.

5. Ingestion of 6 - 20 grams of essential amino acids (EAA) and 30 - 40 grams of high-glycemic CHO within three hours after an exercise bout and immediately before exercise has been shown to significantly stimulate muscle PRO synthesis.

6. Daily post-exercise ingestion of a CHO + PRO supplement promotes greater increases in strength and improvements in lean tissue and body fat % during regular resistance training.

7. Milk PRO sources (e.g. whey and casein) exhibit different kinetic digestion patterns and may subsequently differ in their support of training adaptations.

8. Addition of creatine monohydrate to a CHO + PRO supplement in conjunction with regular resistance training facilitates greater improvements in strength and body composition as compared with when no creatine is consumed.

9. Dietary focus should center on adequate availability and delivery of CHO and PRO. However, including small amounts of fat does not appear to be harmful, and may help to control glycemic responses during exercise.

10. Irrespective of timing, regular ingestion of snacks or meals providing both CHO and PRO (3:1 CHO: PRO ratio) helps to promote recovery and replenishment of muscle glycogen when lesser amounts of carbohydrate are consumed.

Lesa_Sass

Peanut butter usually works for me.

As for the bee pollen - for me the jury is still out on that one. I bought bee pollen granules and have used it about three times -- once in my yogurt and the other times in my smoothie -- and I have yet to feel that "burst of energy" that it's supposed to give you when you take it.

The granuals and the royal jelly with the pollen are two very different things. The royal jelly is what the larva eat as well as what the queen eats. The pollen is just that, pollen. It comes in the form of honey and is eaten by the spoon full, ONE spoon full that is.

snipalicous

I use the Beachbody Pre-Workout formula, Energy and Endurance. Only because I wake up at 5am to do my workout and I am not a morning person but I always make sure I go to bed early to get enough rest. It does not makes me feel jittery or like I just had an energy drink or energy pill...I can't stand those things.