Preworkout Controversy

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trisha986
trisha986 Posts: 139
in Food and Nutrition
There are so many opinions out there about Preworkout powders and such, I'm curious as to what the community on here thinks about it.


I've only had this discussion with fitness friends. Some of them tell me to try to stop taking it all together, that its bad in all ways. Some say its absolutely fine as long as you take breaks. What do you guys think?

I must say, I believe I'm slightly addicted to it. I'm already a caffeine addict. If I don't have at least a cup of coffee a day I get a mean headache (not to mention cranky...). But my workouts feel so different when I take breaks off of preworkout powder (I use cellucor C4) I can go longer, push harder on preworkout as opposed to not.


So whats the verdict out there?
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Replies

  • Teenie71
    Teenie71 Posts: 52
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    IMO they are a waste of money and dont do anything special.
  • micheleb15
    micheleb15 Posts: 1,418 Member
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    Never tried them - my lifts don't suffer.
  • trisha986
    trisha986 Posts: 139
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    IMO they are a waste of money and dont do anything special.

    I definitely feel a difference in my energy level when I am not taking it. Perhaps I should try to actually get better sleep (I get about 5-6 hours of sleep, not enough for me to feel energized the next day!)
  • awtume9
    awtume9 Posts: 423 Member
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    I have used preworkout before and liked it, but I started getting pretty bad stomach aches in the middle of lifting so I stopped. I don't miss them either.
  • chloematilds
    chloematilds Posts: 111 Member
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    Just eat real food but be sure to have about 30 mins before working out.
  • lorigem
    lorigem Posts: 446 Member
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    I have used preworkout before and liked it, but I started getting pretty bad stomach aches in the middle of lifting so I stopped. I don't miss them either.

    Same here.
  • jchenks
    jchenks Posts: 164 Member
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    I've used pre workout powders and loved them. I now don't use any preworkout powder. However, I do make myself a cup of green tea and take L-Tyrosine prior to heading to the gym now. I don't know if it works but I think its a psychological thing. I drink the green tea for a bit of caffeine and the L-Tyrosine for a "mood booster". I've copied/pasted more info below on L-Tyrosine from bodybuilding.com

    L-Tyrosine is an essential amino acid and a precursor of the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine to help maintain normal and health mental functions and support your mood or well-being. In addition L-Tyrosine also aids in adrenal, thyroid and pituitary function. One thing it also does is convert to the thyroid hormone thyroxin. This plays an important role in controlling metabolic rate, not to mention skin health, mental health, and growth rate!
  • tziol
    tziol Posts: 206 Member
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    Different people will react differently to different pre-workout supplements. I personally would suggest to not to take it for a long term systematically even if you do breaks. But if you do take it, do breaks. I use normal coffee as a pre-workout but it has also disadvantage for increasing blood pressure.
  • trisha986
    trisha986 Posts: 139
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    I have used preworkout before and liked it, but I started getting pretty bad stomach aches in the middle of lifting so I stopped. I don't miss them either.

    Same here.

    @ awtume9 & lorigem ... I've heard this happen with a couple of people I've asked! It doesn't really have any major affect on me, except when I first started taking it, it had a fiber-like affect within the first couple of minutes (:embarassed: tmi, sorry) but that doesn't really happen to me anymore. I just get the tingles from the beta alanine which I hate but other than that, all positive feelings. I tried Redbull ONCE in my life and my heart felt like it was palpitating and beating like crazy. I was worried this would happen with preworkout but not at all.
  • JoshD8705
    JoshD8705 Posts: 390 Member
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    Love the C4. I feel so much more enthusiastic about the workout with it, and the pump is great. I can do about 20% more with it. I also love my protein shake at the end of my workout.

    Between quitting smoking, starting my multivitamin, excersing, my protein shake, and C4. I have never felt so good.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    IMO they are a waste of money and dont do anything special.

    DYEL?

    I approve of them though
  • trisha986
    trisha986 Posts: 139
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    I've used pre workout powders and loved them. I now don't use any preworkout powder. However, I do make myself a cup of green tea and take L-Tyrosine prior to heading to the gym now. I don't know if it works but I think its a psychological thing. I drink the green tea for a bit of caffeine and the L-Tyrosine for a "mood booster". I've copied/pasted more info below on L-Tyrosine from bodybuilding.com

    L-Tyrosine is an essential amino acid and a precursor of the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine to help maintain normal and health mental functions and support your mood or well-being. In addition L-Tyrosine also aids in adrenal, thyroid and pituitary function. One thing it also does is convert to the thyroid hormone thyroxin. This plays an important role in controlling metabolic rate, not to mention skin health, mental health, and growth rate!

    Thanks for this! One of my buddies that use to take it and is now against it (said his doctor suggested to get off based on elevated tests during a physical) also suggested green tea. Never heard of the L-Tyrosine though. Interesting
  • Wilbur_NOLA
    Wilbur_NOLA Posts: 120 Member
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    I've been using C4 off and on for a while and really like it. It's been a nice pick me up for my workouts, but I can't really attribute any significant strength gains to taking it. It just depends on your expectations of a pre-workout. Energy boost-yes. Massive strength gains-no.
  • Dragonflag07
    Dragonflag07 Posts: 64 Member
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    hey I take the Cellucor also - i think it's really good. They definitely help me along with creatine. I work long hours and find the pre-workout gives me the buzz I need to get going. How much it helps intra-workout, a little maybe, but my problem is stepping over the line - once I've started working out, I'm pretty relentless...
  • trisha986
    trisha986 Posts: 139
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    I've been using C4 off and on for a while and really like it. It's been a nice pick me up for my workouts, but I can't really attribute any significant strength gains to taking it. It just depends on your expectations of a pre-workout. Energy boost-yes. Massive strength gains-no.

    I definitely use it for an energy boost. But that energy boost makes me more enthusiastic to lift heavier, work out longer. So I feel it has a cause and effect in both ways!
  • obum88
    obum88 Posts: 262 Member
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    While you cycle off, you will feel crappy until your body regulates. There are risks to everything, but maybe just try a cup of black coffee if you do want to cycle off and taper down from there. I like my vortex preworkout, but when I was getting better sleep, I just needed a cup of lack coffee
  • jchenks
    jchenks Posts: 164 Member
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    I've used pre workout powders and loved them. I now don't use any preworkout powder. However, I do make myself a cup of green tea and take L-Tyrosine prior to heading to the gym now. I don't know if it works but I think its a psychological thing. I drink the green tea for a bit of caffeine and the L-Tyrosine for a "mood booster". I've copied/pasted more info below on L-Tyrosine from bodybuilding.com

    L-Tyrosine is an essential amino acid and a precursor of the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine to help maintain normal and health mental functions and support your mood or well-being. In addition L-Tyrosine also aids in adrenal, thyroid and pituitary function. One thing it also does is convert to the thyroid hormone thyroxin. This plays an important role in controlling metabolic rate, not to mention skin health, mental health, and growth rate!

    Thanks for this! One of my buddies that use to take it and is now against it (said his doctor suggested to get off based on elevated tests during a physical) also suggested green tea. Never heard of the L-Tyrosine though. Interesting

    I can't say I'm really against taking the preworkout powders. I loved the tingly feeling i got from it but when I thought more about it I was wondering what its really doing to my insides... YIKES! I also started going to school at the time and the money for a preworkout powders was no longer available.

    I believe I heard about the L-Tyrosine in a magazine and it was included in the pre workout stack a fitness girl was taking. Decided to try it out!
  • lorigem
    lorigem Posts: 446 Member
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    I have used preworkout before and liked it, but I started getting pretty bad stomach aches in the middle of lifting so I stopped. I don't miss them either.

    Same here.

    @ awtume9 & lorigem ... I've heard this happen with a couple of people I've asked! It doesn't really have any major affect on me, except when I first started taking it, it had a fiber-like affect within the first couple of minutes (:embarassed: tmi, sorry) but that doesn't really happen to me anymore. I just get the tingles from the beta alanine which I hate but other than that, all positive feelings. I tried Redbull ONCE in my life and my heart felt like it was palpitating and beating like crazy. I was worried this would happen with preworkout but not at all.

    Yeah, not sure why I started getting stomach aches. I went through a whole tub of pre-workout with no problems. Maybe I should've taken more breaks. But I had to go off it. I did like it though - I did feel as if it gave me an edge on the lifts. But I'm doing well now too so don't think I'll be going back.
  • explosivedonut
    explosivedonut Posts: 419 Member
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    I personally enjoy them. I wake up at 5:15 to get to the gym. It's easier to take a powder with a glass of cold water than it is to make a cup of coffee, which would mean getting up earlier. So it's good for at least the caffeine boost. Plus, I like those beta-alanine itches. Call me crazy.
  • TiberiusClaudis
    TiberiusClaudis Posts: 423 Member
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    I drink two cups of coffee before each workout (workout twice a day) and I lace it with skim milk and whey protein.

    During my workouts I drink a whey shake with left over coffee and water.

    I always hit my macros on protein...always. For weightlfiters/bodybuilders, protein is the holy grail of macros.

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