PRE-WORKOUTS- The Beginner's guide

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It used to be that you ate a banana or piece of toast before a tough workout, and that was sufficient. But now, it seems like everyone in the gym is talking about a pre-workout supplement—colloquially referred to as "pre-workout."

“If I want to get in a good workout, I need pre-workout.” “Oh my God! This workout is so hard. I can’t believe I forgot to take my pre-workout!” “Seriously, you don’t take pre-workout?”

As a trainer and regular gym-goer, I’ve heard these lines from everyone—from female clients to random guys attempting to hit on me by the weight racks.

For the record, no, I don’t take a pre-workout supplement, nor do I recommend you take one either. But since I know how often people talk about these supplements and how heavily marketed they've become, I decided to talk to sports dietitians to get their take. Turns out, while some pre-workouts may contain safe, energy-boosting ingredients, others can be pointless—or potentially harmful. Here's what you need to know before joining the pre-workout faithfuls at your gym.

“Pre-workout” is any supplement, usually a powder drink mix, that claims to boost workout performance if you consume it beforehand.

First of all, it’s important to realize that virtually every supplement and exercise nutrition brand out there has its own pre-workout formula, meaning that no two tubs contain the same—or even similar—ingredients. “There’s really no good definition of what a pre-workout supplement is—and a lot of companies are just slapping it on products because it’s ‘in’ right now—but in general, it’s a product that’s intended to boost energy levels, generally though a combination of B vitamins, carbs, and antioxidants,” 

While some pre-workout supplements have carbs, most are carb- and calorie-free. Others contain caffeine, beet juice, or amino acids such as arginine, citrulline, and ornithine to rev up your “fight or flight” response, dilate your blood vessels, and increase blood flow to your muscles, she says. Some supplements even contain absurd ingredients like deer antler velvet to increase levels of insulin growth factor-1, a hormone that your body natural produces in response to resistance training to increase muscle and tissue growth.

Some pre-workout ingredients are well-studied and can actually help improve your performance—but the majority probably won’t.

Carbohydrates, caffeine, beetroot juice, and creatine monohydrate (a popular muscle-building supplement) are all common pre-workout supplement ingredients that have been shown to improve exercise performance.

Carbs are pretty obvious—they’re your body’s go-to source of energy and what experts recommend eating before a workout to properly fuel. After all, when exercising—especially at high intensities with bootcamps, indoor cycling classes, and lifting sessions—your body uses blood glucose and glycogen (stored carbs) as its main energy source. So topping off your levels before you start your workout can help increase energy availability and performance, she says.

Meanwhile, caffeine obviously is a stimulant known for boosting energy and alertness, and research shows it can help improve sports performance, too. Many of the studies have been done on small sample sizes, but there's actually a lot of research backing caffeine's ability to increase energy and decrease how hard you feel like you’re working—the theory is that caffeine helps muscles burn more fat for fuel upfront and preserves glycogen, thereby letting you work out harder and longer before you use up all your energy stores and tucker out. Other studies suggest it may help improve muscle's ability to generate power.

Beetroot juice is a little less researched, but a 2017 review on relevant studies found that it has consistently been shown to increase the body’s levels of nitric oxide and improve cardiovascular performance. Beetroot juice actually contains inorganic nitrates, which convert in the body to nitric oxide. A natural vasodilator, nitric oxide expands the body’s blood vessels, increasing blood flow and decreasing how hard your heart has to work during any given workout. 

Lastly, it’s important to note that creatine monohydrate is often included in pre-workout formulas. Creatine is a derivative of three amino acids that’s naturally produced in the body and stored in the muscles as a source of quick energy. While studies show supplementing with high doses does help build muscle mass and increase strength over time, “you can take creatine monohydrate pre-workout, post-workout, or at 8:49 P.M.,” Fear says. Some research even suggests that creatine monohydrate is actually more effective at boosting exercise performance if you take it after each workout as opposed to before—your body might be more apt to absorb and store it after workouts when your natural stores are at their lowest.

“Most of the other ingredients in pre-workout supplements are unlikely to make a meaningful difference,” Fear says. “Trials that are funded by the supplement companies often find positive results for their product, which isn’t surprising, but unbiased trials show that if there is a performance benefit, it’s minimal.” For example, one 2017 International Journal of Exercise Science study on 21 exercisers found that, compared to placebo, pre-workouts increase strength by a mere 4 to 8 percent, with the greatest benefits in those pre-workout supplements that contain caffeine. Another 2016 study on 31 exercisers from Oklahoma State University researchers found that when it comes to push-ups, commercially available pre-workout energy drinks provide no benefit compared to placebos.

All workout-performance questions aside, safety is a big concern here since pre-workout supplements are not regulated by the FDA.

Like all supplements, pre-workout formulas are not regulated by the FDA for safety, so products can be stocked on shelves and sold until there’s a reason for the FDA to pull them (e.g., enough people report concerns). The only way to guarantee that a given product contains what it says it contains—and nothing it doesn't—is to find a product that is certified through a third-party regulatory body such as NSF or Informed-Choice. Both of these organizations follow a strict vetting process to verify the quality and purity of supplements. 

Meanwhile, some of the ingredients that are safe in normal amounts can become harmful in the high concentrations found in supplements. And again, since they’re not regulated, there’s no way to know if the concentration used was tested for various potential side effects.

For example, some women experience increased heart rate and blood pressure, diarrhea, nausea, and jitters when they consume high amounts of caffeine, Fear says. (It’s also possible to overdose, but it’s rare.) High doses of B vitamins, antioxidants (like beta-carotene and vitamin E), and nitric oxide from beetroot juices can dilate blood vessels to the point that you can get nosebleeds. While every person’s tolerance level is different, Crandall recommends avoiding any supplements that contain more than 100 percent of your recommended daily allowance of any one nutrient.

Even though you may have never heard of it, creatine is actually one of the most well-researched sports supplements over the past 20 years. These studies consistently show that in normal doses—2 to 5 grams per day over the long term—it's very safe for healthy adults. (It has also been linked to improved cognition, a decreased risk of depression, and a lower risk of heart disease.) The most common side effect is weight gained from water retention; when your muscles store creatine, they also store water. This can make your muscles look slightly bigger and weigh a bit more. Gastrointestinal distress and muscle cramps can occur if you take too much at once or without being properly hydrated, but studies looking at daily creatine supplementation for up to a year have found no adverse effects. However, if you have diabetes, kidney problems, or any other major health condition, it's best to talk with your doctor before regularly supplementing with creatine (or anything, really).

Basically, just because a nutrient is healthy in moderate amounts doesn’t mean it’s that much better in sky-high ones. And unless you have a doctor-diagnosed deficiency in any of these nutrients that you can’t fill with food alone, there’s no real need to supplement at all.

You can get all the pre-workout boosts you need from simply fueling with the right foods.

“We have to stop thinking about nutrition as something that comes in a tub and start looking at our body’s natural fuel: food,” Crandall says. After all, every worth-your-while nutrient that pre-workout supplements pack also comes in whole foods.

She recommends fueling up for tough workouts with roughly 15 grams of carbohydrates—which you can get in half of a banana or one slice of bread with some jam. Experts also suggest eating a little bit of protein, but just a few grams, and keeping the fiber and fat to a minimum (both slow down digestion and can cause gastrointestinal discomfort while you’re exercising). If you’re into caffeine, a cup of coffee about 30 minutes prior to your workout will give you some extra energy.

Seriously, pre-workout nutrition can (and should!) be that easy. Bonus: It tastes way better than anything you’ll find in a tub.
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© Rohan Bhardwaj