In the latest posts on my Instagram account, I have mentioned pre workout supplements or referred to them in some cases. As a result, people ask me what pre workout supplements are, and if they\u2019re worth buying. I\u2019d like to give a quick overview on pre workout supplements in this article. In addition, I\u2019ll show you guys how I personally use them and to what you should pay attention when using pre workout drinks.<\/p>\n
The general idea of pre workout supplements is simple. They\u2019re helping you to perform better, which means more reps and sets or at a higher resistance level when training. They\u2019re basically energy drinks designed for bodybuilding and various other sports which require strength and\/or endurance.<\/p>\n
If you now are now reading about pre workout drinks for the first time and think you don\u2019t need such a thing, you\u2019d better stop reading. I\u2019m totally serious! If you work out, no matter if you\u2019re into bodybuilding, calisthenics, crossfit or whatever, and do not take any drink prior your workout, then you don\u2019t have to change anything.<\/p>\n
The thing is though, that when you\u2019re doing something constantly for an extended period of time, you sooner or later begin to lose focus and energy. Pre workout drinks help us to keep going and pushing our bodies to the limit.<\/p>\n
Nowadays, there\u2019s a big hype on pre workout supplements. Check the best seller list on any supplement store and you\u2019ll see pre workout supps in the first places. I\u2019d say there at least two pre workout supps on the 10 most sold items. The rest is very likely protein powder. The list of pre workout products is endless. All supplement companies reply to the major interpellation and therefore a thousand different products exist.<\/p>\n
So we\u2019ve learned, pre workout drinks give us energy and motivate us to go to the gym. Although this sounds really good, there are also disadvantages about pre workout drinks. First of all, you never know what exactly you drink as the ingredients can be covered under a blend. Terms you often see on pre workouts supplements are \u201cEnergy blend,\u201d \u201cPump blend\u201d or \u201cStrength matrix\u201d followed by some ingredients you\u2019ve probably never heard of before. Well, to be fair, there are companies who list all the used ingredients accordingly. But in general, they don\u2019t have to declare the exact amount they use or even the ingredients.<\/p>\n
Pre workout supplements often contain things like Caffeine, Creatine, Beta Alanine, L-Arginine, Amino Acids, Glutamine, Taurine and much more. Their goal is to increase energy, support muscle repair and growth. Caffeine is used as stimulant which actually makes you feel energized and stronger. However, sometimes other stimulants are being added and the drinks result in a cocktail full of stimulants. If you\u2019ve ever read some review on pre workout supps, you\u2019re probably aware of how the consumption of such products will end like. The fact is that you can get a feeling of being high from the stimulants which you can find in some pre workout supplements.<\/p>\n
The answer is simple: No, it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n
One of the biggest problems is that the nutritional supplement industry is unregulated. I\u2019m not saying pre workout supplements are dangerous, but we actually don\u2019t know whether they are safe or not.
\nLong-term effects of pre workouts are not known and as I said before, you never really know what you consume. Some time ago, I came across a pre workout supplement which includes a pro-hormone, which is nothing other than a steroid. Can you imagine? It\u2019s ridiculous!<\/p>\n
On the other hand I have to say that pre workout simply works. I personally had the best workouts in my life after taking such a supplement. It\u2019s a fact that they can help you to push yourself to your absolute maximum which means you can move more weight, perform more reps and at the end, you\u2019ll get more gains.<\/p>\n
Well, I want to be honest with you guys. I personally take pre workout supplements. I still have samples from the FIBO in K\u00f6ln and I think even from last year\u2019s Mr. Olympia in Vegas. Some of the samples I grabbed contain heavy stimulants and of course I tried them. They make you feel good. I can imagine that some of them give you a similar feeling like party drugs do. It\u2019s not a secret that some manufacturers used the same ingredients for pre workout supplements like they use for party pills.\u00a0The energy after taking such energy drinks can increase rapidly, I can say this out of experience, but then I often felt a crash after a while and I felt much worse than before. So to sum up, pre workouts full of stimulants are not recommended.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, there are also really good supplements without any stimulants (or just some caffeine) and even though you don\u2019t feel \u201chigh\u201d while using them, you are able to increase weights in the gym.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not trying to convince anybody to start taking pre workout supplements. Instead, I\u2019d like to give you my tips on what you should consider in case you decide to give them a try:<\/p>\n
So, I hope I cleared things up a bit. Don\u2019t hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions.<\/p>\n
At this point I\u2019d like to call attention to my new Youtube video. It shows me weight training my shoulders and arms:<\/p>\n