Pre-workout supplements are used to provide your body with energy before an intensive exercise session. Many people recommend eating a banana with a shot of espresso at least half an hour before going to the gym to give you the necessary boost to work out. But is that enough? Let’s talk supplement and what ingredients found in pre-workout supplements.
Let’s talk supplement and what ingredients found in pre-workout supplements.
Ingredients Found In Pre-Workout Supplements
However, the supplements designed these days contain many of the nutritional value you’ll need before working out and will even last longer, especially if you like to perform high-intensity workout sessions.
These supplements have improved year after year to include healthy ingredients that boost your metabolism and improve your blood circulation. Each manufacturer puts different ingredients in their supplements to target different purposes. If you are considering taking pre-workout supplements, you need to learn more about what each ingredient does so you can make an informed decision about buying them. Here’s a list of the most popular ingredients found in pre-workout supplements.
1. Branched-Chain Amino Acids or BCAA
The most common ingredient in almost all pre-workout supplements is BCAA. They are made up of a combination of valine, isoleucine, and leucine. They are found in meat and dairy and other protein-rich foods. These amino acids are proven to relieve the pain of sore muscles and help your muscles to recover faster after an intense workout. If you are looking to bulk up, you’ll need to look for supplements that include BCAA because they help to increase muscle mass. Some people pair pre-workout supplements with testosterone boosters to increase their muscle mass. They help to slow down the depletion of glycogen levels from muscles, which happens during your exercise session. The most important amino acid in this combo is leucine as it helps to synthesize protein, which is the main building block of muscles. Valine helps to decrease the metabolism of tryptophan, which aids in maintaining your energy levels during workouts. These are also included in a lot of post workout supplements as well.
2. Caffeine
This is one of the main ingredients in any pre-workout or energy supplement. When you drink a cup of coffee in the morning, you will feel an instant boost of energy in your body. Caffeine helps to improve muscle endurance and blood circulation and makes you feel less tired during the workout. If it is paired with L-theanine, which is found in green tea, the combination leads to a better energy-boosting effect. This combo is the perfect way to fuel your training and it also
helps to enhance overall mental performance, which is excellent as a pre-workout supplement. However, you have to bear in mind not to increase the dosage above 300 mg per day or else you risk insomnia, anxiety, and even heart problems. This is part of the reason why you should pair L-theanine with caffeine because it helps to keep its side effects under control.
3. Betaine
Betaine is a compound that is found in beetroot. It is also commonly known as trimethylglycine or betaine anhydrous. It is important to keep those different names in mind so that you can easily spot the ingredients on the supplement’s label. This compound helps your cells to retain water. This process helps to protect your cells from tearing during intense workouts. Betaine also participates in numerous processes because it acts as a methyl donor. It helps to enhance the energy levels in your body and muscle endurance to make you last longer in intense workouts. They are especially important in advanced weight-lifting workouts and long strenuous exercises like running cross-country marathons. Another alternative to beetroot extracts with the same benefits is pomegranate extracts.
4. Beta-Alanine
Beta-alanine is a compound that helps to delay the feelings of exhaustion and fatigue from an intense workout session. It acts by decreasing the level of lactic acid that accumulates in your muscles during strenuous exercise. Lactic acid is responsible for making your muscles feel sore. When you take beta-alanine in your pre-workout supplements, you will be able to last longer in your high-intensity workouts. To witness this effect in your body, the dosage of beta-alanine should be at least 4 g in your daily intake. However, most private label supplement manufacturers add a lot less than that because of its high cost. You don’t have to take beta-alanine before your workouts. It will give you the same effect if you incorporate it in your supplements throughout the day.
5. L-Citrulline
This is also one of the most popular ingredients in pre-workout supplements. L-citrulline helps to increase nitric oxide levels in the blood. This helps to enhance blood circulation, which in turn helps to transport oxygen and nutrients faster to the muscles to keep them going much longer. This process helps you to feel more energized and delays your muscle fatigue. This ingredient is extremely useful if your main purpose is bodybuilding or bulking. Some people choose to replace L-citrulline with L-citrulline malate, which acts as an energy booster and helps to increase muscle endurance. It helps to augment the effects of BCCA in supplements, which helps to improve your overall physical fitness. While other ingredients like betaine and L-arginine also help in improving blood circulation, L-citrulline is more effective. A dose of 4 to 8 g per day is sufficient for a pre-workout supplement.
6. Vitamin B
Vitamin B has numerous names like niacin and Vitamin B12. If you find Vitamin B in a pre-workout supplement’s list of ingredients, it is an indication that this supplement is well-rounded. Your body needs vitamins to build your muscles in the long run and improve your metabolism and energy levels. They also act as an energy booster but they don’t act instantly. Vitamin B helps to fuel your training, control the production of cholesterol, and improve body composition. A dose of 2.4 mg per day is sufficient to have a prolonged effect on your body.
There are many other ingredients that are present in pre-workout supplements. Each ingredient is added to serve a specific purpose. By now, you have learned what some of the most popular ingredients do for your body.
Vegan Creatine Benefits
Creatine is, without doubt, the most researched and effective supplement you can get your hands on. It gives you more energy and may help you grow more muscle — everyone in the gym has told you that. But for vegans, supplementation of creatine for vegans is critical because you can only get it from animal products, or a plant-based supplement.
This article will outline what creatine is, and detail why it’s so important for vegans.