If you hit the gym regularly, then you’ve probably heard about (or are using) pre-workout supplements. They’ve become increasingly popular over the last few years, and many athletes and bodybuilders consider them a valuable part of their workout routines.
But just because they’re popular doesn’t mean they come without potential downsides. Let’s discuss what pre-workout supplements are, how they can potentially harm you, and how you can find a healthy one.
What are pre-workout stimulants?
Pre-workout stimulants are a specific type of supplement taken immediately before a workout session to provide an energy boost & help push your muscles harder. Pre-workout supplements are usually powdered formulas designed to improve athletic performance. The two broad types of these supplements are stimulants and non-stimulants.
Some people believe pre-workout stimulants will make them bigger. That’s not true. Pre-workout supplements contain ingredients that simply prime up your body before exercise so you can make the most out of a session.
Pre-workout supplements make people feel alert, active, and improve their tolerance to muscle pain. This optimizes a workout session and helps people exercise longer and harder. Ultimately, this will result in bigger muscles but it would not be due to a direct effect of these supplements.
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What are the ingredients of pre-workout stimulants?
Almost all pre-workout stimulants contain caffeine, which is the ingredient that differentiates them from non-stimulant supplements. Other stimulant ingredients may also be present and these include:
- Theacrine - is a naturally occurring chemical that is similar to caffeine. It is found in different types of tea and coffee usually in China.
- Guarana - is a popular ingredient in many energy and soft drinks. It has been used by Amazonian tribes for its therapeutic effects for centuries.
- Yohimbine - is a dietary supplement made from the bark of an African evergreen tree. Commonly used to treat erectile dysfunction, but has also become popular among bodybuilders to help with fat loss.
The ultimate goal of stimulants (including caffeine) is to upregulate something called the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) in the body. The SNS gets activated when the body needs to perform a lot of activity, such as during a dangerous situation or exercise.
Some of the effects of increased SNS activity include:
- Increased heart rate
- Increased blood pressure
- Increased blood flow to muscles
- Reduced blood flow to unimportant body areas like the gut — remember, during exercise, the muscles are the most important areas
- Increased breathing rate
- Dilated airways
- Dilated pupils
All of these effects help the body exercise better. Stimulants in pre-workout supplements lead to all these changes, optimizing the body’s capacity to perform exercise.
Nitric oxide boosters are another class of important ingredients found in most pre-workout stimulants. Nitric oxide is naturally produced by the body and helps regulate blood flow by dilating blood vessels.
Ingredients like L-arginine, L-citrulline, and citrulline malate all increase the amount of nitric oxide in the body, which dilates the blood vessels feeding the muscles. Increased blood flow to muscles improves oxygenation and waste removal, both of which helps during exercise.
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Then comes beta-alanine, which is found in most supplements because it allows people to exercise for longer periods. During exercise, muscle cells release waste products while producing energy. An example is lactic acid. These waste products make the environment more acidic, which leads to muscle fatigue.
Beta-alanine binds with an amino acid called histidine. The combination then upregulates the production of another amino acid — carnosine. Carnosine soaks up the excess hydrogen ions in the body, bringing the pH to normal and increasing exercise duration.
Leucine, isoleucine, and valine are branched-chain amino acids that are normally present in the body. Muscle cells use these amino acids for energy production, so they make another important component of most pre-workout supplements.
Finally, you should know that there are many more ingredients found in pre-workout stimulants. Their contribution to the effectiveness of these supplements is relatively minor compared to the ingredients described above.
What are the dangers of pre-workout stimulants?
The very ingredients that make pre-workout stimulants effective can result in certain side side-effects, which can include:
- tingling
- gastrointestinal issues — especially diarrhea, which is caused by artificial sweeteners that are often found in these supplements
- adverse cardiovascular effects
- sleep disturbances
- jitters
- increased blood volume — due to creatine. Creatine is a popular ingredient found in pre-workouts and causes increased water retention by the kidneys, which ultimately leads to increased blood volume. This can lead to unwanted weight gain.
- flushing reactions — these are mainly caused by niacin and beta-alanine, which may trigger the release of molecules called prostaglandins (PGs). PGs increase the blood flow to the face, which causes warmth and red discoloration.
Stimulants (like caffeine) put the body in overdrive, and over long periods, this may result in hypertension (increased blood pressure). Hypertension has a plethora of lethal consequences in the long run, including:
- atherosclerosis, which leads to heart attacks and strokes
- kidney problems
- abnormal heart function and structure
Caffeine also makes you lose sleep, which can directly reduce the quality of your workouts. Other harmful effects of caffeine include nausea, headache, fatigue, drowsiness, anxiety, and restlessness. It’s easy to see how all of these can affect your health (and exercise routine) negatively.
While the amount of caffeine in pre-workout stimulants is not high enough to cause significant side effects, if you consume caffeine from other sources too (like coffee), harmful levels can build up quickly.
Also, if you’ve been taking caffeine-containing supplements for a while and discontinue them abruptly, you may experience withdrawal symptoms. These can include depressed mood, fatigue, drowsiness, and difficulty concentrating.
You should know that most pre-workout supplements are safe. However, unlike drugs, the FDA doesn’t regulate supplements very tightly. This means manufacturers can easily make false claims about their products and mislabel them, causing you to waste money on ineffective supplements.
Sometimes, the concentration of stimulants might not be accurately mentioned on the label and you may end up taking unhealthy amounts, which in the long run may lead to all the harmful effects described above.
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How to find a healthy pre-workout supplement?
It’s important to purchase supplements from a tried & true company. Make sure to go for products that are tested by reputable third parties like NSF International.
To avoid the unhealthy effects of stimulants found in pre-workout supplements, you can go for products that are more natural. One good example is our Nitric Oxide Organic Beets Preworkout, which not only boosts NO levels in your body (and helps you exercise better), but also contains vitamins C, B3, and B12. All of these vitamins are essential for good overall health!
