Beginners Guide To Pre-Workout Supplements
Fitness is an everlasting mantra which is adopted by everyone today. From a teenager to adults, no matter how busy the schedule is, work hard to keep themselves fit. There are many supplements available to the people in the market today, which are helpful to maintain the fitness level and boost your extra energy for a good workout. These are known as pre-workout supplements. These supplements if taken 15-20 minutes before the workout helps in providing more energy and smash your goals. They maximize your strength, pump and power.
It is also necessary to conduct research before you decide on buying any workout supplement. You should have knowledge about what the supplement contains and how it will help to enhance your body positively. Before you decide to purchase any pre-workout supplement, you should know their functions and also their ingredients.
Common Ingredients To Look In Pre-Workout Supplements
Arginine
Arginine is an amino acid which is put in the formulation of nitric oxide. It is an important compound which helps in the increase of your blood flow and supplies nutrients to your cells. It can potentially work with other ingredients in a synergistic manner to get your muscles working.
Caffeine
Everyone today is familiar with caffeine as it is a common stimulant known to a man. Many studies have shown results that caffeine helps in increasing your alertness with your focus. It also removes the effects of any fatigue from a person’s body. You need to see beforehand the caffeine content of the supplement you wish to purchase. If you consume coffee and sodas regularly, then you need to be careful before buying any supplement.
Creatine
This is mostly consumed with mixed workout shakes or drinks. This is an extremely popular supplement among fitness enthusiasts who lift weights as it has an impact on the production of adenosine triphosphate in their bodies. It is also known as the currency of energy and is used in almost everything the body does. When you can maintain the creatine levels in your body, then it helps in size, strength and recovery.
Beta-alanine
This ingredient is naturally found in the muscle cells of the body and also as a part of compound carnosine. An amount of 3.2gm of beta-alanine should be taken every day to increase carnosine levels. This is good for bodybuilders and athletes. This helps in boosting their muscle performance when they lift weights and is also a good pre-workout supplement.
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B is a very important compound of a body as it produces red blood cells. It is important for energy metabolism. It converts nutrients like amino acids into energy. Some other ingredients which are found in pre-workout drinks are proteins, carbohydrates, and betaines.
Benefits Of Pre-Workout Supplements
Boosts Energy Levels
When you have more energy during a workout, there are many benefits to it. This mainly happens because of caffeine. Any pre-workout supplement which includes caffeine acts as a stimulant to help in producing more energy and smash the workout. When a combination of caffeine and arginine is formed then the results are more powerful. You just need to have the right combination of ingredients to see results.
Increase Workout Performance
The best and the biggest benefit of any pre-workout supplement is that it helps in improving your ability to train efficiently and harder. If you are trying to shed weight or build any muscle, these supplements will help you in reaching your highest point while working out and give your body more energy. This makes you feel good as you can dominate your workout.
Weight Loss And Metabolism
The pre-workout supplements also help you in losing weight as the ingredients present in the supplement boost your metabolism. Caffeine is the key ingredient of pre-workout supplements which also is a fat loss aid. Caffeine, when consumed, raises the thermogenesis and fat oxidation in the body which boosts metabolism and delays hunger. This is an indirect benefit of pre-workout supplements.
Recover Faster with Supplements
Pre-workout supplements also help you in recovering from an intense session of consumption after a workout. Every person who works out at the gym knows that the best and the only way of gaining muscle is to practice until failure. Supplement ingredients like creatine and monohydrate are helpful in reducing muscle soreness and also increase the glucose and the insulin levels after you finish working out.
Improve Concentration
For the supplement to show results, you must be focused on your mental health and optimize your results. These supplements help you in not becoming mentally strained after a workout. This is because of the caffeine content in the supplement.
How To Choose The Best Pre-Workout Supplements?
The first thing to see is which workout supplement is the best for you and these factors should be taken into consideration.
Alignment With Composition Goals
If you are in a cutting cycle then you have to make sure that your supplement is not high in carbohydrates or sugar. Extra macro ingredients in the supplement can add up to your stack if you do not monitor them. And if you are looking to add mass then you should look for a workout which has the right nutrients.
Exclusion Of Harmful Chemicals
Some manufacturers can use dangerous stimulants into the pre-workouts to give a high boost to your energy. The DMAA is a popular additive in pre-workout drinks before it was banned in 2012 as it causes chest tightness, elevated blood pressure and also heart attacks.
Long-lasting Ingredients
In a workout supplement, you should look for ingredients which are simple and keep you full for a long time. if there are words on your supplement label which are new and difficult to pronounce, then you should seek some clarification or look for a new option.
Bottom Line - Is it safe to purchase pre-workout supplements?
The information given above will be helpful enough to see the right ingredients in the supplements which are being currently used or you are planning to buy. For long-lasting endurance ingredients like caffeine, BCAA’s are good and for short intense sessions, beta-alanine and sodium are good. For weight training, a mix of creatine, caffeine and citrulline is very helpful. You may also experiment with the ingredients to see which mixture suits you the best. The important thing to keep in mind is to know which ingredients suit your body and help you in achieving your goal.
