IGoing to the gym and working out isn’t for everyone especially when you would rather lay in bed or take a nap. After a long day of classes, it is very hard to have the motivation to get up and go workout. One thing that helps a lot of people is pre workout. Pre workouts are becoming ever so popular among athletes and people who work out. The purpose of taking them seems very beneficial because if you’re taking time out of your day to go work out, you obviously want to get the most out of your workout. Pre workout supplements are supposed to help you stay focused and increase your energy levels. Most of these pre workouts I’ve seen contain a lot of caffeine and some sort of creatine and then a bunch of ingredients I don’t really know. My question is do these pre workouts actually help or are they all just placebo and make you think that they help?
A study done by the International Journal of Medical Sciences shows the effect of pre workout supplements on subjects. They did a double blind random placebo trial, they used healthy men and women who were undergoing an exercise program. They looked at the effects it had on the subjects overall health, their performance and the safety of the subjects. The subjects were to maintain around the same food and fluid intake and rest for certain periods of time before they were brought in to workout. The study showed that the subjects felt as if they were more focused and that the preworkout helped them throughout their workouts, but as far as the physical tests done, there was no significant improvement shown to the subjects muscle mass or fat tissue.
All in all, pre workouts seem to be more of a placebo effect then an actual benefit physically. Personally I feel like pre workouts help me to stay focused, in the gym. I don’t think that this study will steer me away from taking pre workouts because I feel that they benefit me, even though it may only be a placebo.
A ton of my friends use all this stuff, you name it: C4, creatine and whatever else. I personally thinks it has sort of an energy drink effect causing me to not feel as well while I am doing my workout. I feel as if this is really a matter of opinion because as you said the studies do not seem to show much. I personally stay away from this stuff but I can see the benefits for others.
Pre workout has always interested me because my guy friends use it a lot. Not only do they take it before a work out, but they have snorted it before and drank with it (my friends are idiots). When I go to the gym with them, I opt out of trying it because my body does not handle caffeine well. I never realized that it could just be a placebo but it makes sense!
As always, be careful when taking pre workouts since there can be health implications. Attached is a link that provides risks and alternatives.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/1003313-preworkouts-bad-you/