I consume pre workout before, well quite obviously, a workout. There are various ingredients in pre workout and differ by brand. The overall goal of pre workout is to enhance performance. I personally take C4 Ripped but am a little skeptical if pre workouts really do the trick. My pre workout that I use, as stated on the website is aimed for energy, weight loss and strength. Pre workout is notorious for the caffeine high and rush that is provided 20-30 minutes after taking it. Many people are unaware of what every ingredient in pre workout does. But the overall question here is how does it really work and what is it doing to your body?

One of the main ingredients in pre workout, and one that is consistent across the board amongst brands (unless otherwise stated) is caffeine. As said in this article, “caffeine has been shown to exert positive effects for both endurance and strength related activity”. Caffeine is a popular ingredient in all pre workouts for this very reason, that it helps endurance and has also  been said to also have weight loss properties. Caffeine, as most people know affects the central nervous system and increases alertness and focus. This is crucial when getting a good workout in and being able to focus on the task at hand (lifting) as opposed to other things.

There are some negativities to taking pre workout. One negativity is that users don’t realize how potent pre workout is and may use too much due to it being in a powdered form. In an article that discussed the FDAs concerns about pre workout,  it stated that the FDA said, “The difference between a safe amount and a toxic dose of caffeine in these pure powdered products is very small. Furthermore, safe quantities of these products can be nearly impossible to measure accurately with common kitchen measuring tools. Volume measures, such as teaspoons, are not precise enough to calculate how many milligrams of caffeine are in the serving size.” Regarding that, there may be a significant hard to the body if someone ingests too much pre workout. Below is a label found on the pre workout I use that I found. There are a lot of precautions and it directly states “do not use this product within 6 hours of ingesting any other source of caffeine or other stimulants.” My belief is that many people ignore that statement and will have coffee or caffeine in the morning along with this during a workout. There are a lot of precautions that should be taken but most likely aren’t being taken.  Caffeine is only one of the ingredients listed, one other main ingredient commonly found is creatine. I opt for a creatine-free pre workout but many people trying to gain mass use creatine. The goal of creatine is boasting muscle strength and power. Chad Kerksick stated in a Men’s Health article that, “because creatine is an “osmotically active substance,” it pulls water into your muscle cells, which increases protein synthesis”. So in essence creatine creates water build up and fills the muscles up with water, which can cause weight gain.

Another common ingredient is beta alanine, which is intended to delay fatigue of the muscles. Beta alanine from what I found here, in essence allows you to work harder and longer. In an article I found it stated when combined with creatine, “blood levels will be increased at a time when blood flow is increased and redistributed to active muscles, and thus should promote greater overall delivery of the substances to muscle.” So creatine and beta alanine when combined increases muscle strength and can keep you working harder and faster.

Although there are negatives that can come from taking pre-workout, when used in increments (ex. 2 weeks on 1 week off), pre workout can be very beneficial, but if used inappropriately the body will either become adapt to the effects or have other negative effects.