4 Essential Ingredients For a Pre-Workout

4 Essential Ingredients For a Pre-Workout

This post is intended for anyone who takes pre-workout or is considering taking it. For those of you who do not know whether you should take pre-workout or not; I will say the following. If you find yourself struggling to get through your workouts due to fatigue from a long day, caloric depletion, or just simply since your workouts are becoming longer and more grueling, a pre-workout supplement may be something for you to consider adding to your repertoire. This, along with house music and a 5-minute viewing of pictures of your ex-girlfriend/boyfriend prior to your lift, are clinically proven methods for you to make unmatchable gains (Just kidding about the latter two).

If you consume an adequate amount of carbohydrates prior to your workout and still find yourself struggling to get a “pump,” or that skin tearing feeling of your muscles being full, you may also want to consider a pre-workout. To simplify it as much as possible, this feeling of your muscles being pumped is an indicator that there is an adequate amount of blood volume in there; more blood in the muscles equates to more growth.


I only recommend pre-workout supplements to those that have been working out for at least six months or more. If you have not been working out for more than half a year, your workouts are not that grueling. Sorry, but that is the harsh reality of it. 

So for any of you that are considering buying a pre-workout, or for any of you that currently take pre-workout but want to be sure that you are buying the most effective tub on the shelves, read on. I’ll fill you in on what NEEDS to be in your anabolic elixir:

Caffeine

Dosage: 1.0 – 2.0 x BW mg.
Although there are many sources of caffeine, it is still essential that your pre-workout contains it. Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance part of the methylxanthine class and serves as a central nervous system stimulant. And yes, it works. All pre-workouts should contain caffeine because it will have a thermogenic effect on the body, synergize well with other nootropic (cognitive enhancing) ingredients, and will cause an increase in focus, arousal, alertness, and reaction time. It improves performance in aerobic, and anaerobic conditions, and actually delays the onset of muscular fatigue.

L-Citrulline

Dosage: 4,000 mg
L-Citrulline is an amino acid that serves as a vasodilator and a very potent one too, for that matter. L-Citrulline is one of the three dietary amino acids in the urea cycle, alongside L-arginine and L-Ornithine. It is used as a sports performance and cardiovascular health supplement which results in reduced fatigue and improved endurance for both aerobic and anaerobic prolonged exercise. After supplementation, L-Citrulline is converted into arginine in the kidneys. Supplemental L-arginine provides a spike of L-arginine in plasma, while supplemental L-citrulline increases arginine plasma levels over a longer period of time. L-arginine and L-ornithine are subject to reduced absorption when supplemented in doses of 10g or more, which can result in diarrhea.
L-Citrulline does not have this side-effect, and since it increases plasma levels of all three amino acids, it is generally preferred as a supplement over L-arginine.

2-Aminoisoheptane OR 1-3 Dimethylalanine OR 4-amino-2-methylpentane OR Synephrine

Dosage: 100 – 150 mg; 10 – 60 mg; 10 – 60 mg; 10 – 20 mg.
So first, you are probably wondering why could I not have just picked one over the other? Second, what the heck are each of these four chemically sounding things? The four of these are ALL central nervous system stimulants, and all four of them are super potent. Without getting into the specifics of how each of these works, I will say one thing; if any of your pre-workouts have 1 of these 4 ingredients, YOU WILL BE WIRED.

I subscribe to this philosophy; if you are going to put something in your body, it might as well actually do something substantial and noticeable. I do not believe people should take pre-workout before every workout. Along with that, I do not think people should take a weak pre-workout. Instead, people should utilize powerful pre-workouts, granted they are healthy and experienced in order to get over plateaus, push through longer workouts, and perform after long days at work. Thus, a pre-workout must be powerful, and for this to be the case, it needs one of these four bad boys in it.

Beta-Alanine

Dosage: 2,000 – 5,000 mg
THE TINGLES BABY. Many users that take beta-alanine report a tingling, itchy, super empowering feeling when taking beta-alanine. It has been shown to enhance muscular endurance. Many people report being able to perform one or two additional reps in the gym when training in sets of 8–15 repetitions. Beta-alanine supplementation can also improve moderate- to high-intensity cardiovascular exercise performance, like rowing or sprinting. When it is ingested, it turns into the molecule carnosine, which acts as an acid buffer in the body. Carnosine is stored in cells and released in response to drops in pH. Increased stores of carnosine can protect against diet-induced drops in pH (which might occur from ketone production in ketosis, for example), as well as offer protection from exercise-induced lactic acid production.

So, there you have it folks, the 4 components that a pre-workout must have, in my opinion. You can check out some pre-workouts we carry over here at www.filteredformulas.com and pick up one of the amazing pre-workouts we carry, but I would never push my product upon anyone, so do as you choose. There are tons of other great pre-workouts out there that have those ingredients in them. Enjoy your Monday people.

 

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