Anyone looking for a little extra motivation in the gym should try pre-workout. Everyone has felt worn out before, especially after those arduous morning workouts. Anyone who has ever taken pre-workout knows that it can give you a little extra when you need it the most. It has a ton of advantages, but a lot of people are unsure if it leads to weight gain.
They can decide whether or not to take pre-workout by understanding what it does to the body with the aid of this article.
What is Pre-workout?
Pre-workout is a dietary supplement that many gym goers use to boost their energy and support during their workout. It is available in a variety of forms, including capsules and powder that can be combined with liquids. To give you more energy, stamina, and focus so you can crush your workout, these capsules or powders contain nutrients and stimulants.
What is in Pre-Workout?
Caffeine
The primary performance enhancer in pre-workout supplements is caffeine. You won’t notice any difference in performance if you don’t consume caffeine. That does not imply that other ingredients are not advantageous, though. Instead, it serves to highlight how powerful stimulant caffeine is.
That equates to roughly 2 to 2.5 cups of coffee. Although the research indicates a dose of 3-6 mg per kilogram of body weight is required to induce performance improvements, I can tell you from experience that lower doses are just as effective. especially if you are sensitive to caffeine.
Creatine
Although creatine does not improve performance in the short term, it is very good at building strength and power over time. A 14% increase in the number of reps completed in a set, for instance, or an 8% improvement in strength.
Pre-workout weight gain is most likely water weight from creatine if it occurs suddenly.
L-Citrulline
Your key to ultimate endurance or skin-splitting pumps is L-citrulline. While improving time to exhaustion during endurance exercise, it increases the number of reps to failure, lessens muscle soreness and fatigue, and soothes muscle fatigue.
It is a nitric oxide booster, which means that it widens your blood vessels to increase blood flow. Pre-workout supplements’ original nitric oxide-boosting component was L-arginine.
You do not, however, experience the intended performance benefit due to poor gut absorption. By converting to L-arginine in the kidneys and increasing the production of nitric oxide, L-citrulline gets around this issue.
Beta-Alanine
After taking your pre-workout supplement, beta-alanine is the cause of the tingling and itching in your skin. Your capacity for high-intensity exercise lasting 1-4 minutes is increased as a result. It accomplishes this by raising carnosine levels, which aid in removing hydrogen ions that accumulate and lead to fatigue during intense exercise.
Does Pre-workout Make You Gain Weight?
Too many calories consumed each day in excess of maintenance results in weight gain. For instance, having an excess of 2500 calories will cause weight gain if your body weight is maintained by eating 2000 calories per day.
Pre-workouts barely increase your daily calorie intake overall. By taking away a comparable number of calories from a meal, you can easily balance them. You should be aware, though, that creatine has the capacity to retain water, which will increase your weight on the scale.
When using creatine, you can usually anticipate a 1.2% rise in body weight from water retention. This is a good thing!
It is the way that you can significantly increase your strength and power. When creatine can enhance your performance to this degree, enabling you to increase muscle mass and burn more fat, you shouldn’t be concerned about the scale weight it may cause.
However, not everyone will experience this negative side effect of weight gain. Some weightlifters may not respond to creatine, meaning their body weight doesn’t change. I am a non-responder and taking creatine has not changed my body weight.
Side Effects of Ore-workout
Increase Cortisol Secretion
Your adrenal glands, which are in charge of secreting hormones, may be impacted by taking pre-workout. You may be familiar with the hormone cortisol, also known as the stress hormone. Working out already increases the amount of this hormone that is naturally produced by our body throughout the day.
Your body needs cortisol to function properly, but too much of it can cause problems like CVD, obesity, diabetes, PCOS, and metabolic syndrome because it raises blood sugar levels. Although having high blood sugar levels all the time is harmful, we require glucose to survive and fuel our brains.
Increase Consumption of Processed Ingredients
Pre-workout supplements are also laden with highly processed ingredients like food coloring, artificial flavoring, artificial sweeteners, and sugar. Ingredients like sucralose, saccharin, aspartame, maltodextrin, fructose, cane sugar, sorbitol, xylitol, or fructose are frequently utilized.
Ma Cause Digestive Issues
Pre-workout supplements may contain substances that can cause diarrhea, such as sodium bicarbonate, magnesium, creatine, and caffeine. You should drink 8 to 12 ounces of water along with your supplement to prevent these side effects.
Can Cause Headaches
Some pre-workout supplements contain the ingredient citrulline, which improves blood flow to your muscles and raises blood levels of nitric oxide.
Although this may help you perform better during exercise, the increased blood flow to your brain may have negative effects on your health, including blood pressure changes that may result in headaches and migraines. See how your body responds by experimenting with various supplements.
Check ingredient labels frequently and keep an eye out for supplements that have received the seal of approval from reputable testing organizations. High blood pressure, insomnia, anxiety, panic attacks, heart attacks, or jitters are some additional side effects linked to pre-workout supplements.
Taking Pre-Workout When Trying to Lose Weight
Find a Pre-Workout Without Creatine
This may be the simplest way to guarantee that you can take pre-workout without putting on weight. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of different pre-workouts. To ensure that the product you are buying contains the ingredients you want, all you need to do is read the label before you buy it.
Carefully Monitor Your Supplements and the Effects They Have on You
Perhaps you are head over heels for the pre-workout you are already taking. But it contains creatine. Everyone’s body is unique, so that might be acceptable. Simply monitor your outcomes carefully while taking the supplements you choose. There is no need to stop if your current actions are producing the outcomes you want! Changes to the pre-workout regimen may be necessary if you notice that you are not losing (or even gaining) weight.
Counting Calories
This advice might be the most crucial of all. Whatever pre-workout supplement you choose, limiting your calorie intake will prevent you from gaining weight. There are numerous tools available that can estimate your daily calorie requirements based on your age, gender, weight, and level of activity. Just make an effort to consume that many calories each day if maintaining your current weight is your goal. Creating a calorie deficit, or finishing the day with fewer calories than you started with, is necessary if your objective is to lose weight. This will guarantee that you don’t put on any weight that you don’t want to, regardless of the pre-workout supplement you take.
Listen to Your Body
Last but not least, you should familiarize yourself with how your body responds to various situations. If you’re taking a creatine supplement and notice that you have more energy than usual without losing weight, your body is obviously responding favorably. Everyone is unique, so if you enjoy the supplement you are taking and the outcomes it is giving you, then there is no harm in restricting your use of it.
You can use pre-workout supplements containing caffeine, such as green tea, black tea, or a cup of coffee if you find that your body is not responding well to other pre-workout supplements.
If you’re still unsure of where to begin, it may be helpful to seek medical guidance from a registered dietitian with experience in sports nutrition or a nutritionist who specializes in this area. They can assist you in selecting the ideal pre-workout supplement for your needs.
In order to be able to assist you in achieving your objectives, registered dietitians complete extensive education that teaches them about the intricate bodily mechanisms and how it responds to various substances.
Final Thought
Typically, excess calories from daily meals—rather than pre-workout—are what lead to weight gain. You might anticipate a 1.2% increase in body weight if your pre-workout contains creatine. This weight, though, is water, which is good for your performance.