5 Side Effects of Pre-Workout Supplements

6. Betaine

Betaine is an amino acid that helps in processing fat. It also helps your body in maintaining normal liver function. According to research, betaine supplementation can improve body composition, muscle size, and work capacity. However, it can’t improve your whole-body strength.

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What is the Benefit of Pre-workout Supplements?

As mentioned above, the pre-workout supplement aims to improve your workout quality. However, how the ingredients will help you depends on your product choice. These products contain caffeine and other elements that can increase your energy level. Below are some of those specific benefits include:

1. Boost Your Energy Level. 

You probably know how hard it is to power through a workout after a long day at work. If you are managing to do this without taking any supplements, kudos to you. However, can you give 100% while exercising? 

Well, people often feel so tired after a long day at the office or poor night sleep. Most people also don’t want to hit the gym after being so tired. Thus, their athletic performance suffers during the workout. 

However, if you take a pre-workout supplement, there are certain benefits you can have during a workout. For instance, taking a caffeine-containing supplement can help you fight fatigue and give you the necessary energy boost.

 2. Improve Your Athletic Performance.

If you take pre-workout supplements, you will have extra energy to finish your workout without getting tired. Also, you will be better prepared for faster, harder and longer training than you would normally be able to.

Better performance in the gym means you will be burning more calories and getting more muscle mass. Thus, you will reach your health and fitness goal faster and more efficiently.

3. Stay Focused.

The benefits of using pre-workout supplements are not limited to physical performance. Workout supplement drinks can also make you mentally much sharper and more concentrated. 

Workouts have a direct effect on your mental health. If you constantly feel tired, you may lose motivation in the early stages of your training. 

The thing a workout supplement does is that it gives you an extra energy boost. After taking it, it allows you to clear your mind and also keep your eye on the prize. All of the pre-workout supplements contain caffeine, and caffeine helps you concentrate on the task at hand.

4. Speed up Your Recovery Time.

Fatigue and muscle soreness can make you feel incredibly accomplished after a serious workout. However, they can slow down your recovery time. As a result, you will need more time to return to the gym for your next workout.

However, if you take a pre-workout supplement, you will not need extra time to recover. The ingredients in a pre-workout supplement can help your sore muscles recover more rapidly. Faster recovery time means less downtime between workouts. It also means that your workout will be more efficient each and every time.

Well, now you know about pre-workout supplements and their ingredients and about the benefits of pre-workout supplements. 

Now, are you wondering, is there any side effect of taking a pre-workout supplement? Like other energy-boosting products, a pre-workout supplement has a few side effects. Read on to know about the possible pre-workout side effects and how you can prevent the side effects or improve your condition.

What are the Pre-workout Side Effects?

Nowadays, the pre-workout supplement has become increasingly popular. It is because it gives a user the much-needed energy boost for the workout. It also decreases our healing time and improves our athletic performance. However, these products are not all about the benefits, and they may have a few side effects. 

These products may have serious side effects on your health. Below are some potential pre-workout side effects.

1. Insomnia

Most of the gyms in the UK are open until late at nights. It gives a chance to the late-night shift worker a chance to get a late-night workout. After having worked all day, you might be tired and lacking the energy to hit the gym. Then you could take a pre-workout supplement to boost your energy.

Taking this pre-workout supplement before a training session at night can lead to all sorts of troubles. Most of these products are overpowered with caffeine products. They usually contain 200-400 mg caffeine. That is equal to around four cups of coffee. 

If you take a supplement at night, it could cause you to lay awake in bed all night long. So, if planning to do some exercise at night, you should not use them. 

Everyone metabolises caffeine at different rates. So, you can take them before 8 pm and be ok with it. However, if your caffeine metabolism rate is too slow, you should take it before evening. Also, you can lower the dosages; this way, the effect will be less drastic.

2. Diarrhoea

Unfortunately, you can have diarrhoea after taking a pre-workout supplement. And this can be quite embarrassing. However, there are several reasons for you to have it. 

First thing, people don’t know how to use them properly. They often take it on an empty stomach, and this can cause you to have diarrhoea. Last but not least, there are some ingredients in the supplement that can have a laxative effect on your stomach. So, if you have a sensitive stomach, you might have to go to the bathroom after taking them. 

Therefore, if you are facing this side effects of pre-workout supplements, you can add more water to the solution. Also, you can drink half of the recommended volume. However, if this doesn’t work out for you, use another brand’s product. 

3. Dehydration

Are you suddenly become thirstier than normal after taking pre-workout supplements? This is because certain ingredients in pre-workout supplements can pull water and excrete it.

Some products’ ingredients are put in there on purpose to help with weight loss. So, if you consume in high doses, it can cause dehydration. Dehydration is also linked to headaches.

The remedy for dehydration is to drink a lot of water, even if you are not thirsty. So, make sure you are hydrated when taking these performance-boosting products. Because failing to keep hydrated can seriously damage your overall performance.

4. High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is one of the pre-workout side effects. All stimulants boost your heart rate, therefore, increase your blood pressure. For example, caffeine in pre-workout supplements can increase blood pressure.

So, if you have or are aware of a health problem relating to your blood pressure, you should completely avoid them. Also, consult with your doctor before taking a pre-workout supplement. For instance, if your doctor tells you that you have high blood pressure, then you should avoid workout products that have stimulants in their ingredients.

You can measure your heart rate before and after the workout. This is really helpful if you previously suffered from sporadic BP problems.  

5. Tingling Sensations

Another pre-workout side effects are a tingly or prickly sensation throughout your body. However, everyone’s body is different from one another. It also depends on your sensitivity to the product’s ingredients. 

The pre-workout ingredients such as niacin, beta-alanine, or vitamin B3 are responsible for the tingling sensations. However, if you are feeling tingly or prickly, you should not worry too much about it. Also, the tingling sensation would stop after a short time. 

Although you can take lower doses of Vitamin B3 and beta-alanine if you don’t like the tingling sensations. This can help you in avoiding these tingling sensations.

Should You Take Pre-workout Supplements?  

Many people often ask themselves if they need to take the supplements. Well, to get benefits from the exercise, you don’t need to take a supplement product. However, these supplements can improve your exercise capacity.

So, if you are interested in trying a formula, look for a stamp from an independent lab. The testing companies in the UK are ConsumerLab.com, USP, and NSF International. They ensure product quality. So, look for the stamps from these companies when buying. 

Also, check the ingredients when buying a pre-workout supplement for avoiding any side effects.

Conclusion

The bottom line is that you don’t need a pre-workout supplement to do exercise. However, a pre-workout supplement can improve your athletic performance. Also, they are not all about benefits. 

There are certain pre-workout side effects of these supplements you can have after drinking them. So, you can choose nutritious, energy-boosting foods such as bananas and coffee instead to fuel your workout. 

Also, you can do some science-based bodyweight workout to be physically fit. From a science-based bodyweight workout, you can build muscle without going to the gym. Also, you will learn about the secret of different techniques. So, if you are interested, you can take an online course from One Education on science-based bodyweight workout.