Pre-Workout Option

Do you feel like if you had a little bit of a boost pre-workout that your workout may be able to jump up a notch?

This is normal, especially after you begin to develop a bit of a training history. I am not a fan of most supplements however, pre-workouts may actually be the worst. They are typically filled with stimulants and have a ton of poor ingredients that may actually be doing more harm than good. The supplement industry in many respects is unregulated. Throw some powder in a plastic container with a cool looking label on it and it seems to be just marketing from that point forward. If you have tried a pre-workout before that made you feel jittery or nauseous it is not your imagination in all likelihood. I would consider trying this instead.

Citrulline/arginine capsule. 750mg-I have one from nutricost that is 3rd party tested that I use and would recommend.

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda-This is super cheap and does a great job of buffering lactic acid buildup. I know that I have been finishing off a set and once that burn creeps in to the muscle I know the end is near for that set. When this happens on all of your intense sets it can make it difficult to progress your strength. I use the Bob's Red Mill brand and would also recommend it.

I like to include creatine in my pre-workout supp also, regular dose of 5mgs with the baking soda as well. I normally mix it with water and will take a tsp of raw honey with it on the backend. A little bit of simple sugar seems to get all the good stuff into the blood stream and create the energy that I need to squeeze out those last two reps.

The only other thing that I may add on occasion is a low dose of magnesium glycinate in capsule form. Think between 25-50% of your RDA. For the one that I take a full dose of roughly 100% of your RDA would be 4 capsules, I normally take 1-2. I take this to help the muscles relax a bit.

I have normally already had coffee at this point so if you are a coffee drinker I would encourage you to stick with whatever you do here. Typically, 100-200mgs of caffeine is all that is needed for increased performance.

To recap:

1/2 tsp of baking soda

1 scoop of creatine (5grams)

mix that in water and drink it

1 capsule L-Arginine/Citrulline (this promotes blood flow)

1 tsp of of raw honey

2 capsules of magnesium glycinate

cup of coffee

If you have never done anything like this expect a noticeable bump in performance. I wouldn't up too much of anything here once you adapt to using it. It is still working, you may not feel the difference quite as much. I know that I definitely felt the difference when I included the baking soda. I hope this helps if you decide to try it, I know that it helped me!

#nutrition #pre-workout