Pre-workout supplements aka pre-workouts have gained massive popularity amongst fitness freaks in the last few years. They have made a prominent position for themselves in the supplement industry. In today's scenario, you can easily find them in the supplements stack of a majority of gym rats and top-class athletes.
Pre-workouts are known for their ability to push the body beyond its limits during intense training sessions.
In this post, we will be throwing light on whether the use of a pre-workout supplement can help in building muscles or not. So if you are a bit confused regarding the effectiveness of a pre-workout supplement in terms of muscle growth, this post is going to be for you.
What does a pre-workout supplement contain?
Before discussing whether a pre-workout supplement promotes muscle growth or not, let's have an insight into the composition of a pre-workout. Here, we will let you know the prime ingredients that are contained in a pre-workout supplement. Let's have a look at them:-
Caffeine
Good-quality pre-workout supplements contain 150-300 mg of caffeine per serving. This fetches your muscle cells with an ample amount of energy to go through your intense training sessions without getting excessively fatigued.
Amino acids
Muscle fibers require amino acids to repair themselves. The presence of amino acids in a pre-workout supplement keeps your body in an anabolic condition throughout your workouts.
Beta-alanine
Beta-alanine is known for its ability to reduce fatigue and promote muscle recovery. Owing to this reason, beta-alanine fetches your body with adequate energy to perform high-intensity exercises.
Creatine
The presence of creatine in a pre-workout supplement contributes to strength gains. It aids in increasing lean muscle mass on one hand and promotes muscle recovery on the other.
Can using a pre-workout assist in building muscle?
Well, if your training, diet, and recovery are on point, using a pre-workout can significantly help you to gain muscle. It enables you to train with more intensity for longer periods which translates into greater muscle growth.
Muscle building takes place when muscles are subjected to stress with which they are not familiar. Our bodies have the tendency to adapt which enables our muscles to grow when we subject them to stress. When you use a pre-workout before going through your training sessions, it simply changes the way you feel while working out. It makes you feel more driven toward your workouts.
By supplying your muscle cells with more energy, pre-workout supplements enable you to perform better and for a longer period of time. All this positively contributes toward more muscle growth and fat loss. If you are training to escalate your endurance levels, consuming a pre-workout supplement would also enable you to do that.
To a large extent, muscle growth is dependent on whether they are getting adequately stimulated or not. For instance, if you perform an exercise for 10-12 reps, it's the last 2-3 reps that make the muscle grow. If you fail to complete those last few reps, you won't be gaining the most out of your training sessions. So if you are one of those who train hard but fall short when it comes to hitting the last 2-3 reps in a set, a pre-workout supplement could serve you pretty well.
In general, it can also be said that taking a pre-workout supplement does have a significant impact on your exercise performance. It increases the blood flow in your muscles which enhances their ability to perform with a greater intensity which leads to more muscle growth.
Despite all these, you may not expect to have superhuman levels of strength gains and muscle growth by just using a pre-workout supplement. Those results are primarily dependent on your training routine, diet plans, and recovery. Even if they are on point, using a pre-workout supplement would gradually facilitate muscle growth, not immediately.
A word of caution
A pre-workout supplement can be a great addition to your current supplements stack. But you should ensure to use it as prescribed. Its dosage(s) can easily let you fall into the temptation of consuming it more. But the results that may come afterward in such a case would be severe.
There is a direct correlation between a pre-workout and blood pressure. Consuming pre-workout increases your blood pressure and its excessive consumption can be over-stimulating at times. All these can have catabolic effects on muscle growth and strength gains.
You must also be cautious regarding which pre-workout supplement you are going to spend your bucks on. In general, any pre-workout supplement that has patented ingredients, has been third-party tested, and does not use proprietary blends on their respective labels can get you the best bang for your bucks.
On the contrary, you must avoid pre-workouts that have larger amounts of artificial sweeteners. Their presence in your pre-workout supplement may add flavor to it but at times they lead to bloating, gas and even diarrhoea. All these have adverse impacts on both your training performance and results.
Final Words
It can be concluded that pre-workouts can surely help in promoting muscle gains. But to get the most out of their usage, you would have to make sure that you don't over-rely on them.
You can use a pre-workout as a supplement that can assist muscle growth. But you should not treat it as something without which your training program won't be effective. Always remember that moderation is the key. And if you use a pre-workout supplement in moderation it will surely serve you in your very best interests.
