04/26/2018
The majority of gym-goers and bodybuilders seem to try hard to keep their post-workout nutrition on point. There is no question that it is critical to your success, especially if you’re a beginner or an intermediate lifter. However, when it comes to long-term muscle-building and fitness goals, people often fail to recognize the importance of pre-workout supplementation. If followed properly, it will definitely help you to achieve noticeable gains in muscle strength and size.
Why is pre-workout supplementation so important?
Pre-workout supplementation is vital for keeping your body in an anabolic state during your workouts (the period of physical performance and muscular stress). What you take before your gym time can make or break our performance, muscle gains, and excessive fat burn.
In order to understand the importance of using pre-workout supplements, imagine working out on an empty stomach. This produces a dual negative effect:
- Glycogen stores get depleted rapidly, and once they are fully gone, your body starts burning muscle for available energy.
- Strength and intensity capacity suffer, preventing you from pushing yourself to the limit.
The benefits of pre-workout supplementation
Now that we’ve fortified the fact that pre-workout supplements are important for more quality workouts, we need to get to know them. A surprisingly large number of people don’t really know much about the key ingredients that make a healthy and good pre-workout supplement. Everyone who thinks of using them must be cautious of unhealthy stimulants that have flooded the market, created by those concerned only about making profits.
Increased workout efficiency and performance
One of the biggest benefits of pre-workout supplements is improving our ability to train more efficiently. Whether you’re trying to pack some muscle or lose a few pounds, pre-workout supplements will make sure that you have the power, energy and stamina to train at maximum efficiency.
More energy
Another obvious benefit of pre-workout supplementation is having more energy to spend during your workouts. The key energy-boosting ingredient is caffeine. It acts as a stimulant, provides an energy boost, and indirectly aids in weight loss. Remember that you should get a combination of ingredients that will give you the boost you need, while remaining safe to use on a regular basis.
Improved focus and concentration
The physical factor is important, but not the only part of the workout equation. The mental aspect is also important, because you need to remain focused and locked in to maximize your performance. Pre-workout supplementation can help you stay mentally on point during and speed up your recovery process.
Key ingredients in pre-workout supplements
These key ingredients have the most scientific research that back their use. If you want to start using pre-workout supplementation, the guys from Bodybuilding.com suggest you start with these ones:
- Caffeine – for energy
- BCAAs (Branched-Chain Amino Acids) – for fostering an anabolic environment and increasing protein synthesis
- Creatine monohydrate – for explosive strength
- Beta-alanine – for muscular endurance
Now that you know why pre-workout supplements are important, as well as how and which ones to use, it’s time to take action. Remember that you won’t get the most of them with an unbalanced diet and lack of sleep. Eat foods that are healthy sources of protein, carbs and good fat. With all these factors in check, you really don’t need dozens of ingredients to perform at your best.