Pre-workout products are often marketed as supplements that can help boost energy, focus and endurance. Many of these supplements contain ingredients like caffeine, creatine, beta-alanine and amino acids, which, when combined, may have a positive effect on exercise performance.
Pre-workout supplements often also contain ingredients that may help to increase your body’s nitric oxide production, which helps enhance blood flow to your muscles, and theoretically, improve performance during workouts.
“Studies show that pre-workouts can benefit muscle gain, including increased upper and lower body strength and overall power output,” notes Melissa Mitri, a registered dietitian and weight loss expert. “This means you may be able to lift heavier weights with improved strength and power, leading to more significant muscle gain and retention.”
Common pre-workout ingredients and their possible benefits include:
- Caffeine: When taken before exercise, pre-workouts containing caffeine may boost anaerobic power performance; the quick, explosive energy needed for activities like sprinting or lifting heavy weights.
“Caffeine is a popular performance enhancer, as it can increase your alertness and focus, enhance endurance and stamina and improve overall strength and power, particularly during higher-intensity exercises like cycling or running,” says Mitri.
- Creatine: Creatine improves workout performance by increasing the availability of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), your body’s primary energy source for muscle contractions, leading to enhanced strength, power and muscle endurance.
“Creatine is an amino acid located in your body’s skeletal muscles and is one of the most well-researched supplements for athletic performance,” says Mitri. “Many people report feeling less muscle fatigue and an increase in short-term muscle performance after taking creatine.”
- Beta-alanine: Beta-alanine can boost workout performance by increasing carnosine (a peptide) levels in muscles.
“Beta-alanine helps prevent and delay lactic acid build-up, which may enhance workout performance by allowing you to exercise longer before you reach your lactic acid threshold, or the maximum amount of lactic acid your body can handle before exhaustion” explains Mitri.
- Amino acids: Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. They may enhance workout performance by supporting muscle repair, recovery and growth while delivering energy during exercise. The branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) leucine, isoleucine and valine are essential amino acids critical for muscle protein synthesis.
“Including BCAAs in [a] pre-workout can help you recover quicker after your workouts, including feeling less sore the next day,” says Mitri. “Research shows BCAAS can help reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), allowing you to get back to your next workout sooner.”