As much as many of us wouldn’t like to admit it, we’re probably over-reliant on caffeine to help push us through a workout.
And while necking a cup of coffee is all well and good for a while, it often turns out to be a gateway drug for harder stuff. Yes, I’m talking about pre-workout. While I jest, taking your first pre-workout is somewhat of a strange sensation. The itchy feeling on your skin caused by the Beta-Alanine mixed with an extreme caffeine rush makes you feel like you could punch through a wall like Flash Gordon. But is it actually worth it?
Ever-honest PT and influencer James Smith addressed that question in a recent YouTube video. And while he, a pre-workout user himself, was largely positive about the effects caffeine can have on powering a good session, he explained why an over-reliance can point to flaws in your general fitness regime.
James Smith said: “The cons of pre-workout are that you can build a reliance. I’ve definitely been reliant on them before. I’ve got to the gym and been like, ‘what’s the point of even walking into that place if I’ve not had a pre-workout’.
“They can also hinder your sleep. Sometimes you can crash afterwards, but it depends on what’s more important to you; your productivity at work or your gains from the gym. They can get quite expensive – a lot of them are just caffeine powders. There are other alternatives like caffeine chewing gum.”
He added: “In the grand scheme of things if you want to use a pre-workout to get the most out of your training then I’m not going to tell you not to. But before you’re about to train and you’ve even considered taking a pre-workout, ask yourself this – how much do I want to train out of 10?
“If you feel like a 3 out of 10, ask yourself could it be your sleep, could it be your nutrition or stress? My first point of call would be don’t have a 3 out of 10 urge to go train and then just mask it with a couple of scoops of pre-workout. Instead, work on the things that are making you feel like you don’t want to train.”
Adding a parting dig at the dry-scoopers of the world, James, with all his usual charm and candour, said it makes people look like “a bit of a tw*t”.
