Ladies, long gone are the times by which we avoid the gym’s weight area. In truth, as of late, glance over on the lifting section and you may find many ladies training hard.
Because somewhere in recent workout history, a lot of us discovered the enjoyment of pumping iron and constructing muscle. Increasingly women are also realizing that they may not get big and ponderous overnight. The wonder is that the more muscle you construct, the more sculpted and toned you look.
With this shift in training mindset, it’s grow to be pretty common to see females dripping sweat as they bench press and deadlift with the very best of the gym bros.
But similar to guys, so as for girls to work as hard as possible, we have to ensure our supplements align with our goals. One such complement? Pre-workout, which has the power to enhance your energy, power, and focus, ultimately resulting in more muscle.
So, ladies, this one’s for you. It’s every little thing you could know concerning the complement you ought to be taking!
Table of Contents:
- What Is Pre Workout?
- What Does Pre Workout Do?
- Common Pre Workout Ingredients
- Different Varieties of Pre Workout Products
- Advantages of Pre Workouts For Women
- Women’s Guidelines For Taking Pre Workout Supplements
- Special Considerations For Taking Pre Workout Supplements
What Is Pre-Workout?
Pre-workouts, which frequently are available powder or pill form, include a wide range of ingredients that lead to a rise in exercise performance.
Stimulants, like caffeine and green tea, are a number of the hottest pre-workout ingredients as they’re what get you hyped. As well as, many pre workouts include various muscle buffers to balance the pH level within the muscle and mitigate the burning sensation a lot of us feel after we’re lifting.
For probably the most part, these changes are acute and transient, meaning you’ll experience them temporarily until the pre workout wears off. As for when to take pre workout, the reply lies within the complement’s name. You bought it – before your workout!
The underside line here: Pre workouts are designed to enhance your immediate performance within the gym.
What Does Pre Workout Do?
So, we just discussed how pre workout improves your athletic performance. But, how?
The vast majority of pre-workouts will include ingredients that boost your energy, improve your focus, and increase your power, strength, and endurance, resulting in more significant gains within the gym.
These physiological responses can lead you to exercise longer, more intensely, and lift heavier and with more force. Nonetheless, the particular reactions your pre-workout elicits will depend upon the ingredients in your pre-workout.
Let’s speak about probably the most common ones.
Common Pre-Workout Ingredients
We’ll hit on probably the most common and popular pre-workout ingredients. It is important to notice that these usually are not all-encompassing, so for more information, try our article that does a deep dive into pre-workout ingredients.
1) Caffeine:
Caffeine is probably the most common ingredient utilized in pre-workouts, and you’ll be able to even buy caffeine pills as a sole complement because it really works awesomely.
Many individuals associate caffeine with their morning cup of coffee. It wakes you up and provides you energy – what’s not to love?
But caffeine’s advantages don’t end there. It could actually directly improve exercise performance, helping to delay fatigue, increase your workload, and reduce your rate of perceived exertion¹. And, as icing in your caffeine cake, recent studies have even shown it might probably help anaerobic output, which is helpful for strength training and power efforts.
When talking about probably the most effective pre workout ingredients, caffeine is well in the highest 5. You will find tons of great caffeinated pre-workout options on our list of the 15 Best Pre Workout Supplements! In search of a selected suggestion? I’d suggest NutraBio Pre, an efficient pre workout with 350mg of caffeine per serving.
2) Beta-Alanine & Muscle Buffers:
Beta-alanine is one other highly regarded ingredient. Beta alanine is the ingredient that causes your pre workout to make your skin tingle and itch.
Beta-alanine works as a muscle buffer, meaning it helps to maintain a healthy pH balance, which it does by allowing your body to supply more of the compound carnosine, your primary muscle buffer.
So to be clear, beta-alanine doesn’t directly work as a muscle buffer. Reasonably, it is the limiting compound within the synthesis of carnosine. Subsequently, pre workouts with beta-alanine lets you produce more carnosine, which in turn maintains the muscle’s pH level.
Beta-alanine is one other great pre workout ingredient. Not only does it work, nevertheless it works well.
3) Branched Chain Amino Acids & Essential Amino Acids:
Branched chain amino acids (BCAA) and essential amino acids (EAA) are the constructing blocks of muscle protein synthesis. In truth, protein is a term used to explain a compound that has all 20 amino acids. Which means protein is just amino acids.
By way of muscle growth, a few of these amino acids (BCAAs and EAAs) are more necessary than others. BCAAs and EAAs are put in pre workouts to assist support muscle recovery and reduce muscle soreness. It’s like preemptively feeding your body with the supplies it must support muscle growth.
Concerned about BCAAs specifically? We have rounded up the 7 Best BCAAs For Women To Help Muscle Growth & Recovery.
4) Nitric Oxide Booster:
Nitric oxide boosters can increase the production of nitric oxide. When larger amounts are present, a nitric oxide booster will widen blood vessels to permit more blood flow. In consequence, they provide a tremendous “pump” and can assist support harder, longer workouts.
Common nitric oxide boosters chances are you’ll find on a pre-workout ingredient list include Agmatine Sulfate, L-Citrulline, and Beet Root.
If you happen to’re eager about nitric oxide boosters (hey, ladies get to look jacked too!), try our articles on the 7 Best Pump Pre Workout Supplements and the 7 Best Nitric Oxide Supplements!
5) Nootropics:
Nootropics are brain supplements. These compounds, which include ingredients like Alpha-GPC, Theanine, Huperzine-A, and Tyrosine, provide energy by improving cognitive function. Take into consideration how awesome and focused you are feeling after an awesome night’s sleep, and that is the effect nootropics can have.
Nootropics are especially prevalent in non-stimulant workouts (we’ll speak about this more shortly) and are designed to extend your focus, awareness, and mood, improve clarity, and create smooth, clean energy to fuel your workouts.
6) Other Popular Ingredients:
The list of pre-workout ingredients goes on and on, but I do need to mention two other ingredients that will pop up. First, carbs are a primary ingredient in some pre-workouts, and so they’re included for a reason.
If you happen to’re performing a very long workout (think endurance) or a high-intensity workout that lasts for quite some time, pre-workouts with carbs can assist refill your glycogen stores. This will likely even be helpful when you’re hitting the gym and have not had anything to eat in quite some time as it might probably provide help to feel a bit more energized.
The opposite ingredient I wanted to debate is creatine. Women will find creatine just as helpful as guys do, because it has been proven to assist construct more muscle. One thing to notice here: Creatine must be taken on daily basis, and also you need not take pre-workout on daily basis (especially on days where you do not hit the gym).
My suggestion could be to select up one among these 7 Best Creatine Supplements and start taking it day by day. After which when you like the concept of adding a bit more creatine into the combination on days once you take your pre-workout, try these 9 Best Pre Workouts With Creatine.
Different Types Of Pre Workout Products
The excellent news with pre workouts? You’ve options! The bad news? You’ve got an awesome amount of them.
Let’s dig into the different sorts of pre-workout products, so you’ll be able to hone in on what is going to work best for you.
1) Pre-Workout Powder:
Probably the most common pre-workout is in powder form. The overwhelming majority come this manner, allowing you to scoop as much or little as you wish. It’s low cost and effective. Plus, these are inclined to are available awesome flavors and taste great, particularly these 7 Best Tasting Pre Workouts!
Pro Tip: Try mixing your pre-workout in fruit juice. This allows you to make a delicious drink and get in some carbs to fuel high-intensity exercise.
2) Pre-Workout Drinks:
Pre-workout in drink form is an alternative choice. These are simply the powder form that come pre-mixed for you. So far as what’s higher, drink or powder, it’s the exact same thing assuming you are using the identical product.
Since it’s pre-made, these will cost quite a bit greater than if bought in powder form. On the flip side, they’re super convenient.
While I would not make this my go-to option, they’re great for days once you’re in a rush and wish something you’ll be able to quickly grab in your way out the door.
3) Stim vs Non-Stimulant Pre Workout:
Stim pre-workouts seek advice from pre-workouts that stimulate the central nervous system. The very best example of that is caffeine. These are your traditional pre-workouts and what people generally consider when getting “hyped” for the gym.
Over the past few years, there was a rise in gym goers who need a pre workout without the jitters that may sometimes come from caffeine. And that was how non-stimulant pre workout was born.
Non-stim pre workouts include ingredients like nootropics, muscle buffers, and nitric oxide boosters. Wondering if non-stim pre-workout works? I can answer that here. It does!
Some women prefer the non-stimulant option because it provides the right increase of focus and energy. If you happen to fall into this bracket, try this round-up of the very best caffeine-free pre-workouts.
3 Advantages Of Pre-Workouts For Women
Ladies, when you’re wondering whether pre-workout is for you, try these 3 advantages.
1) Provide Extra Energy For An Awesome Workout:
Probably the most common reason women (and men) should take a pre-workout complement is just for the energy boost it provides. The overwhelming majority of pre-workouts include stimulants and other compounds that directly result in you having more energy.
Having a top quality pre-workout complement can assist improve your energy levels on days where you are either not feeling it, are drained, or know you’ve a tough workout you actually need to crush.
Women are crazy busy. Trust me, as someone juggling a family and profession, I get it. I also know that after an extended day, hitting the gym for squats sounds lower than appealing. But you already know what helps me push through? Well, first, quite a lot of willpower, after which second, my favorite pre workout.
This is very necessary if you’ve a troublesome workout scheduled. Perhaps it’s an upper body day, or perhaps you’ve heavy squats programmed. Lifting is not all the time fun, but in an effort to make progress, it must get done. Pre-workout supplements make that a bit easier by delaying fatigue and providing you with the energy boost you wish.
2) Can Help With Weight Loss:
To be clear, a pre-workout isn’t traditionally referred to as a fat-loss complement, nor should it’s. Pre-workouts may be very powerful, and using them specifically as a fat burner is dangerous. If you happen to’re searching for a fat burner, you are betting off actually using a fat burner.
With that said, pre-workout can provide help to drop pounds. Keep in mind that the important goal of pre-workout is to can help you go farther and harder. Mainly, it’ll provide help to do more work.
This ultimately amounts to constructing more muscle mass and burning more calories. In other words, it might probably assist in constructing muscle mass or losing fat, each of which lead to raised body composition.
And when you’re searching for solid proof, this exact finding was concluded in a 2022 study, which checked out the outcomes of using a complement called NO-Shotgun for 28 days². NO-Shotgun is a multi-ingredient pre-workout and has nearly every effective ingredient, reminiscent of caffeine, beta-alanine, essential amino acids, and Tyrosine.
At the top of the study, the group that took the pre-workout increased their muscle strength and mass and myofibrillar protein content more significantly than the group taking a placebo.
As well as, a 10-week study from the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that sedentary men using a pre-workout, Celsius, were capable of improve their exercise adaptations from understanding, leading to raised body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, and endurance performance².
Concerned about a pre-workout to support your weight-loss goals? Try the 8 Best Pre-Workout Supplements For Weight Loss.
3) Helps You Maintain An Energetic Lifestyle:
Attending to the gym sporadically is comparatively easy. Attending to the gym consecutively 12 months after 12 months is hard. Unfortunately, you wish the latter (going for years) to make a major difference. A top quality pre-workout could make this more manageable.
While it’s best to never grow to be reliant on a pre-workout, it might probably offer you the much-needed energy to get there. And is not that at the very least half the battle?
But at the top of the day, dedication dictates your success, and a few days are only going to be tough. Suck it up, ladies. We got this.
Plus, an excellent pre-workout makes things a bit less sucky when used accurately. If that is what you could get motivated to hit the gym day after day and 12 months after 12 months, that is a complement value taking.
Women’s Guidelines For Taking Pre-Workout Supplements
In case you have not noticed, I’m a giant fan of pre-workout. But as with just about every little thing in life, there are some things to think about before taking it. Let’s start with going over some general precautions after which touch on some special considerations for girls.
1) All the time Start With A Smaller Dose.
I do not care how much coffee you guzzle within the morning or how caffeine-resistant you think that you’re. All the time start with a half dose (and even barely less) once you’re first trying a latest pre-workout complement.
Remember, different pre-workouts use different ingredients, combos, and dosing. There are also far more ingredients than simply caffeine, so even when coffee doesn’t offer you the jitters, a powerful pre-workout still may. In truth, it’s an excellent idea to pair your complement with some natural pre workout (aka, a healthy snack) so you are not taking it on an empty stomach.
Start small to check, after which increase the dosing once you already know how your body will react.
2) Stick With Trusted Brands That Are Third Party Tested.
Generally speaking, pre-workouts are awesome and work great, and for probably the most part, are pretty well-regulated.
I’d recommend avoiding products from unheard-of corporations. These are sometimes easy to identify because the products are inclined to have amateur logos and names with “extreme” and “skull” in them.
I’m not saying they bad, but I’m saying a pre-workout is bad, it’s likely going to be one among these. Plus, there are such a lot of excellent pre-workout options available, that it is easy to persist with pre-workouts that come from trusted brands and sources.
As well as, when picking the best pre workout complement for you, select one which is third-party tested for peace of mind. This guarantees you are consuming what the product says you’re.
3) Try To Take Your Pre Workout In The Morning.
Now, this only is sensible when you’re going to work out within the morning. As it’s best to ideally take your pre-workout 30 to 60 minutes before a workout, taking pre workout within the morning after which hitting the gym within the evening, doesn’t make sense.
What I’m suggesting here is that you just only use your pre-workout before your morning workouts, until you already know how your body will react to the stimulants in your product. If you happen to take your pre workout too late, you’ll have trouble sleeping that night. And nobody desires to lie away tossing and turning hours past bedtime.
My suggestion: Use it before a morning workout to see the way it affects your sleep. If you happen to notice you continue to feel amped hours after your workout, you will know that taking this pre workout after work is not going to be good for attending to sleep on time.
Alternatively, when you find you’ll be able to take it and feel normal an hour or so after understanding, it’s likely tremendous to take it within the evening.
4) Take Your Pre Workout 30 to 60 Minutes Before Working Out.
We talked about this earlier within the article, but as timing your pre-workout to get the very best results is significant, it’s value reiterating again. Take your pre-workout half-hour to 60 minutes before you are going to start exercising.
Special Considerations For Women Taking Pre-Workout
Ladies, our bodies are different than men’s, so it is important we acknowledge that here. It will provide help to use your pre-workout within the safest and best way for you.
Let’s take a look.
1) Don’t Take As Much Pre-Workout:
Probably the most obvious difference between men and girls is that ladies are smaller! When you concentrate on quite a lot of guys are 200+ kilos, how much sense does it make for a 140-pound woman to take the identical dose of pre-workout supplements?
Now, this is not a clear-cut “men take this much and girls take this much,” as your size will ultimately dictate this. Nonetheless, when speaking in generalities, women should start with a smaller dose.
I actually recommend that men start with half a dose after they first take pre-workout, so ladies, on your first time, try a fourth of the suggested serving and see the way it goes. This just means less money spent on supplements, so it is a win.
2) Watch Your Caffeine Intake If You are On Birth Control:
Women metabolize caffeine faster than men do under normal conditions, meaning that caffeine tends to depart our systems faster.
But when you are on contraception, specifically the pill, it takes your body longer to metabolize caffeine⁴. In consequence, caffeine will stay in your system longer, which might make sleep quite difficult. It could also lead you to feel more jittery.
The answer here is straightforward. If you happen to are taking contraception, start with a low dose and easily assess the way it affects you.
3) Possible Risk Of Accelerated Bone Loss:
Accelerated bone loss is most prevalent for post-menopausal women, but actually something all ladies should concentrate on. Research examining the effect of high caffeine intake in 205 healthy, nonsmoking, postmenopausal women found that ladies who consumed greater than 3 cups of coffee day by day had accelerated bone loss, leading to low bone density⁵.
This occurred in women who had lower than 800mg of calcium day by day, which is the suggested intake amount. The upper caffeine intake didn’t occur in women who ate a sufficient amount of calcium. In truth, these women saw similar bone density no matter caffeine intake.
Nonetheless, when an insufficient amount of calcium was taken, the ladies did see a drop in bone mineral density. But for post-menopausal women who need to take pre-workout before hitting the gym, it’s a reasonably easy fix. Just eat enough calcium.
Pre-Workout For Women: Final Takeaways
Ladies, the takeaway of this text is that we’re badass individuals who hit the gym hard. As such, it’s an excellent idea to seek out a pre-workout that can assist offer you an oomph on days when your energy is lagging or for that workout by which you are determined to finally beat your deadlift PR.
Just remember to regulate your dosing down, as needed, and remember to take your pre-workout 30 to 60 minutes before hitting the gym!
