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What Pre Workout Is Best For You?

May 9, 2023 On August 14, 2018

Before you can determine which pre workout is best suited towards you to reach your particular goals, you must first understand that pre workouts can be divided into 3 different categories! Stimulant, Nitric Oxide Boosting (Pump) & Thermogenic (fat burner). In saying that, there is a 4th type we can add (Nootropic Pre Workouts) but we’ll save that for another Article.

Stimulant Pre Workouts

Best suited for:

Athletes wanting to increase their performance, increase maximal energy output and/or reach new personal bests.

Stimulant based pre workouts have been used by athletes and bodybuilders for decades because of their ability to instantly improve both mental and physical performance. They have a direct effect on the central nervous system and can improve mental alertness, motivation, and even muscular strength and endurance. For these reasons, stimulants are extremely popular with strength athletes or those involved in high-intensity sports.

The most widely used stimulant in the world is caffeine, but there are other stimulants that athletes love to combine with or use in place of caffeine to crank up intensity and performance.

Stimulant pre workouts will always be the steak and veges of pre workouts but you do need to consider the potential side effects of too much caffeine. These main side effects can be anxiety, adrenal fatigue, disruptive sleep patterns. Now before we all boycott stimulant pre workouts and take to the streets with torches and pitchforks… These POTENTIAL side effects can all be managed and treated. They also will vary from person to person based on an individuals tolerance to stimulants like caffeine. What you’ve eaten that day & current mental attitude can also be contributing factors to how a stimulant pre workout will effect you on any given day.

Top 4 Stimulant Pre Workout Recommendations:

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Nitric Oxide Boosting (Pump) Pre Workouts

Best Used for:

Athletes wanting to increase blood flow, Add muscle mass and/or training late & not wanting to effect sleep patterns

Nitric Oxide Boosting Pre Workouts AKA Pump Pre’s are usually found with ZERO-STIMULANT ingredients inside. So why would you want to use a pre workout without stimulants added to the mix?

Not using stimulants before training have a vast array of health benefits! Non stim’s work to dilate the arteries instead of constricting them to make heart beat faster as found in stimulant pre workouts. By increasing the blood flow and uptake of nutrients into the muscle while training you are able to feel your muscles fill with blood and allow for a better contraction. For those who want to build muscle, yes the idea of taking a stimulant pre workout to go crazy in the gym lifting all sorts of heavy weights like a Hulk gone wild sounds appealing but muscle grows when its being fed nutrients and recovering properly.

Another particularly appealing benefit of using pump pre workouts is those who train late at night or right before bed. When taking stimulant pre workouts more than 90% of people notice that their sleep is severly impacted and can struggle to fall asleep or even stay asleep throughout the night. Using non stim pump pre workouts there are no ingredients that will cause sleep to be effected allowing proper muscle repair & growth.

It is also important to remember that when sleep is effected and/or too much caffeine is ingested throughout the day, cortisol (stress) spikes in the body. This can be detrimental to muscle growth & fat loss as cortisol can put muscles into a catabolic state & also increase cravings heightening the likelihood to cheat on your diet.

TOP 4 Nitric oxide boosting pre workout recommendations:

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Thermogenic Pre Workouts

Best used for:

Athletes looking to burn more calories throughout training & throughout the day

Thermogenic pre workouts are usually a more mild version of stimulant pre workouts with the addition of fat burning ingredients and compounds designed to metabolise fat cells and help burn stubborn fat. Another difference between regular stimulant pre workouts and thermogenic pre’s is the lack of nitric oxide boosting ingredients.

Don’t get thermogenic pre workouts confused with fat burners though! Fat burners are incredibly low with stimulant ingredients as they’re designed to put your body in a state of thermogenisis throughout the day despite doing any physical activity.

Thermogenic pre workouts on the other hand are heavier in the stim department. Engineered to induce thermogenesis within the body as well as increase energy for training, these products are designed to boost your metabolic rate, allowing your body to burn more calories and melt away stubborn fat. Both fat burners and thermogenic pre’s will also include an array of natural, herbal and non stimulant fat burners such as L-Carnitine and Green Tea Extract to enhance fat burning results.

in summary, when taking thermogenic pre workouts you can expect to sweat more through training & sometimes outside of training also. You can expect to feel warmer as your body temperature will increase. Flavours in Thermogenic pre workouts can also taste a little ‘funky’ due to an array of herbs in the mix… But we want results more than taste!