Pre-Workout supplements aimed at improving training performance
In gyms I often hear questions addressed to the post
workout, the most common is "what kind of protein do you take after
training?", The amount of questions and attention paid to supplementation
after training is really great, and rightly I say, but I would like it to be
the same also for the phase that precedes our training, integrating in the
right way before training is essential, and I will try to explain myself better
with the quick example that I will now describe.
We have all seen the phases that precede a formula one race,
or the world championship, in these phases before the start, we see the racing
car, or the racing bike surrounded by the team of mechanics, well friends the
formula one car or we are the racing bike, because we have to carry out the
sporting performance. and the mechanics team?
The mechanics represent our pre-workout supplements , the
mechanics must bring the car or motorcycle to the start in the best conditions,
in order to allow it to have the best possible performance during the race, in
the same way our pre-workout integration must be in able to make us perform the
best possible training, must be able to improve our performance, and a good pre
work out is able to do it.
I hope I have passed on to you how much I take into
consideration the importance of a good pre workout, and now friends we will go
into the topic together, we will see together how we can improve our
performance, that is, we will review those supplements that represent precious
allies to be taken as pre workout.
Since during training the levels of BCAAs (branched chain
amino acids) drop in the blood, I would say that an excellent pre work out is
represented by the intake of branched chain amino acids, and for more than one
reason . During training a phenomenon called "central fatigue" or
"central fatigue" originates, and I will try to describe what this
means in the simplest possible way: while we train, tryptophan reaches our
brain, and is able to induce a feeling of "central fatigue", that is,
it makes us feel tired, and more precisely it makes us feel more tired than we
really are, in practice the fatigue that we mentally feel is greater than our
real physical fatigue.
But we know how fatigue, real or perceived is an ugly beast,
so what can we do to counter this phenomenon? Taking BCAAs, because the passage
used by Tryptophan to enter our brain barrier (and make us feel more tired than
we really are) is the same used by BCAAs, taking BCAAs means making
"Tryptophan life hard" and feeling less fatigued.
Carbohydrates, amino acids and plant extracts to increase energy production
We all know that carbohydrates are our main energy source, a
kind of primary fuel, but in case of need (such as during an intense or
prolonged workout) our body is able to produce energy also from amino acids,
and for doing it "cannibalizes" our muscles, how can we avoid it? The
answer is also in this case by taking BCAAs in pre work out, because in this
way we are going to provide our body with what we have introduced with the
supplement, avoiding it from going to draw it from our muscles.
While we train we produce lactic acid, I want to clarify
that lactic acid is formed continuously, even when we are at rest, keep in mind
friends that within 24 hours, an average organism produces from 120gr to 140gr
of lactic acid (I speak of a day at rest, and in which no sporting activity is
carried out) , but these quantities distributed over 24 hours are disposed of
perfectly, without making us feel any muscle pain, and we do not notice
anything, but things change when we train, and more precisely when the oxygen
demand exceeds the amount actually available. here is the formation of lactic
acid, and here we are unable to continue in our training, or not as we would
like.
Can we do something to counteract lactic acid? Of course
yes! The answer is to take Beta Alanine , Beta Alenine is a "slightly
modified" amino acid, technically it is said that Alanine crosses various
enzymatic pathways, that is, it reacts with enzymes naturally present in our
body and becomes Beta Alanine, which joins the 'Histidine (another amino acid
present in our body) gives rise to Carnosine, and it is precisely on the
Carnosine friends that we must fix our attention, because it is a real muscle
buffer, that is, it is able to counteract lactic acid, and so we can train
better.
But since Carnosine (amino acid di-peptide that acts as a
muscle buffer) is made up of Beta Alanine and Histidine, why don't we have to
take both, and just take Beta Alanine?
Because in our body histidine is very abundant, the one that
is present in low quantities is Beta Alanine, by taking Beta Alanine
supplements we are able to produce good quantities of Carnosine and therefore
we are able to effectively counteract lactic acid.
Before taking Beta Alanine you need to know it well, and now
I will try to summarize some concepts to always keep in mind: in pre-workout it
must be taken in a dosage of 3gr (recommended dosage), while if we decide to do
intake cycles, we can also take 4gr or 5gr over 24 hours, at intervals ranging
from 3 to 6 hours, however always far from the intake of protein supplements
and Taurine, the maximum peak concentration in the blood of Beta Alanine occurs
about 40 minutes after its intake, if we feel tingling after taking it we
should not worry, it is the Beta Alanine that is doing its job.
Pre-Workout useful to stimulate the production of Nitric Oxide
In my opinion, nitric oxide is a good pre-workout, as well
as a very rewarding pump effect when we put ourselves in front of the mirror
(let's be honest it pleases everyone), it is able to give us a boost of energy
and a good hypertrophy, not it is about sensations, it is really able to raise
the energy level of our body and to produce hypertrophy, this is because it
acts as a dilator for our arteries and our capillaries, in this way our muscle
cells are able to produce more energy and more hypertrophy, also gives the
stimulus to produce new mitochondria, these precious cellular corpuscles whose
task is to produce energy, in practice the mitochondria are the energy plants
of our cells.
If we take nitric oxide stimulators we are almost certainly
taking Citrulline, or Citrulline Malate (which is a Citrulline salt), or AAKG
(Arginine Alpha Ketoglutarate), which is an Arginine salt, in any case a
possible tingling that we could feel after taking a supplement that stimulates
nitric oxide production it doesn't have to worry us, it's just doing its job.
I started this article by saying that supplements are not
reserved exclusively for weight room frequenters, let's think for example of
sportsmen who train with racing bikes or mountain bikes, or for runners,
myself, in the summer, and especially when my commitments allow it, I allow
myself 2 or 3 hours riding my racing bike or my mountain bike, well maltodextrins represent in these cases a good "ingredient" to be
included in our "mix" for an equally good pre workout, maltodextrins
are in fact complex carbohydrates, and we can think of them as a slow-release
energy package, how much this release is more or less slow we understand by
looking at the value of Dextrose Equivalence (DE),the higher this value, the
more rapidly we will assimilate the maltodextrins in question, but also the
time of "energy coverage" they will offer us will be rather rapid,
the lower the value of the DE will be and the longer it will take us to
assimilate them, and the longer their release will last energetic.