Pre-workout boosters - these ingredients are important!

Tiredness, fatigue and exhaustion are history with a pre-workout booster. A booster brings the necessary power to your workout. The optimum combination of different active ingredients prepares you and your body for intensive training and supports your muscles during the hard exercise phase. You can find out which ingredients should be included in a pre-workout booster in this blog post.

Table of contents:

1. When is a pre-workout booster useful?
2. What ingredients should a pre-workout booster contain?
3. Which pre-workout booster is right for you?

When is a pre-workout booster useful?

Pre-workout boosters provide an extra boost of energy and contain a variety of ingredients, each of which has different effects. Together they create a training booster that leads to more focus and motivation. In our opinion, the answer to the question of whether you need a booster for every workout without exception is clearly no. Using a booster is not absolutely necessary every day, but it does make sense in many situations. If you are having a bad day, feel unmotivated to complete your training or simply want to push yourself to the limit, a pre-workout booster can be a good support. You should also bear in mind that boosters are usually designed for strength sports. Endurance athletes are better off with the individual supplements Citrulline/arginine and carnitine is often better.

What ingredients should a pre-workout booster contain?

Caffeine

Caffeine is the most classic of all pre-workout booster components. The substance we are all familiar with contributes to a successful workout in different ways. The most important properties of caffeine include stimulating the central nervous system and increasing the contractility of the heart. Incidentally, the consumption of caffeine by healthy people is generally not dangerous. The maximum tolerated dose varies greatly from person to person. As a rule, it becomes dangerous from approx. 10-30 grams of caffeine. This corresponds to around 100-200 cups of coffee.

Creatine

Creatine monohydrate creatine or creatin is an endogenous substance that the body can produce itself from the amino acids arginine, glycine and methionine. The body produces about 1-2 g of the substance per day on its own, the rest has to be supplied through food. It is mainly found in the skeletal muscles of red meat and fish. Supplementation is therefore particularly advisable for vegans and vegetarians. Creatine plays an important role in supplying energy to the muscles and leads to increased muscle growth. It promotes physical performance during high-speed strength training.

L-Arginine

L-Arginine is a semi-essential aminoäacid. The amino acid is particularly interesting for fitness athletes and bodybuilders, as it is the only precursor of nitric oxide (NO) and is therefore often used as a pre-workout booster. This is because nitric oxide is involved in the dilation of blood vessels and therefore has a positive effect on blood circulation and blood pressure in the body. The improved blood circulation also increases the transport of nutrients and oxygen in the muscle. Athletes can therefore perform better and increase muscle strength by supplementing with L-arginine. Arginine is also involved in the biosynthesis of creatine.

L-glutamine

L-Glutamine is a non-essential amino acid. The body normally produces sufficient amounts of glutamine itself. However, the body's own production is reduced under high stress, such as stress or intensive training, and in the case of various illnesses. Physical exercise depletes the body's glucose reserves. However, in order to supply the body with new energy, the cells need glucose. L-glutamine can ultimately be converted into glucose during gluconeogenesis. This makes energy available to the body again.

Taurine

Taurine is a powerful antioxidant and probably speeds up the metabolism by influencing insulin levels and thus increasing the transport of nutrients into the muscle cells. It is also said to enhance the effect of caffeine and have a revitalising effect.

Beta alanine

Beta-alanine primarily counteracts muscle fatigue during exercise. This means you can get even more out of your workout and do one or two more repetitions before your muscle gives out. Incidentally, beta-alanine also causes a slight tingling sensation under the skin, which some people find very motivating.

L-citrulline

Like arginine, the amino acid citrulline plays a crucial role in the formation of nitric oxide (NO) by enhancing the function of arginine and delaying the breakdown of arginine in the body. The reason for this is the delayed conversion of citrulline into arginine, which takes place in the liver. This is because arginine is the precursor to vital nitric oxide. In addition, nitric oxide leads to improved blood circulation, which improves the supply of nutrients and the removal of waste products in the muscle. It also leads to increased resistance and better regeneration after exercise. Citrulline thus counteracts signs of fatigue even during exercise, as a study by Hickner et al. (2006) also shows. In another study, L-citrulline supplementation led to a reduction in muscle soreness of up to 40 %. Consequently, it increases muscle function and leads to an increased pump.

L-ornithine

Ornithine is the most important amino acid alongside arginine when it comes to releasing the growth hormone somatropin. Put simply, it promotes the transport of amino acids into the muscle and increases their utilisation.

There are many pre-workout boosters on the fitness market that promise extra energy and focus. However, many of the ingredients in these boosters are overdosed (e.g. caffeine) or even superfluous or unsafe (e.g. L-Norvaline). With our V-Booster, we have developed a booster that fulfils all requirements without resorting to dubious ingredients. It contains all the components that a pre-workout booster should contain and is available in three delicious flavours.

Sources:

• Samardzic, Kate, and Kenneth J. Rodgers. "Cytotoxicity and mitochondrial dysfunction caused by the dietary supplement l-norvaline." Toxicology in Vitro (2019).
  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30703532
• Hickner et al. "L-citrulline reduces time to exhaustion and insulin response to a graded exercise test." Med Sci Sports Exerc (2006).
  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16679980
• Pasman et al. "The effect of different dosages of caffeine on endurance performance time." Int J Sports Med (1995).
  https://www.thieme-connect.de/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-2007-972996