Pre-Workout Supplements – Immediate Nutrients Replenishment

Food from natural sources takes its natural time to be dissolved and absorbed by the body before the nutrients can be used.  For fitness buffs, body builders who are into their intense workouts, these natural processes are not sufficient. All in all, they need three sets of supplements before, during and after their workouts, the most important of which are the pre-workout supplements.

Body abs is built in the kitchen, not in the gym floor, so the experts say. Research also indicates that what you eat before, during, and after your workouts can mean meeting your exercise goals or falling short.

The following are the important nutrition you need to take before workout, taken either as pre-workout supplements or through natural food preparations.

Carbohydrates

For newcomers, carbohydrates for use in workouts bring in more questions than any other nutrients. The big questions include whether they make people fat. (They do, if you are not exercising and burning them away.)

As things are, carbohydrates are the body’s preferred fuel source. As a fitness buff, you will make sure every gram of carbohydrates you consumed will be used as immediate fuel source. Or, at least to restore glycogen level lost in the gym floor.

Do not eat more carbs more than you need and you can spread the eating evenly throughout the day.  Eat the majority of it just before your workout. Take them a couple of hours for the carbs to be digested and ensure your blood sugar and glycogen levels are up.

Fast-Absorbing Proteins

Research has also indicated that whey protein intake before the high-intensity fitness routine can give better results than other protein sources so far. Experts say this is due to the anti-catabolic and anabolic signaling effects of the BCAAs (branched-chain amino acids) in the whey protein, specifically leucine. Whey has higher BCAAs than the other sources.

Proteins and amino acids spare the carbs. Many thin that when the body runs out of carbs, it switches to fatty acids for fuels. This is slow compared to amino acids rapidly broken down and converted to sugar (gluconeogenesis).

Creatine monohydrate

The body has three methods in developing its ultimate energy source, ATP. This depends on the intensity of the activity. For very intense ones (like weightlifting, for instance) the body uses creatine phosphates to produce energy.

Supplements can give greater energy source when training intensely. You can also use creatine after even anytime of the day.

Beta alanine

Beta alanine basically helps conserve muscular energy. In exercise, the main causes of fatigue are intramuscular acidosis. When the body produces ATP using the glycolytic and phospagen systems, the resulting metabolic product is excess hydrogen ions.

When these ions are not cleared fast enough, they can produce lactic acid, the pain you feel when extremely tired. With elevated levels of lactic acid, performance, coordination and skills are hindered and impaired.

Aside from decreasing hydrogen ions, it also acts as anti-oxidant.

Basically, these are the more important nutrients needed in pre-workout supplements to help replenish the nutrients lost in your workout.