Socially Acceptable Drug Addiction
Issue #16 Fit Tip: Pre-workout It’s caffeine. If you like caffeine and are fine with becoming dependent on a drug for workout motivation, go for it. Ok, that sounds pretty harsh; but I do advise caution because once you become dependent on stimulants to have a decent workout, they are no longer benefiting you. You will find studies that show cognitive and power output benefits from caffeine, but these benefits drop off as you become very tolerant to the effects of caffeine. How is a pre-workout any different? A few extra ingredients in addition to a large amount of caffeine (200-300mg) make pre-workouts especially “effective” for workouts. The extra ingredients that potentially improve endurance and performance are citrulline and beta-alanine (this is what gives you the face tingles.) But again, the studies show these effects take a very high amount of caffeine used on subjects who have little or no caffeine tolerance built up. So what really sets pre-workout supplements apart is supe...