Do you ever look at the back of a pre workout and wonder what you are actually putting in into your body? A lot of the ingredients, you may be surprised, are actually vitamins. Vitamins that you might be taking every day anyway, or here and there, not realising that if you do train, these could be better utilised if taken just before your training session.
So if you were to just take a bunch of vitamins before training, with the goal being to help maximise your gains in that session, what would they be? And are there any?
Vitamin B12
Vitamin 12 helps with DNA function, energy consumption metabolism and cardiovascular support. Recently it is also been studied to see if supplementing B12 pre workout can help with protein synthesis. We know that lifting weights increases protein synthesis, but it also causes muscle breakdown. The reason people could be taking B12 before they work out is to shift the balance towards protein synthesis. However as discussed, this is still being researched. Supplementing with it is certainly going to make a difference if you are B12 deficient. You may feel a great boost when you start taking it, but this is most likely going to be down to the fact you were low in B12 and you are now at normal levels. So why use it for pre workout? Well, most of us, especially those of us who train, have been found to be low in vitamin B12. With benefits such as energy production, healthy brain, blood and nerve function, it’s a no brainer.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is one of the most well-known and well researched vitamins. It is very rare to see a pre workout that doesn’t have this vitamin in it. But why? Well, the first point is its antioxidant properties. When we train, we stimulate ROS activity ( reactive oxygen species ) which causes damage to cells. When this happens, we can feel sore, weak and have feelings of fatigue. Sometimes it can even lead to illness. Vitamin C being a great antioxidant, it is capable of eliminating these effects. You may have also seen vitamin C in every pre workout you’ve had, this is because it also acts as an absorbing agent. Which basically means that it helps the body absorb any other compounds that pre workout may contain.
As well as this it could also make exercise feel easier by reducing heart rate and perceived rate of exertion.
Vitamin B2
Also known as riboflavin, this vitamin helps the body break down carbohydrates, proteins and fats and convert them into energy. Sounds pretty important right? Especially since you are going to need all that energy to fuel your gruelling workouts. It also allows oxygen to be used by the body, which is very important, seems as though we all need to breathe.
Those are the three most stand out vitamins to take before a training session if you were to choose not to take a pre workout supplement.
You could go one better however and as well as taking these vitamins, add in some caffeine and a pump agent such as citrulline malate, to ensure you have all bases covered. Having said that, you could buy a pretty good workout that combines all of these ingredients and possibly a few more that would see you well covered for a training session.
