Pre-workouts are one of the most sought-after sports supplements in the fitness world. These powders filled with ergogenic aids and other performance-boosting ingredients tend to be a staple in every fitness enthusiast’s supplement stack.

For good reason, too! Some of the key benefits of taking a pre-workout before a training session include enhanced energy, motivation, and focus, thus leading to improved athletic performance, and increased strength, endurance, and power.

No-brainer, right?

The common problem with pre-workout supplements is that the market is saturated, often with products that contain proprietary blends or useless “fancy-looking” ingredients!

There are very few pre-workout supplements that actually contain effective ingredients in the appropriate doses. This is why it may be a good idea to formulate your own pre-workout.

Though this may be much more costly and complicated. Instead, this article aims to give you an informative overview of the key ingredients to look out for in a pre-workout supplement.

Firstly, let’s take a look at the benefits of taking a pre-workout before breaking down the best ingredients!

The Benefits of a Pre-Workout

Pre-workouts are designed to enhance athletic performance through a variety of means. A good-quality pre-workout supplement can provide both acute and chronic performance enhancements.

Taking a dose of pre-workout before training has been shown to:

  • Improve physical performance
  • Increase focus and concentration
  • Delay fatigue
  • Improve mental functioning

As a result of these effects, performance will be enhanced, allowing you to make some extra gains in strength, size, and power.

Key Pre-Workout Ingredients

These are the key ingredients you should be looking out for in high-quality pre-workout supplements. Alternatively, you could combine some of these ingredients individually to create your own pre-workout!

  • Caffeine

Caffeine is normally the key ingredient in pre-workouts, usually responsible for providing the majority of the benefits. Caffeine gives a boost of energy, leading to increased focus and delayed fatigue.

  • Beta-Alanine

Beta-alanine works to buffer lactic acid build-up in the working muscles, allowing you to push a bit harder for a bit longer.

  • Creatine

Creatine is the most robustly researched sports supplement in the industry. It has been shown numerous times to improve strength, power, endurance, and speed by increasing our supply of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) energy.

  • L-Citrulline

L-citrulline is an amino acid that plays a significant role in producing nitric oxide. Nitric oxide dilates blood vessels, helping to improve blood and oxygen flow around the body and to working muscles. This can have many performance-enhancing effects, including experiencing “the pump”.

  • Dietary Nitrates

Following on from the above, dietary nitrates, such as beetroot, have the same effect on blood flow. If your pre-workout has a source of dietary nitrates, such as beetroot powder, you’re on to a winner!

  • L-Tyrosine

L-tyrosine is an amino acid that can help sharpen your focus and attention, and reduce the jittery effects of caffeine. If you see this ingredient in combination with caffeine, you may find that you experience fewer side effects associated with the high (usually) caffeine content.

  • L-Theanine

Another amino acid that can help strengthen the mental aspects of exercise, thus improving cognitive clarity and allowing for a calm, yet alert, mental state.

  • Glutathione

Glutathione is a major antioxidant found in the body. It can help protect muscle tissue against damage during intense exercise and can help boost immune system function.

How To Take Pre-Workout

It is usually recommended to take pre-workout around 30-60 minutes before a training session, which would allow some time for the ingredients, particularly caffeine, to digest and absorb.

The effects of a pre-workout can last 2-3 hours. Though, ingredients such as creatine will require long-term dosage to take effect.

While it’s a good ingredient to include in a pre-workout, it isn’t always essential and is usually recommended to take separately for the best results.

A pre-workout should primarily provide you with a quick burst of energy, motivation, and increased blood flow to improve your training session and enhance your performance.

The Best Pre-Workout Supplement

Struggling to find a pre-workout with most of the above ingredients? We’ve got you covered!

Pre Lab Pro combines the following ingredients:

  • Beetroot powder
  • Glutathione + L-citrulline
  • Caffeine
  • L-theanine
  • L-tyrosine
  • Essential vitamins and minerals
  • Himalayan pink salt

This formula includes the most effective pre-workout ingredients that promote a wide range of strength, cardio, endurance, and overall health benefits to help push you through the most grueling of workout sessions!

Take-Home Message

Pre-workouts are common in any gym-goers supplement stack. They provide a potent boost of energy and motivation before training sessions, allowing you to push harder for longer.

Though, some pre-workouts you find on the shelves and online can be full of pointless filler ingredients, proprietary blends, or very high caffeine content. These are expensive and often not much help for our sessions.

Finding a high-quality pre-workout can be tricky, which leads people to attempt to create their own pre-workouts. While this is a good idea in regards to accurately dosing and building a personalized product for you, it can be costly and complex.

Though, we have taken the hard work off your hands - Pre Lab Pro contains all the ingredients you need for a performance-enhancing boost!