So, you’ve planned a tough workout after work, but you’re feeling a little exhausted. Pressing for time, you make a pit-stop at a convenience store. You scan around for something to help you through your session—bananas, mixed nuts, bottled water—and see, in the fridge, a shelf of brightly colored energy drinks that promise just what you need.
There’s one that boasts hours of focus, one that guarantees massive muscles, one that says it’ll lift you until you practically explode. But what these energy drinks don’t include on the label is that their main ingredients are sugar and a heavy dose of caffeine.
Maybe it’s time to change our thinking. Pre-workout supplements are designed to help you optimize performance, particularly during higher-intensity activities, and are arguably a better choice than run-of-the-mill energy drinks. Here’s why.
The pros and cons of energy drinks
1. Sugar
Professional: Calories and sugar get a bad rap in our weight-obsessed culture. Calories are simply a measure of the amount of energy in a food, and sugar is an efficient, palatable fuel for many bodily functions. To perform at your best, you need adequate amounts of both. This goes double if you exercise regularly.
Trying to get through a tough workout on a completely empty stomach—especially if you’re doing something anaerobic like lifting weights or HIIT—can be like dragging a stubborn dog to the vet: You might get there eventually, but it’ll be a struggle every step of the way.
That’s why most experts recommend eating a full meal an hour or two before doing aerobic exercise—or, if you don’t, snacking on a small snack like a piece of fruit beforehand.
Shortchange: If you’re trying to keep your fat stores in check, too much added sugar will work against your efforts. It’s true that you burn some of that sugar during your workout, but like anything else you consume, the sugar and calories in this energy drink factor into the calories-in, calories-out equation that determines whether you lose weight, gain weight, or stay at the same weight long term.
“The high amounts of sugar found in energy drinks are not the best way to fuel exercise,” says Paul Falcone, principal scientist at BODi. “It can also contribute extra calories that may not help you reach your overall health goals.”
2. Caffeine
Professional: Caffeine is another common active ingredient in energy drinks — and research has shown it can be effective. A meta-analysis concluded that caffeine had “significant ergogenic activity [performance-enhancing] effects on maximal upper body muscle strength and muscle power’.
Another small one study found that caffeine enhanced jumping ability in female athletes. So if you’re looking for a legal, safe, and effective way to give your gym performance a measurable boost, look no further than the active ingredient in your morning cup of joe.*
Shortchange: But like sugar, caffeine has limits. You take too much, too often, and not only do you get cranky – you become more tolerant of their effects, so that what used to give you a kick now barely gets you through the baseline. In addition, some energy drinks contain over 300 mg of caffeine — well over half the recommended daily amount “safe.”
3. BCAAs
Branched-chain amino acids—leucine, isoleucine, and valine—are another ingredient sometimes found in sports supplements. All three BCAAs are abundant in protein-containing foods (including dairy, animal, and plant sources), so it’s not necessary to consume large amounts of them in supplement form—especially pre-workout.
“In general, BCAAs play a bigger role after your workout to help with recovery and rebuilding,” says Falcone.
What should you consume instead of energy drinks?
Are there better choices to make before your workout? Absolutely.
You might experience intense exercise as a muscle-fueling sweat fest, but at the molecular level, a workout is a series of complex chemicals, all reacting at blinding speed over and over again: fuel is converted into a usable form. fuel burned and converted into kinetic energy. muscle fibers catch and release from each other. waste clearance; spare fuel mobilized. Oxygen is pumped into the system and carbon dioxide is pumped out.
Adjusting what you consume in advance of your workout—such as with a pre-workout supplement—can affect how efficiently these chemical reactions take place and whether you leave the gym feeling gross or fly out feeling like a superhero.
How pre-workouts help your routine
Some of the ingredients that are particularly beneficial for high-intensity exercise are:
- Caffeine to help provide energy and improved focus and attention.*
- Beta-alanine it helps you fight fatigue and perform better by helping your body produce more of the amino acid carnosine. This amino acid regulates muscle acids resulting from exercise. *
- Quercetin is a powerful phytonutrient that works synergistically with caffeine and beta-alanine to help delay exercise-induced fatigue and enhance performance.*
“Caffeine and beta-alanine are some of the most clinically researched ingredients on the market,” says Falcone. “And evidence shows they can help you get the most out of your workouts.”
Falcone’s recommendation: Skip the energy drinks and go for something that will help you reach your goals as quickly as possible:Strengthen before training it provides key ingredients to optimize your workout that are not found in energy drinks,” says Falcone. “These ingredients provide more than just energy — they help fight fatigue during exercise and enhance strength.”
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
