Pre-workout drinks

[Gammmmo]

Anyone used a particular brand/product and if so what was your experience? This is either on the erg or in the weight room. I generally have a strong coffee around 10am and tend to erg around 12pm-2pm and weights tend to be around 4pm. If I'm feeling sluggish I will have another coffee (~150-200mg of caffeine sort of strength) around 2pm but not much later. I've dabbled with things like citrulline malate and beta alanine but not really noticed much benefit. Is it worth trying a specific product?

[Rod]

I use Alphamine and find it works pretty well;

I get it from these people;

http://www.qualitysportssupplements.co. ... -252g.html

[Ombrax]

For years I've done nothing other than ensuring that I was well hydrated, but about a month or so ago I started taking about 5g of BCAA's in water. It's too early to tell if it's going to make any difference, but as we discussed in another thread here, I thought I'd give it a try in part because I'm a vegetarian.

[mitchel674]

I've been experimenting with Carbion+ for my longer rows on my quest to finish a marathon. Anything over 15k and I will typically drink some of this to replenish electrolytes and carbs. I haven't used this a a pre-workout drink, but I suspect it would work well.

Workouts less than one hour I will usually just drink some coffee early on and then hydrate with water.

[Dangerscouse]

I have tried Citrulline Malate, Taurine, Beta Alanine and beetroot juice over the years and I didn't rate any of them. A strong coffee is the only thing that seems to be worthwhile

[Anth_F]

Likewise... i'll usually have a strong coffee about an hour beforehand, and hydrate with water about 15mins prior to a session.

[alex90]

Always a strong coffee an hour or two prior. Caffeine has enough science to back up its claims, the supplements listed above, of which I’ve also used myself, just appear an expensive placebo to me. Unless other dietary elements are met, they don’t serve much purpose.

Edit: with the exception of electrolytes, if i feel I haven’t for whatever reason stayed hydrated, I’ll drink one on the erg

[Gammmmo]

For years I've done nothing other than ensuring that I was well hydrated, but about a month or so ago I started taking about 5g of BCAA's in water. It's too early to tell if it's going to make any difference, but as we discussed in another thread here, I thought I'd give it a try in part because I'm a vegetarian.

I'd imagine that'd work well for you as you'd struggle to get enough complete protein in your diet (being vegetarian) so will likely be very protein sensitive. Must be challenging retaining muscle mass as a vegetarian.

[lindsayh]

water for me

[H2O]

I put in lots of vitamin C and cocoa powder (to manage free radicals).

Cocoa powder (unsweetened) seems to have good antioxidant and other beneficial properties, see
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29299877
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24100674
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5465250/

The so called ORAC value (oxygen radical absorbance capacity, quoted per unit of weight) is a measure of
antioxidant activity. Here is a roundup of all the ORAC values of most foods:
http://www.orac-info-portal.de/download/ORAC_R2.pdf

Vitamin C rates very high (per gram, ORAC=1000) but you can eat a whole lot more cocoa powder
(ORAC=80) than vitamin C. This information saved me some money as I used to order grape seed extract pills
(ORAC=140) for 20 Euros a bottle whereas I can get more cocoa powder (even bio) for 1.99.

[nick rockliff]

water for me

Me too

[KeithT]

First, I don't drink coffee so my experience may be a little different.

Have tried a few different supplements for pre-workout including Beta-alanine which I noticed no benefit from. I find that any pre-workout with caffeine seems to give me some boost as my body isn't used to it. I still use a relatively low caffeine dose (100-200 mg) in the pre-workouts and usually only use once or twice a week for really hard CF sessions. I have had best results with C4 brand.

[dknickerbocker]

Anyone used a particular brand/product and if so what was your experience? This is either on the erg or in the weight room. I generally have a strong coffee around 10am and tend to erg around 12pm-2pm and weights tend to be around 4pm. If I'm feeling sluggish I will have another coffee (~150-200mg of caffeine sort of strength) around 2pm but not much later. I've dabbled with things like citrulline malate and beta alanine but not really noticed much benefit. Is it worth trying a specific product?

On the erg, cycling or running, i use caffeine. I'm a coffee drinker so it feels normal, i just have a little bit more pre-workout. Then water or sports drink if it's going to be longer or very hard.

before the gym, I often use a pre-workout. Current one i'm trying out is called PurePump as it's natural and i think certified to not contain banned substances. Although my guess is that you could do just as well by adding creatine to your coffee in the morning, bc pretty sure those are the only ingredients that do much .

[MPx]

Skimmed milk for me...

[alex90]

before the gym, I often use a pre-workout. Current one i'm trying out is called PurePump as it's natural and i think certified to not contain banned substances. Although my guess is that you could do just as well by adding creatine to your coffee in the morning, bc pretty sure those are the only ingredients that do much .

I can’t say a ‘grainy’ coffee appeals to me! Or adding a boat load of other stimulants found in them. Though there are plenty of home made recipes out there.