Supplements

Pre-workouts are one of the most widely used supplements on the planet. Said to give you that extra ‘boost’ of energy in the gym, they have embedded themselves deep into gym culture, becoming a workout staple.

However, due to their increased popularity, the supplement industry has become saturated with thousands of different pre-workout supplements -- some of which are much better than others.

Moreover, many include ingredients that have no research to support their use, or are simply ineffective -- all of which means that you need to be selective.

What should I avoid in a pre-workout supplement?

If so many pre-workouts are sub par, then how can you find a good one?

Well, when it comes to choosing a pre-workout supplement, there are a few things that you need to look out for.

1.   No Proprietary Blends

A proprietary blend is a combination of several different ingredients that sit within a supplement.

Unfortunately, the term ‘proprietary blend’ is often misunderstood by people looking for supplements. Because it sounds like a legitimate term, it creates the illusion that the supplement must be of a higher quality -- however, nothing could be further from the truth.

A proprietary blend is a loophole that supplement companies use to avoid listing how much of each individual ingredient is in their pre-workout. This makes it much easier to hide smaller doses of effective (and often more costly) ingredients, while bulking it up with ‘filler’ ingredients.

Obviously this means the supplement is cheaper to make, but it also makes it much less effective -- even if it does happen to include some good ingredients.

2.   Too Many Ingredients

Now, if you look at the label of a pre-workout and it has more than 6 or 7 active ingredients, I would suggest you put it back.

One thing to remember when it comes to pre-workouts is that they generally have small serving sizes (5-10 grams would be the norm). This means that the more ingredients they have, the less of each ingredient you get.

This again makes it easier to provide you with less of the effective ingredients (which again, are often more expensive) to save cost -- making the supplement less effective in the process.

3.   Outlandish Claims

Finally, a good pre-workout supplement should do two things:

1. Improve exercise performance
2. Increase mental performance

As a result, if you see a pre-workout advertising the ability to “shred fat” or “boost muscle growth” then you should turn and run -- because they have obviously spent more money on marketing than they have on creating their product.

What Should I Look for In a Pre-workout Supplement?

So, what does a good pre-workout look like?

Well, going off the above suggestions, you want to make sure that your pre-workout makes no outlandish claims, lists the dosages of all its ingredients individually, and has less than seven active ingredients.

And once it has ticked those boxes, you want to make sure that the ingredients it contains are actually effective.

Which begs the question: what are the most effective pre-workout ingredients?

Caffeine

Straight out the box we have one of the most widely researched (if not the most widely researched) ingredients on the entire planet -- being caffeine.

Look, let's face it. There is a pretty good reason as to why 99% of the population start their day with a warm cup of coffee. It is because caffeine has the ability to improve mental alertness, attention, and reaction time [1].

More importantly, caffeine has also been shown to have an extremely potent effect on exercise performance [2], where it can improve:

• Muscular strength
• Muscular endurance
• Cardiorespiratory endurance
• Anaerobic power

This means that it makes the perfect pre-workout ingredient as it improves the mental and physical aspects of performance.

While the recommended dosage of caffeine does differ based on bodyweight, an effective dose should sit somewhere between 200 and 400 milligrams.

Agmatine

Agmatine is one of many neurotransmitters found in your brain.

With this in mind, there is evidence to suggest that supplementing with Agmatine can reduce sensations of pain and improve mood [3, 4]. These effects could conceivably improve workout performance by increasing the number of repetitions you achieve per set.

Anecdotally, there are also a number of people within the fitness space who also believe that Agmatine can increase blood flow to the muscle tissue, increasing the ‘pump’ you get in the gym. This could also increase nutrient flow to the muscle tissue, enhancing growth and recovery.

However, it is important to note that this is simply anecdotal, and thus far there is no evidence demonstrating this effect in humans.

Dosage recommendations generally sit within 200-1000mg per serving.

Citrulline

Citrulline is a “non-essential” amino acid found in a variety of fruits and vegetables. The reason it is considered to be non-essential is because it can be naturally made in your body, and therefore does not have to be obtained through your diet.

However, increasing your natural levels of citrulline though supplementation has been shown to have some positive effects.

Firstly, supplementing with citrulline has been shown to increase weight training performance [5]. This means an increase in the number of reps you can perform per set, or the amount of weight you can put on the bar. Over time this can lead to improvements in muscular strength and muscle growth.

Secondly, it has also been shown to reduce intra-workout fatigue, which might increase the quality of your workouts [6].

And finally, citrulline has also been shown to improve recovery after exercise [5]. While this may not sound all that impressive, improved recovery means that you can get the most out of your next training session -- which could cause lasting improvements in strength and size.

The optimal dosage of citrulline malate (a specific type of citrulline) appears to be around 6000mg.

Beta-alanine

Like Citrulline, beta-alanine is also a non-essential amino acid.

However, unlike many other amino acids, your body does not use it to create other proteins. Instead, it is used to produce a compound called carnosine -- which has been shown to limit the accumulation of lactate in your muscle tissue.

As a result, it has been shown to improve muscular and aerobic endurance, and limit fatigue during training [7].

Interestingly, and most likely due to improvements in acute training performance, the long term supplementation of Beta-alanine has demonstrated improvement in both muscle growth and fat loss -- suggesting it could have pretty positive effects on body composition [8].

Anywhere between 2 and 5 grams of Beta-alanine has shown to be effective.

L-Tyrosine

L-Tyrosine is another amino acid that can be obtained from the food you eat. Uniquely, this particular amino acid is used to create the key compounds dopamine and adrenaline -- which is why it is so common in pre-workout supplements across the globe.

As such, supplementing with L-tyrosine has been shown to improve reaction time [9] and attention, while also promoting sensations of wellbeing [10].

Interestingly, one study has also found that taking L-tyrosine before exercise may actually improve performance [11]. While this may not directly improve strength and hypertrophy gains, it could potentially improve workout quality.

Evidence would suggest that dosages between 500 and 2000mg are most effective here.

Key Points

Over the last decade the supplement industry has become saturated with subpar pre-workouts. But that doesn't mean that good ones don't exist.

It just means that you need to pay close attention to the ones you buy.

Try and avoid those that contain proprietary blends, or those that have a large number of ingredients. Moreover, any that are making outlandish claims should be avoided like the plague.

And if you can find one that has a few of the scientifically supported ingredients listed above, then you can be pretty confident in its effectiveness.

References

1. McLellan, T. M., Caldwell, J. A., & Lieberman, H. R. (2016). A review of caffeine’s effects on cognitive, physical and occupational performance. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 71, 294-312.
2. Grgic, J., Grgic, I., Pickering, C., Schoenfeld, B. J., Bishop, D. J., & Pedisic, Z. (2020). Wake up and smell the coffee: caffeine supplementation and exercise performance—an umbrella review of 21 published meta-analyses. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 54(11), 681-688.
3. Keynan, O., Mirovsky, Y., Dekel, S., Gilad, V. H., & Gilad, G. M. (2010). Safety and efficacy of dietary agmatine sulfate in lumbar disc-associated radiculopathy. An open-label, dose-escalating study followed by a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Pain Medicine, 11(3), 356-368.
4. Shopsin, B. (2013). The clinical antidepressant effect of exogenous agmatine is not reversed by parachlorophenylalanine: a pilot study. Acta Neuropsychiatrica, 25(2), 113-118.
5. Gonzalez, A. M., & Trexler, E. T. (2020). Effects of Citrulline Supplementation on Exercise Performance in Humans: A Review of the Current Literature. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 34(5), 1480-1495.
6. Pérez-Guisado, J., & Jakeman, P. M. (2010). Citrulline malate enhances athletic anaerobic performance and relieves muscle soreness. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 24(5), 1215-1222.
7. Hobson, R. M., Saunders, B., Ball, G., Harris, R. C., & Sale, C. (2012). Effects of ?-alanine supplementation on exercise performance: a meta-analysis. Amino acids, 43(1), 25-37.
8. Kern, B. D., & Robinson, T. L. (2011). Effects of ?-alanine supplementation on performance and body composition in collegiate wrestlers and football players. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 25(7), 1804-1815.
9. O'Brien, C., Mahoney, C., Tharion, W. J., Sils, I. V., & Castellani, J. W. (2007). Dietary tyrosine benefits cognitive and psychomotor performance during body cooling. Physiology & behavior, 90(2-3), 301-307.
10. Banderet, L. E., & Lieberman, H. R. (1989). Treatment with tyrosine, a neurotransmitter precursor, reduces environmental stress in humans. Brain research bulletin, 22(4), 759-762.
11. Tumilty, L., Davison, G., Beckmann, M., & Thatcher, R. (2011). Oral tyrosine supplementation improves exercise capacity in the heat. European journal of applied physiology, 111(12), 2941-2950.

The supplement industry is rife with misinformation. Each and every day there seems to be a new supplement on the market that promises the world, but disappears within a year or two.

So when one sticks around, we start to take notice.

And one new supplement that has garnered a lot of attention in the health and fitness industry of late is Diindolylmethane

What is Diindolylmethane?

Diindolylmethane (also known as DIM) is a unique compound that your body creates after you eat cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, cauliflower and lettuce.

This particular group of vegetables contains specific plant nutrients that are converted into Diindolylmethane after you eat them.

Taking this into consideration, Diindolylmethane supplements provide a potent dose of this unique compound straight to your body -- eliminating the need to convert it from plant based products.

What does Diindolylmethane do?

Some research has shown that those people who eat a lot of cruciferous vegetables tend to be at a lower risk of developing several different cancers than those who don't -- including both breast cancer and prostate cancer [1].

And Diindolylmethane is thought to be responsible for this phenomenon.

Moreover, there is also some evidence to suggest that Diindolylmethane can help regulate your hormone levels [2].

It appears to do this by stimulating the production of a less potent form of estrogen (known as 2-hydroxyestrone), while reducing the production of a more potent form of estrogen (16 alpha-hydroxyestrone).

This is important, because high levels of 16 alpha-hydroxyestrone have been linked to weight gain, in conjunction with an increased risk of breast and uterine cancer

Finally, Diindolylmethane has also demonstrated an ability to inhibit an enzyme called aromatase -- an enzyme that converts testosterone to estrogen.

Benefits of Diindolylmethane

It should be apparent that Diindolylmethane has some pretty interesting effects on the human body -- but what does that mean for you?

1.   Potential Anticancer Effects

Arguably the most heavily researched property associated with Diindolylmethane relates to its ability to prevent against certain cancers.

Early laboratory studies in cells have shown that Diindolylmethane can slow the growth and spread of breast, prostate, and colon cancer cells. While more research in humans is needed, this does provide an indication that it might have the capacity to help prevent cancer over the course of a human lifetime [1].

2.   Help Promote Weight Loss

As I alluded to above, excess secretion of certain types of estrogens can increase fat accumulation, leading to weight gain.

Given that Diindolylmethane supplement can help restore estrogen balance in the body, it appears likely that it may have the potential to promote weight loss [3] -- although more human research is needed before this can be said with a sense of real certainty.

This suggests that it could be useful during a cut, or even if you are in a bulking phase and want to minimise fat gain.

3.   Improve Prostate Health

Research conducted in adult males has shown that supplementing with Diindolylmethane can protect against prostate enlargement, possibly helping in the prevention of prostate cancer.

In this study, 21 men with some notable prostate issues were either given 900mg of Diindolylmethane, or a placebo. Those who were given the Diindolylmethane saw significant improvements in prostate health, while those given the placebo did not [4].

While this is only a single study, it does provide real world insight into the impact that this unique compound can have on prostate health.

4.   Correct Testosterone Imbalances

Finally, as Diindolylmethane has been shown to stop the conversion of estrogen to testosterone [1], there is reason to believe that it could have a positive effect on your testosterone levels -- particularly if they are on the lower side.

Given that testosterone has positive effects on muscle growth and strength development, there is some reason to believe that supplementing with Diindolylmethane might improve your training results.

However, it is important to note this has not been demonstrated in humans yet, so it is merely speculative at this stage.

Does Diindolylmethane Have any Side effects?

Research conducted in humans has shown Diindolylmethane to be quite safe.There is no reason to suggest that it is toxic, or that its supplementation will result in any serious side effects.

Although some minor side effects have been reported in the research [5], including:

• Darkening of the urine
• Headaches
• Gas and bloating
• Increased number bowel movements

It is important to note that these are rare, and only occur in a small portion of the population.

With that in mind, we still encourage you to seek advice from your medical professional prior to supplementation.

Diindolylmethane Dosing

Given that there is not a huge body of human research on Diindolylmethane yet, the perfect dosage has not been determined. However, taking between 200 and 300mg appears to be safe and effective [6].

Some researchers have also safely explored doses of up to 900mg per day, but this does not appear to be necessary.

Final Points

Diindolylmethane is one of the newest supplements on the market. However, early signs are promising, with research indicating it may be able to correct hormone imbalances, promote weight loss, improve prostate health, and even prevent certain cancers.

While more research is needed, it does appear to be safe and well-tolerated in moderate dosages, suggesting it could be an important part of your supplement regime.

References

1. Thomson, C. A., Ho, E., & Strom, M. B. (2016). Chemopreventive properties of 3, 3′-diindolylmethane in breast cancer: evidence from experimental and human studies. Nutrition reviews, 74(7), 432-443.
2. Rajoria, S., Suriano, R., Parmar, P. S., Wilson, Y. L., Megwalu, U., Moscatello, A., ... & Tiwari, R. K. (2011). 3, 3′-Diindolylmethane modulates estrogen metabolism in patients with thyroid proliferative disease: a pilot study. Thyroid, 21(3), 299-304.
3. Yang, H., Seo, S. G., Shin, S. H., Min, S., Kang, M. J., Yoo, R., ... & Kim, J. R. (2017). 3, 3’‐Diindolylmethane suppresses high‐fat diet‐induced obesity through inhibiting adipogenesis of pre‐adipocytes by targeting USP2 activity. Molecular nutrition & food research, 61(10), 1700119.
4. Paltsev, Mikhail, et al. "First results of the double-blind randomized placebo-controlled multicenter clinical trial of DIM-based therapy designed as personalized approach to reverse prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN)." EPMA Journal 7.1 (2016): 5.
5. Castanon, A., Tristram, A., Mesher, D., Powell, N., Beer, H., Ashman, S., ... & Sasieni, P. (2012). Effect of diindolylmethane supplementation on low-grade cervical cytological abnormalities: double-blind, randomised, controlled trial. British journal of cancer, 106(1), 45-52.
6. Reed, G. A., Sunega, J. M., Sullivan, D. K., Gray, J. C., Mayo, M. S., Crowell, J. A., & Hurwitz, A. (2008). Single-dose pharmacokinetics and tolerability of absorption-enhanced 3, 3′-diindolylmethane in healthy subjects. Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Biomarkers, 17(10), 2619-2624.

If you're serious about getting the most out of your workout, you will quickly discover that the use of a well-timed pre-workout supplement can go a very far away. However, realizing this is just half of the battle. The other half, more importantly, has to be selection of the best ingredients that can help you reach your goals.

In this article we are going to reveal what the five best pre-workout ingredients to look for are, and how the massive pumps they deliver on contribute to muscle gains and strength increase.

Creatine

Creatine is one of the most heavily researched supplements in history, and for good reason – it absolutely works. Regardless of what your specific sport discipline is, there is a very good chance that creatine supplementation can help take you to the next level.

Creatine possesses muscle volumizing properties, which refers to its ability to increase a cell’s water content[i]creatine supplementation can yield a 5 to 10% increase in strength gains, not to mention the fact that it is extremely safe and plays a very important part in energy production.

Interestingly, beta alanine itself doesn't do much for performance in the short term. Rather, it helps to raise levels of intracellular carnosine, which is a semi-essential amino acid that plays a key role in helping to buffer accumulation of positively charged hydrogen ions.

Over time, what you will notice is improved resistance to fatigue and extended exercise duration, especially when it comes to exercise of an intermediate length lasting more than one minute.

Citrulline

Citrulline is a very popular and effective amino acid that is naturally produced by the body in small amounts.

However, you will be hard-pressed to notice any difference if you rely on naturally produced citrulline. Instead, consumption of citrulline based supplements are known to help increase blood flow and circulation throughout the body[ii]arginine, which subsequently helps to raise blood levels of nitric oxide.

While L-citrulline is fine in terms of its vasodilator capacity, citrulline maleate is arguably much more effective by virtue of its resistance to metabolism, and the fact that it also supports energy levels.

Doses of between 3 to 6 g of citrulline are generally effective and safe, and are associated with fewer gastric side effects that are notorious to arginine supplements.

Caffeine

Given that you are not sensitive to the effects of stimulants, caffeine is one of the most affordable and effective pre-workout boosters that you can take advantage of right now.

There is a reason why coffee is the most popular beverage in the world, especially when it comes to elevating alertness and reducing fatigue. Caffeine, taken as is or in a pre-workout form, is highly beneficial to several aspects of your work out.

For instance, it helps to increase power output, increases the rate of fat addition, and even has a mild effect on increasing your resting metabolic rate. Not to mention that it can help increase your drive and motivation to get your workout done.

Plus, there is the lesser known effect of caffeine being a mild vasodilator[iii]sleep if you should take it too close to bedtime.

Glycerol works in a unique manner, but one that can best be compared to creatine’s mechanism on enhancing muscle pumps; by promoting hyper hydration. This can have the effect of improving performance[iv]

If you’re a non-vegan athlete, and have come across pea protein powder for the first time, chances are high that you probably just bypassed it completely. However, after learning a bit about the basics of pea protein powder, we’re sure you will want to give it a second look.

The fact is that pea protein can be extremely beneficial for you, regardless of if you are vegan or not. You do eat vegetables don’t you? In that same way pea protein should be considered a useful tool in your arsenal towards a healthier life.

What Is Pea Protein?

The name should be self-explanatory, but in particular, it is obtained from yellow peas (Pisum sativum), which are sustainable enough to ensure continuous supply in the event that demand rises significantly. The peas are ground into a fine powder, and subsequently refined to remove the fibre and starches to leave behind a high purity protein powder.

Not surprisingly, pea protein is the number one vegan based protein powder on the market, and coupled with its many benefits is likely to remain here for a long time.

Wondering what these notable benefits include? Let’s check them out now.

Pea Protein Powder Is Complete

The major flaw with vegan based protein sources is the fact that they lack one or more of the essential amino acids, and are accordingly classified as incomplete protein sources. Pea protein does possess all the 9 essential amino acids[i]methionine content is a little low.

Pea protein powder is referred to as low FODMAP[ii]iron. Given, iron deficiency is fairly common even in non-vegetarians, which makes it important for you to actively seek out foods that are excellent sources of this mineral.

Pea protein powder is a great source of iron[iii]whey protein, helping to keep your appetite under control for a longer period of time.

For instance, whey protein causes a spike in insulin levels in as little as 20 minutes after ingestion, while pea protein peaked after three hours, and to a lesser degree than whey[iv]whey protein remains one of the best protein powders you can choose for its muscle building properties, its rapid absorption and clearance from body doesn’t make it the best suited for preventing catabolism (muscle breakdown).

Slower acting proteins, such as casein and pea are much better suited for this as they slowly liberate amino acids over the period of many hours. This does not take away from the amazing muscle building potential[v]amino acids for several hours is a great recipe for muscle building.

Interest in pea protein powder is rapidly increasing, as testament to the fact that over the past decade hundreds of new manufacturers of the product have popped up. Pea protein is an excellent choice whether you are on a full plant-based diet or not, thanks to its unique amino acid release pattern and overall nutritional profile.

Just be sure to choose a high-quality powder that offers more than 20 g of protein per serve.

[i]digestion and in vivo gastrointestinal peptide responses relevant to satiety. Food Nutr Res. 2015;59:25622. Published 2015 Apr 13. doi:10.3402/fnr.v59.25622

[v]

So you’re trying to pack on some serious mass are you? That’s great to hear! Chances are you arrived here because you wanted help choosing the best protein out there to support your goals, so where’s the whey?

Just hold on a sec- while whey is undoubtedly an awesome muscle builder, what if we told you there was another, lesser known protein powder, the bigger brother if you will, of whey, which lies in the shadow of his younger celebrity sibling?

Introducing casein, a protein that you WILL want to get to know, and make use of pronto. Now onto a little bit about this mysterious chap, shall we?

What Is Casein?

Like whey, casein is also a milk derived protein. In fact, 80% of the protein content of milk is actually casein, while whey accounts for the other 20%. The curd of milk is the starting point of casein, which is washed several times to concentrate the casein, and then subsequently dehydrated (dried) to leave an approximately 96% pure protein.

Casein is a complete protein, like other animal based proteins, and is available in three forms:

• Micellar Casein- the slowest digesting variety of casein you can buy, it is considered the most nutritious form if you are looking for the best bang for your money. Best when consumed before bed when speed of digestion is not a pressing matter
• Caseinates- produced by treating casein with an alkaline solution, this type is classified as the second slowest digesting variety. Texture can vary depending on type of caseinate present, for instance, as calcium caseinate is not as smooth as sodium caseinate.
• Casein hydrolysate- hydrolysis of casein protein results in a somewhat pre-digested variety, which can be said to possess advantages specific to both whey and casein itself. For instance, this type of casein releases amino acids rapidly into the blood stream, but also slowly continuously yields more for several hours to come. This type of casein is best for addition to your post-workout shake.

What Makes Casein So Special?

If you haven’t spotted the trend with casein as yet, most of what sets it apart from whey is not mimicking what whey can do, but instead what it can’t. By this, we mean its unique speed of absorption. Casein specialized as a slow digesting protein, while whey is rapidly absorbed. This brings with it specific advantages for you as an athlete. These include:

Reduces Muscle Breakdown

Catabolism is the enemy of anyone looking for true muscle nirvana. Being a breakdown process, catabolism often causes breakdown of muscle tissue to help meet energy needs of the body and/or amino acid requirements.

This is bad, as your goal is about saving aminos; losing it only sets you back. Casein is uniquely poised to avoid this because it “tricks” your body into thinking that you are being continuously fed over the course of several hours.

Reduced muscle breakdown is especially  important if you plan on dieting, since low calorie diets are notoriously known to cause muscle loss in addition to fat. If left unchecked, this can be very bad for your metabolic machine.

One study done compared whey and casein hydrolysates in their ability to help preserve muscle mass[i]other macronutrients. But when it comes to casein, the presence of copious amounts of calcium[iii]calcium with moderate protein intake utilize more calories from fat, and also have higher levels of faecal fat excretion that people who consume lower amounts of calcium.

[i]calcium consumption: a randomized controlled trial. Nutr J 12, 8 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2891-12-8