Hey guys, so a few people have inboxed me asking to talk about these lately so here it is:
Pre-Workouts (PW) :
Pre-workouts for those of you who are unaware are supplements that you take before a workout to help you during your workout. They have varieties of strengths and lots of differences among brands. There are two many types and I will touch on those two briefly and any other product specific questions can be emailed to me.
Nitric-oxide (NO)- Many pre-workouts (PW) contain the substance NO. What NO does specifically is called vasodilation and is the expanding of your blood vessels width. NO is used by our bodies naturally to help regulate blood pressure, and when used as a supplement acts locally right on the blood vessel and causes an increase in blood flow and nutrient uptake. This affect not only helps when trying to get the most supplies to your muscles, but also gives you a bulkier version of yourself for a short time until the NO works it's way out of your system. NO is in a lot of the top products on the market as a lot of people like the rush of energy and how you feel on them. That being said, a lot of PW have various degrees of strengths. Some products play around with the dosages on their ingredients and therefore some products will affect some people differently. My main problem with these types of PW's is that if you are like me, the change in blood flow leaves me feeling dizzy and light headed. Although this only happens to a few people, make sure that you talk to any of the employees at Dartmouth/Halifax Popeye's for more recommendations on individual use. I believe right now their fan favorite is a product named GAT, and I have heard fairly good feedback on it. The others on the market that are normally looked at are NO Explode, Shotgun, and Superpump. I personally like the product Swollen, made by a company in B.C. as I find it keeps my dizzy spells down. The normal recommendation is to have it on an empty stomach, however this will increase it's affects and therefore increase your chances at symptoms like dizziness and nausea.
Stimulants- The second main type of PW's are energy based, and will tie us in nicely with fat burners. These types of PW's usually try and combine a number of stimulants such as caffeine and taurine. I know there use to be limitations in Canada on the amount of caffeine and taurine that can be in a product and so ingredients may vary between Canada and the USA. Stimulants often will give you the energy needed for your workout, and the additional workout benefits will be explained further in the next section. Additionally, creatine is often combined with stimulant PW's. Creatine if you remember from my previous post, is an energy system component that will help with workout intensity, recovery time, as well as give you a bulkier look. Reminder, the size that comes from creatine is often due to the biproduct of water left to store in the muscle after the creatine is used. Creatine can be a quick gain but also can be a quick loss when you are done supplementing. Lastly, like any stimulant, if you work out late at night, these types of products may have to be avoided unless you prefer late night insomnia followed by endless hours of late night infomercials and Seinfeld reruns.
When looking at these PW's be extremely cautious in how you approach them. Various people have various results using them, and you should always take baby steps into starting a new product. For any more questions on these you know the email, or ask the guys at Popeye's. Their staff is full of great advice, their product knowledge of supplements is both regulated and in depth. (I am not just pumping their company's tires, I strongly believe and have seen the product knowledge they are required to know)
Fat Burners
Fat burners are a topic I am constantly asked about by both males and females. They for me are a topic I like to go into depth with, and I have some fairly biased opinions on some products and the heath concerns they possess. The major two I will talk about will be stimulants and thermogenics.
Stimulants- This section will tie in with many of the PW's that were mentioned above. Basically how the stimulant works in this case is to raise your overall metabolic rate, your heart rate, and increase the amount of calories your body is burning. They work well at keeping your body constantly using energy by breaking down the bodies storages. I have some issues with these but compared to the thermos I am a little more comfortable with stimulants. Stimulants can often times lead to elevated heart rates so be careful when combining cardio and stimulants for this reason. Another issue with stimulants is addiction and adaption. Many people can get addicted to stimulants easily. An easy example is the empire that was built on coffee and caffeine (the number 1 most abused drug in the world!) Like coffee, if you use stimulants too much your tolerance and need for the "drug" will only become worse if they are not properly cycled. Stimulants also can affect your metabolism if you are on them for a prolonged time. Your metabolism can adapt to the drug and therefore slows down when you are not taking it. This will in affect, transfer your baseline metabolic scores down, and translate into new standard metabolic rates and hinder your progress towards your goals.
The most ideal two stimulants in my mind are on two different ends of the spectrum and I like both because it can be easy, or scientific. The first one and the easy one is simply coffee. By drinking coffee before a workout you actually speed up your metabolism both as a stimulant and as a thermogenic. If you've noticed your bodies temperature increases (explained in thermos below) as well as acts as a stimulant for your workout. Some of the biggest and strongest guys I've met over the years still swear by it and still use a classic Tim Horton's coffee as their PW every day. The other is a lot more in-depth and it is called ECA. ECA stands for three compounds. Ephedrine, Caffeine, and Asprin. The ephedrine is an exceptional stimulant and highly affective. It is however banned by some governing bodies such as the IOC, and Canada Games so be careful. If you have ever heard about how advil cold and sinus is banned during these competitions it is because it contains ephederine. Ephedrine is not illegal and can be purchased easily at many stores. When stacked with caffeine, you don't elevate the affects of the ephedrine but rather you prolong it's affects. For example, if ephedrines strength on your body is an 8/10 for 2 hours, taking it with caffeine will make it an 8/10 for 4 hours (these are arbitrary numbers that hold no value but for explanation purposes). The asprin (this is low dose childrens aspirin) is used as a blood thinner which also aids in it's effectiveness. I have experimented with ephedrine before and have had awesome results. I replaced the aspirin (never liked the thought of it) with white willow bark on the recommendation by Adam Patterson at Popeye's. It will act like asprin but is a lot easier on your body, which makes it a huge plus and also my recommendation for this stack. Like the others, be careful about addiction and dependancey on ephedrine and cycle it properly. Lastly some people will find their appetite is suppressed as well as their heart rate could be elevated. So make sure you monitor both with your heart rate max is usually around 220 beats per minute - age. Mine would therefore be (24 years old) 220-24 = 196 beats per minute.
Thermogenics- Thermogenics (thermos for short) act similar to stimulants and often in conjunction with them. Basically what they aim to do is to bring up the bodies temperature. The body acts like a furnace, and unlike how our furnaces run on oil, our bodies run on nutrients. By increasing the temperature of the body you raise the temperature of the furnace, which as you guessed it, means it needs more fuel. Therefore the higher your body's temperature is, the more calories your body will burn and the higher your metabolism will be. Thermos are in my mind a little dangerous and can often lead to troubles in the gym. I have helped too many girls up at the gym after they have collapsed on thermos and think they should be dealt with cautiously. One common thermo is Hydroxycut and I in no way recommend the use as I have only seen poor results and health issues with those who have used it.
When dealing with any fat burners, make sure you do plenty of research and take baby steps. Make sure you ask your questions when purchasing any products especially fat burners and stimulants. They can be affective but need to be done properly. I prefer people using a high protein low carb diet, however any further questions you may have feel free to ask and I will try to give you a neutral response.
And remember! You didn't put the lbs on over night, you won't take them off over night either! Be patient, work hard, and avoid dangerous shortcuts even if they seem tempting! Be safe with these, and do your research!
Ryan Trueman BSc
Ryan.Trueman@dal.ca
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