Thoughts on Pre-Workout

Since I started lifting, taking pre-workout was a foreign concept to me. I knew how sensitive my body was to caffeine and I didn’t want to develop an addiction or increase my tolerance. I didn’t understand why people needed to “overdoes” on caffeine just to go to the gym, and I never wanted to be one of them. Frankly, I looked down on them a bit, even though I shouldn’t have. It’s also expensive, and I wanted to avoid the constant paranoia of running out or feeling like I can’t work out because I don’t have it around.

One day, I saw an ad on Tik Tok one day for free pre-workout samples from Steel. I never would’ve purchased an expensive container to test it, but since it was free there’s no reason not to try it, right? I started by taking 1/3 of a serving for a few days. I had 3 free same serving packets, so that was over a week of workouts to try it out.

I used to be frustrated that I couldn’t lift as much weight during morning workouts because my mind AND body weren’t awake yet. I quickly realized how much easier it is to get up in the morning when I’m looking forward to the caffeine rush and can hit my normal weights. I have to admit how much I love the rush. It's one of those things that just makes me feel good. I feel like I have the motivation for anything and can take on the world. I always wish the feeling would last for longer, and dread the time when it wears off.

I’m still against pre-workout in principle. I don’t want to become dependent on it, nor do I think that much caffeine is healthy for the body. What happens when my tolerance increases so much that it no longer has an effect on me? For the time being though, I made a deal with myself: If my ass gets out of bed in the morning before work, I’m allowed to have some form of pre-workout. (I either have a Celsius which is 200mg of caffeine or use MegaWatt, which is 150mg of caffeine). I drink the Celsius slowly, so the caffeine hits me gradually throughout the morning. If I’m really tired, or it’s leg day, then I use a little under a serving of MegaWatt. If I don’t get out of bed in the morning, I don’t get pre-workout. I need to make sure I can sleep at night too, so I can’t be having caffeine after work. If I have coffee at work, I have decaf to avoid additional caffeine.

Unfortunately, I notice that I’m developing a tolerance to caffeine. Caffeine still makes me feel good, but it’s not the same rush as the first week. Thankfully, I don’t get headaches if I don’t have caffeine. I’ll probably develop an addiction at some point, but I had so much trouble getting myself out of bed and hated feeling frustrated that I couldn’t perform in the morning, that I’m taking it one day at a time for now. On the bright side, I’ve gotten TONS of PRs (personal records) recently. It’s important to know that pre-workout doesn’t actually make you any stronger. It just gives you enough adrenaline and energy so that you can push yourself.

Would I recommend pre-workout to you? If you can go without it, then don’t use it. But if it’s the only way you’re going to motivate yourself to get to the gym, then I’d say to go for it as long as you’re careful. Many pre-workouts have filler ingredients and side-effects such as tingling and itching. The Steel pre-workout made me feel great, but I was itchy when I took nearly a full dose. The MegaWatt that I use doesn’t have fillers or side-effects and is a lower dose of caffeine than some of the others, which is good for me.