Pre-workout supplements are a popular option for people who want to improve their workout performance. Two common forms of pre-workout supplements are gummies and powder. While both options provide similar benefits, there are some differences between the two that you should consider before choosing which one to use.
Pre-workout Gummies:
Pre-workout gummies are a convenient and tasty way to consume pre-workout supplements. They are chewable, portable, and often come in a variety of flavors. They are also dosed in individual servings, making it easy to control how much you are consuming.
One of the main benefits of pre-workout gummies is that they are easy to consume. They can be taken without water, which makes them a convenient option for people who are on the go. Additionally, they can provide a quick boost of energy that can help improve workout performance.
Pre-workout Powder:
Pre-workout powder is another popular option for those looking to improve their workout performance. It is typically mixed with water and consumed before a workout. The main benefit of pre-workout powder is that it provides a more precise dosage than gummies.
Powder supplements are often formulated with a specific blend of ingredients that can help improve energy, focus, and performance. They can also be customized to suit individual needs and goals. For example, some powders may contain more caffeine or other stimulants, while others may focus more on improving endurance or muscle recovery.
Which One Should You Choose?
The choice between pre-workout gummies and pre-workout powder ultimately comes down to personal preference. If you are someone who values convenience and ease of consumption, then gummies may be the best option for you. Also, if you prefer a less chemical-tasting pre-workout then gummies might also be a better choice for you. On the other hand, if you are looking for a more precise dosage or a specific blend of ingredients, then powder may be the better choice.
It's also important to consider any dietary restrictions or preferences you may have. Some pre-workout supplements may contain ingredients that you are sensitive to or may not align with your dietary needs. For example, our pre-workout gummies have been formulated with lots of vitamins that would be hard to come by in everyday nutrition.
What is Pre-Workout?
A supplement product taken before workouts to optimise and boost performance and energy levels.
How do Pre Workout work?
Pre-workout supply your body with different nourishing nutrients that improve your exercise performance. They comprise ingredients such as caffeine which can boost your level of endurance and minimise fatigue during a workout; beta-alanine and vitamins, which help you feel active and energised throughout the workout. For this reason, a pre workout is usually taken before the workout to boost performance and give you a hit of energy.
Benefits of taking pre workout
Pre-workout supplements should be part of your workout routine for a variety of reasons, from weight loss, to muscle gain, or both - here are some ways it’ll help you earn great results and achieve your goals:
Increased Energy
Pre-workout gives you a substantial amount of energy boost. Caffeine, which most pre-workouts contain, fights fatigue by affixing to the adenosine receptors in the brain. A gulp of pre-workout can help you feel energised and prepared to take on even the most difficult training sessions if you are having trouble getting pumped up for the gym early in the morning.
Increased Stamina
Pre-workout increases your stamina, too! The optimal pre-workouts contain ingredients that improve blood flow, which helps your muscles get more oxygen and nutrients as you work out. This allows you to push through the strenuous workout sets, move more weight, and maintain good form the whole time. Hence, fast results and continual progress.
Improved Focus
Any pre-workout supplement can increase your energy levels, but the ultimate pre-workout supplement will also aid your concentration and mental-capacity as you train. Popular pre-workout ingredients such as Caffeine, L-Theanine and TeaCrine, can help you prevent mental and physical fatigue. They make it easier for you to stay focused without giving in to distractions.
Improved Mood
It is not a secret that some days you don’t feel like doing a workout. We have all been there! Maybe you are feeling a bit exhausted, stressed out or just down. On such days, if you take pre-workout powder or gummies, though, you can get a decent energy and mood boost, making it easier for you to get to the gym. As a reward, you’ll benefit from the mood-boosting natural chemicals that exercise produces (endorphins).
Faster Weight Loss
Pre-workout supplements, together with a calorie deficit and regular exercise (of course), can help you lose excess body fat and get leaner if losing weight is one of your key goals. Your heart rate will rise during pre-workout, which will help you burn more calories throughout exercise. It also acts as an appetite suppressant and helps you to avoid giving in to cravings.
Pumped-up Muscle
Pre-workout supplements with ingredients like Nitrosigine also help to improve your blood flow and give you more pronounced pumps. Pumped-up muscles are definitely a nice perk but this isn’t just about aesthetics. It is also about more oxygen and nutrients being delivered to your muscles during and after your workout due to the increased blood flow. When this occurs, your training stamina increases and your post-workout recovery enhances, too.
General Side Effects of Pre-Workout
The probable side effects of pre-workout depend on the ingredients in your specific supplement. Typically, caffeine and other energy-boosting compounds could increase your heart rate and blood pressure fleetingly, but as of yet there is no confirmed reports of widespread adverse effects. Excess caffeine can result in side effects such as nausea, heart palpitations, and headaches in those who are sensitive to caffeine. Hence, there’s a need to be mindful of the timing of your pre-workout if you have recently consumed coffee or tea. It is always a good idea to discuss supplements with your GP before beginning a new routine so they can advise accordingly and monitor the impact they have on you. If you do have your pre workout dose in the evening, close to when you will be heading to bed, it can interfere with your sleep quality, which may affect your recovery. A caffeine-free pre-workout for a night time gym session is a much preferable option for any night-owls.
BTW, these are not the same as gummy bears. You can read more about the difference here.
What are Pre Workout Gummies?
Pre-workout gummies, as their name suggests, are candies created primarily to provide you the extra energy you need to exercise longer and harder. In general, they contain gelatin, sugar, caffeine, and other chemicals meant to increase stamina and performance throughout any workout. They have great taste and are convenient to take before an exercise, which gives them a significant edge over other pre-workout supplements. The best pre-workout gummies are sugar-free and produced with gelatin, making them a far healthier alternative. These pre-workouts also have creatine and caffeine as the primary sources of energy.
How do Pre-Workout Gummies work?
Gummies work by increasing your body's ability to produce energy by boosting your blood flow and oxygen delivery during an intense workout. This helps you to improve your endurance, enabling you to work out more vigorously and hit your goals. One of the major highlights of gummies is that they supply you with the right amount of caffeine, which is released gradually, so you don’t experience an energy crash. This is a big deal because excess caffeine can lead to health problems such as anxiety, sleeplessness, and stomach issues. This allows you to go for more extended periods without burning out!
What is in Pre-Workout Gummies?
In reality, pre-workout gummies are just candies made to give you extra energy. However, sugar is NOT the main ingredient as you may think. The main ingredients are usually:
- Caffeine
- Creatine
- Beta-alanine
- L-arginine
- Turmeric
- Citrulline Malate
- Sucralose
- Beef gelatin
- Maltodextrin
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Beetroot powder
Let's look into these ingredients in more detail: Caffeine
Caffeine is associated with increased mental alertness. It also increases the metabolic rate, which improves endurance and reduces fatigue. Just like wood to a fire.
Creatine
This is derived from amino acids which fill one’s muscles with bursts of energy. This is particularly useful when one is doing high-intensity interval training. Creatine in gummies is often also combined with malic acid, which helps to absorb the creatine.
Beta-alanine
This non-essential amino acid avoids acid buildup in your muscles. In gym terms, this is like preventing grease from accumulating between your muscle joints and allowing for greater strength to be used. And not only that, beta-alanine increases muscle carnosine, which prevents that “burn” you feel when your muscles are pumped to full capacity. One small side effect of beta-alanine: as you are able to delay muscle fatigue, you will probably experience a slight tingling sensation. But this is not at all harmful.
L-arginine
Generally one finds these in nuts, wheat and fish. It is also produced in our bodies. Whilst it is not an essential ingredient to a healthy life, it is still beneficial to gym goers. It boosts protein synthesis i.e. it pumps up muscle growth and strength like a natural and
non-negative steroid. If you want a toned, lean muscle mass (think Daniel Craig’s James Bond) then this should be on the top of your eating list.
Turmeric
A flowering plant often used in cooking. Apart from spicing up your food, turmeric contains curcumin which is great at reducing inflammation and muscle soreness. And this translates to ‘faster recovery’.
Citrulline Malate
A nitric oxide (NO) enhancer, yet another amino acid, packed into gummies. It is believed to boost one’s exercise performance.
Sucralose
Pre-workout gummies contain sucralose, a non-calorie-filled sweetener. It is made from sugar, but let us get one thing clear, it is NOT sugar! It has been altered to be calorie-free without losing its sweetness. A big advantage of this is that it is safe for those with diabetes.
Beef Gelatin
Made by boiling animal bones, skins and cartilage and looks like brown jelly. But lucky for us, it is tasteless and has no smell. It helps with digestion, joint support and healing wounds. But as it is made from beef, this makes it inedible for vegans and vegetarians. But fear not, there are vegan gummies on the market.
Maltodextrin
This is a cheaper version of carbohydrate, when compared to lactose, and is made from either wheat, rice or corn. It provides two benefits:
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Thickening gelatin (more of a benefit to the gummy).
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Providing 4 calories for every 1g of maltodextrin powder and calories = energy.
Citrulline Malate
There are two types of citrulline.
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L-citrulline (the purest form of citrulline).
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Citrulline malate (a blend between citrulline and malate). A type of protein which provides energy production assistance.
Beetroot Powder
The natural nitrate content that is found in this powder improves blood flow by dilating the blood vessels so that your blood can race around your body. This also has the added benefit of increasing the oxygen levels flowing to one’s muscles thus, relieving muscle pump.
The Pros of Pre Workout Gummies
Gummies are not a scam! There are numerous pieces of evidence and reviews online to back up this claim. This is also true for many pre-workout supplements. Results may differ slightly among users, but the same outcome can be expected – i.e. increased energy and mental alertness. To experience their purported benefits, use the gummies for as long as necessary. Again, most of the ingredients have been shown in clinical studies to help with athletic performance, muscle building, and recovery. As long as you don’t have any medical condition, there’s no limit to how long you can use them!
- Increases workout performance
- Provides powerful energy boosts
- Improved brain function (alertness)
- Made from organic ingredients
- Contains a moderate amount of caffeine
- Gluten and dairy-free
The Cons of Pre Workout Gummies
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May cause a tingling sensation
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Not available in local stores and pharmacies
What is Pre Workout Powder?
Pre-workout powder speaks for itself. It is a pre-workout supplement in powder form.
How does Pre Workout Powder Work?
The most commonly known pre-workout form – is powder. Pre-workout powder is designed to dissolve in water, forming a tasty mixed drink. All of the nutrients are contained within a pulverised can of crystals. They come in a variety of flavours and you may either drink the pre-workout on your way to the gym or 30 minutes beforehand. That gives it a little time to hit your digestive system and permeate across the body. Liquids take some time to digest, and you want the effects of your pre-workout to hit during the actual session.
What is in Pre Workout Powder?
Branched-Chain Amino
The combination of the three crucial amino acids isoleucine, leucine, and valine is known as BCAAs. Once ingested, BCAAs bypass the liver and digestive system and enter the bloodstream for use. BCAAs are the building blocks of proteins.
Caffeine
It stimulates the body’s central nervous system, helping raise alertness and focus.
Citrulline Malate
An organic amino acid that is created in small amounts by the body through the other amino acids that are consumed.
Creatine
A non-essential amino acid that can be synthesised naturally in the body. Additional creatine helps to saturate your muscle creatine stores which deplete rapidly during exercise. 3g/d creatine has been shown to increase physical performance during brief, intense workouts.
Electrolytes
Think magnesium, potassium and sodium — they are particularly beneficial if a workout lasts for a long time. They help in replenishing the electrolytes which the body loses during a workout when the it sweats.
Protein
By providing additional amino acid building blocks, protein consumed in pre-workout drinks and meals will aid in the body's increased production of protein. The result is an increase in muscle growth.
Taurine
An amino acid, taurine can be supplemented in pre-workout powder.
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 is required by the body to produce red blood cells, sustain the neurological system, and maintain proper metabolism. Vitamin B12 comes in two forms: methylcobalamin and cyanocobalamin.
The Pros of Pre Workout Powder
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Some people just prefer drinks - Personal choice here hence, not a definite fact. If you enjoy having a beverage before hitting the gym, then this will be a ‘pro’.
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Direct absorption - When you pre-mix powders with water, they dissolve into a new liquid that contains pre-workout ingredients. Liquids are digested in the stomach into your bloodstream. There is no need to give your stomach acids time to break down an outer coating. However, this means that you have to get the timing right because the pre-workout liquid won’t continue to disperse throughout the training.
The Cons of Pre Workout Powder
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Moisture and clumping - The market is flooded with instant-dissolving powders. But, many of us know the peril of seeing our pre-workout stuck to a moisture drop before we've even added water. You miss some of the dose when the pre-workout powder sticks to the side of a shaker bottle. This is quite a common issue and many people turn to keeping their pre-workouts in their freezers to try and avoid it. Therefore, the main ‘con’ here is pre-workouts that become clumpy or hard.
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Requires extra materials - Maybe you’ve decided to beat the above problem by using a new shaker each time. It’s great, but let’s face it, it is extra work. You have to wash two bottles regularly, not forgetting to pack one every time you go to the gym. Or you might even forget you have one in your bag from yesterday’s session, and now you just look like a bottle collector.
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Artificial ingredients - Instead of sugar, companies use artificial sweeteners. Research has indicated that artificial sweeteners are likely to create glucose intolerance and deregulate metabolism, which is a major problem. You most certainly do not want those outcomes from a pre-workout.Sure, a powder doesn’t need artificial sweeteners, but otherwise, they don’t taste good or they have a ton of added sugars. This brings us to the final point…
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Nasty gas- we are not referring to the much needed Russian gas. We are talking gas coming from your stern side and making everybody move away from you faster than you can say "hakuna matata"
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Variation in taste - Taste is incredibly subjective from person to person. We personally prefer blue raspberry.
While pre-workout powders have improved significantly from their initial, chalky rendition, some are still very subpar. Nothing’s worse than going into the store and discovering they only have banana flavoured powder. (Yikes).
Pre Workout Pills - the low down
Pre workout pills are basically the same as powder, just compacted in little capsules. To take your supplement in pill form, you will still need water or a drink, so it's just a different method of intake. On the surface, that is. Pills tend to gravitate toward more natural ingredients. Pre-workout pill manufacturers have to differentiate somehow from organic, to non-GMO, and to all-natural versions.
What are Pre-Workout Gummies vs Pre-Workout Powder | Which is the best option?
Preparation Time
It is a clear winner, pre-workout gummies can be taken immediately for a great workout, whereas powder require liquids, containers which require cleaning, and a bit of shaking around.
Which one is the best pre workout supplement?
And the winner is (drumroll) - Pre-workout Gummies! They are fun to chew and are made from natural and healthy ingredients. No preparation time is required plus they quickly absorb into your bloodstream, giving you the right boost just when you need it.
Want to find out more about when to take our pre-workout gummies?
