When you need a quick mental and physical boost in the middle of a tough task or just to get you going through the day, energy drinks are the quickest and easiest way you can do so.
One such drink, G FUEL, does just that. It is an energy drink that is marketed mostly to gamers who game competitively for extended periods of time and need to keep their energy and focus levels up.
But what about those who are hitting hard workouts in the gym or in other sports? Is G FUEL effective as a workout drink? Well, the short answer is: Yes! You can drink G FUEL to boost your energy right before you get active. Here’s why.
Is G FUEL good for working out?
Yes. If you’re working out, there’s no problem with using G FUEL as your pre-workout drink to give yourself a high level of energy and focus before your workout. It is a clean and healthy alternative to the many other energy drinks on the market that have high sugar content.
However, while conventional pre-workout drinks are known to give you that awesome feeling of muscle pump that helps you smash those reps, G FUEL does not have that same effect on the body. Instead, it gives you focus, reaction time, and an intense energy kick that should last for the duration of your workout.
And because it contains only 25 calories per serving, G FUEL definitely is a healthier alternative to other sugary pre-workout products for those who are looking to watch their calories. High sugar concentration in any drink may give you a temporary energy high, but after the effects wear off, the sugar crash can cause you to have an unproductive workout.
What to look for in a pre-workout drink?
A good pre-workout drink should contain 7 of these supplements in order to be considered effective.
- Caffeine
We probably all know what caffeine is – it’s found in coffee and tea, two of the most popular beverages in the world. When consumed, caffeine stimulates a part of the brain that boosts alertness and reduces tiredness.
It is for this reason exactly that caffeine is found in most, if not all, pre-workout drinks. The stimulation that caffeine provides allows you to increase your power output, so that you can produce more force in a quicker time.
The recommended dose of caffeine for exercise should be 1.4-2.7 mg of caffeine per pound of body weight, which is what you’d usually find in the formulation for most pre-workout drink products.
- Citrulline
Citrulline is an amino acid that your body naturally produces. It helps to increase blood flow around your bodily tissues, supplying all of the muscles that are at work with all the nutrients and oxygen that they need to perform at their peak.
Citrulline is used in a lot of pre-workout drinks because it also reduces the level of muscle soreness that you might feel the next couple of days after a particularly strenuous workout.
- Nitrate
When your body uses nitrate as an energy source during a workout, it converts it into a molecule called nitric oxide. Nitric oxide improves blood flow throughout the body, thus reducing the amount of oxygen that you need during hard exercise. This lets you work harder, for longer, without feeling winded.
Nitrate that is formulated in pre-workout drinks is usually obtained from beetroots, which are naturally abundant with the molecule.
- Creatine
Creatine is the building block for increasing your muscle mass and general exercise performance. Our bodily cells produce creatine, albeit in much smaller amounts, to keep our muscles fueled with energy so that we can get our daily tasks done. It is the number one supplement for strength and is universally found in all pre-workout products.
In fact, those who consume creatine supplements as a part of their workout routine get up to 10% higher muscle and strength gains on average, according to studies.
- Beta-Alanine
Muscle fatigue is the number one limiting factor when it comes to working out. We all want to hit that final rep before we can call it a productive workout, but if our muscles are fatigued to the point of failure, we’re most probably not going to achieve our targets for the day.
Lactic acid builds up in your muscles when they are subject to intense exercise. Beta-alanine is an amino acid that combats this buildup so that exercise performance can be improved, especially if it’s an extended workout that lasts up to four minutes at a time. However, For workouts that last a minute or less, studies have shown that it’s not as effective.
- BCAAs
BCAAs stand for Branch-chained amino acids. There are 3 molecules that make up this compound, namely: isoleucine, leucine, and valine. They increase the body’s threshold for mental and physical fatigue.
Although they are found naturally occurring in many protein-heavy animal products like chicken, beef, and fish, topping up BCAAs for your body in the form of a pre-workout drink improves overall endurance, especially in activities such as marathons and weight training.
Highly Recommended Read:
Lately, BCAAs seem to be on every label as a selling point, but are they essential for the body? You’re in luck because we wrote an excellent resource demystifying BCAAs. When you’re done reading this article, check out our article on What Are BCAAs, & Are They Worth the Hype? (8-minute read).
- Sodium Bicarbonate
Sodium Bicarbonate: does the name ring a bell? That’s right, it’s probably more well-known as baking soda. It’s a common household product that has a lot of use inside the body as well as outside it.
Pre-workout products use sodium bicarbonate’s buffering qualities to reduce the acid buildup in the body during strenuous activity. This helps you to feel less achy and reduces the “burning” sensation that you often feel in your muscles after a particularly hard gym session.
G FUEL vs. Pre-workout
Compared to other pre-workout drinks, G FUEL has nothing artificial in it. This means that all the ingredients are natural, and it contains no sugar at all, which removes any possibility of having a sugar crash later on.
G FUEL also contains a completely fruit-based antioxidant complex that was created by Gamma Labs, which is the company that owns the G FUEL brand. This antioxidant complex contains over a dozen ingredients that combat oxidative stress, keeping the body in an optimal state of functional equilibrium.
This is the foundation for producing steady, productive energy during workouts of any intensity level. Additionally, it eliminates free radicals from the body to keep your health in good condition overall.
Check out this article where we dive deep into G FUEL vs Pre-workouts, and which may work better for your use case.
How to use a pre-workout to achieve the best result?
Preworkout supplements usually come in the form of powders that you mix with water to create an energy-boosting drink. They are formulated specifically to provide a jolt of energy to the drinker, which helps them to warm up, get into the zone faster, and hit their workout flow quicker.
Pre-workouts should always be consumed before the workout, ideally 20-30 minutes before you start to lift your first weight. This is so that your body has ample time to adjust to the nutrients and energy-boosting molecules that are firing up through your bloodstream.
For longer workouts that last for more than a few hours, you can take your pre-workout supplement approximately around the first-hour mark of your workout. This keeps your endurance levels high and prevents muscle fatigue from happening too soon.
After regular use, your body actually builds a tolerance to the supplements found in conventional pre-workout products. To avoid this, use a stimulant-free product, such as G FUEL (which contains all-natural ingredients) on every other workout day as your pre-workout drink.
Recommended pre-workout drinks
- NutraBio Pre-Workout Stim-Free
The Nutrabio Stim-free pre-workout supplement has 15 ingredients that make it up – none of which contains any artificial stimulants. It increases your power, strength, and endurance without the need for caffeine, which is great for those who don’t want to or can’t take caffeine in their diet.
- Transparent Labs Preseries Bulk
The Transparent Labs Preseries Bulk is vegan-friendly and contains no artificial flavorings or sweeteners. There are 19 active ingredients found in this pre-workout supplement that has been proven to increase muscle mass.
However, it does have a high caffeine content, which means that pregnant or breastfeeding women, as well as children, should avoid this product.
- Kaged Muscle Pre-Kaged
For those looking for gluten-free pre-workout supplements, the Pre-kaged is a good choice. It contains leucine, which is an energy source for muscles, helping you get more out of your workout. Leucine also slows down protein breakdown in muscle tissue, reducing fatigue.
While it is gluten-free and vegan friendly. It is high in caffeine. However, at the time of writing, there is a new caffeine-free version of the Pre-kaged that is suitable for those who are wary of caffeine in their diet.
