Pre workout supplements are very popular, but some of not very good at all. I’m a supplement expert and I’m going to give you 4 pre workout myths that you need to know before buying this type of supplement.
“I’m not sure why taking a cortisol increasing supplement once a day makes sense. I mean, you’re trying to battle the exact opposite when trying to build muscle, why would you take a product to do the exact opposite is beyond me”. Alex Rogers President Proteinfactory.com
Pre workout myths
Myth #1.
Pre-Workout supplements help you grow muscle. WRONG!
Myth #2
Pre-Workout Supplements help you get stronger. WRONG!
Myth #3
You need a pre-workout supplement to workout. WRONG
Myth #5
Pre-workout supplements contain ingredients that help you grow muscle. WRONG
I’m 42, yeah I’m old. I’ve been selling supplements for over 17 years so that is the plus to being 42. Over those 17 years, one of the most disastrous supplement categories to come along is the “pre-workout” category. The pre-workout category started a few years ago when a product in a little jar came out called Jack3d. It contained an ingredient called DMAA, that nobody knew about until people started getting really sick and some actually died.
Here is a really good time line posted. Below my recommendations on what you should do pre-workout, you can see the history that shaped the supplement industry. I want to make sure that you read my recommendations and not get lost in the history of this.
When Jack3d was being sold of course other companies had products containing DMAA. And then once the FDA started to throw its weight around with supplements containing DMAA, supplement manufacturers had to scramble to create pre-workout supplements without DMAA. That was kinda easy because all they had to do was add 300mg of caffeine.
However, I have a big problem with the common pre-workout supplements that are sold today. That problem, they are junk. Most of the pre-workouts sold today are simply powders with caffeine added to them. They are decorated with amino acids, beta-alanine, and other “pretty” supplements to make it look like it will build muscle when really all it is made for is to give the person that caffeine “wired” feeling. Pre-workout supplements do not help you grow much. In fact simply drinking 5 hour energy, or swallowing some caffeine pills would do the trick.
Pre-workout supplemets are indeed counter productive. It is like taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back. You see you use the pre-workout supplement and go to the gym. Then, you workout causing a catabolic condition in the body. On top of that, because the pre-workout you used contains caffeine, it then triggers the release of cortisol in the body because that is what caffeine does. Pre-workout supplements are CATABOLIC. You’re supposed to be getting the body in an anabolic state, not catabolic. Remember catabolic hormones are much stronger than anabolic. At no point in time should should you be “helping” your body into more of a catabolic state.
The key is, that you have to stop believing all the shit that these supplement companies throw at you that are trying to make you think you need pre-workout supplements. Trust me, when I tell you that it is all a ploy to get your money. Do not be fooled by thinking the supplement is “working” because of the caffeine rush you get. You do not need a pre-workout supplement. They are not going to help you grow muscle. They will help you lose muscle. If you do want to use something pre-workout you want to use something that will actually help the body into an anabolic state. Something like protein or carbs. For protein of course you want something that is fast digesting like Peptopro or Muscle Shake. For carbs, you want something that is not going to give you a massive insulin spike like Gatorade or Dextrose. You want a carb that you can still burn fat while you work out, like veggies or my Oat Muscle. Remember, a spike in insulin stops the body from burning body fat. I don’t recommend using high GI carbs unless you want to bulk up.
In conclusion, don’t be fooled by the marketing hype of pre workouts. They are a rip off. Pre workout supplements should be pre digested protein and carbs. Use them and you’ll gain muscle and lose fat. Use pre-workouts with caffeine and you’ll gain fat and lose muscle.
Here’s the timeline posted in Truth In Advertising.org
Take a walk with us down the history of Jack3d (pronounced Jacked), a product marketed as a dietary supplement that “produces an intense sensation of drive, focus, energy, motivation & awareness.”1940s – Pharmaceutical maker Eli Lilly develops dimethylamylamine (also known as 1, 3-dimethylamylamine, methylhexanamine, and geranium extract, and more popularly called DMAA) as a nasal decongestant.2005 – Supplement makers begin to market DMAA for weight loss and enhanced workouts.2010 – The World Anti-Doping Agency bans DMAA as a performance-enhancing substance.June 2011 – A 22-year-old soldier named Michael Sparling has a heart attack and dies after taking Jack3d, which contains DMAA.July 2011 – Health Canada, a government health agency equivalent to the U.S. FDA, rules that DMAA is not a dietary supplement but a drug and prohibits companies from selling it as a supplement.
Dec. 2011 – The Defense Department removes all products containing DMAA from stores on military bases, including GNC shops, after the death of two soldiers who used the product.
Apr. 2012 – Claire Squires, 30, a British marathon runner, dies during the final stretch of the London Marathon. A coroner later rules that Squires, who took Jack3d that day, died of cardiac failure caused by extreme exertion complicated by DMAA toxicity.
After receiving more than 40 adverse event reports on products containing DMAA, including reports of cardiac disorders and death, the FDA sends warning letters to ten manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements containing DMAA (including Jack3d) for marketing products without providing the FDA with evidence of their safety.
In response to the warning letters, an attorney for USPlabs, marketer of Jack3d, said: “The company is convinced that DMAA is lawfully marketed as a dietary ingredient under federal law and the company will present a full defense of the ingredient.”
Aug. 2012 – The UK’s equivalent of the FDA rules that “the popular DMAA containing sports supplement Jack3d is an unlicensed medicinal product and that it and all other DMAA containing products need to be removed from the UK market amid concerns of potential risks to public safety.”
Oct. 2012 – USPlabs files a defamation lawsuit against Philip Tracy, owner of Max Muscle of Reno, for alleged false and disparaging statements about Jack3d on a news program. The suit claims Tracy describes Jack3d as an “amphetamine like compound” that “speeds up your heart rate” and may “possibly” cause death. The case is later dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
Dec. 2012 – A case study published in Military Medicine about the deaths of the two soldiers who took the supplement states that “DMAA in combination with other ingredients may be associated with significant consequences.”
Jan. 2013 – Court approves $2 million settlement of class-action lawsuit filed against USPlabs, which denied any wrongdoing. The lawsuit claimed Jack3d and another supplement containing DMAA, OxyElite Pro, were falsely marketed as safe.
Feb. 2013 – The parents of Michael Sparling, the soldier that died in June 2011 after taking Jack3d, bring a wrongful death action against USPlabs and GNC for deceptively marketing Jack3d as safe and effective.
Apr. 2013 – FDA determines that DMAA does not qualify as a legal dietary supplement ingredient and warns that the stimulant can raise blood pressure, which can cause heart attacks and other health problems.
USPlabs responds by stating, “We disagree with FDA’s position. The company has never-the-less concluded for business reasons to phase-out products containing 1,3-DMAA and replace them with new advanced formulations.”
June 2013 – At the behest of the FDA, federal prosecutors in two states ask courts for authority to seize more than 3,200 cases of Jack3d and OxyElite Pro from GNC warehouses because the products contain DMAA.
A spokesman for GNC told the New York Times that the company believes DMAA to be a “safe, legal dietary ingredient,” and that “GNC will continue to sell through its remaining inventory of the products in its stores.”
July 2013 – The FDA administratively detains Jack3d and OxyElite Pro under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Under its administrative detention authority, FDA can detain a dietary supplement product if the agency has reason to believe the product is misbranded. The agency can keep detained products out of the marketplace for a maximum of 30 days while it determines whether to take further enforcement action, such as seizure. Under FDA regulations, detained articles can be voluntarily destroyed by their owner.
USPlabs voluntarily destroys its DMAA-containing products – OxyElite Pro and Jack3d. These products were estimated to have been worth more than $8 million at the retail level.
USPlabs agrees (finally) to stop manufacturing dietary supplements containing DMAA.
Alex Rogers is a supplement manufacturing expert. He has been formulating, consulting, & manufacturing dietary supplements since 1998. Alex invented protein customization in 1998 & was the first company to allow consumers to create their own protein blends. He helped create the first supplement to contain natural follistatin, invented whey protein with egg lecithin, & recently imported the world’s first 100% hydrolyzed whey.
