A pre-workout is a mixture of substances that improve training performance, if taken immediately before training. But how long does a pre-workout actually work for?
THE INGREDIENTS OF A PREWORKOUT
Although every preworkout is slightly different, there is a series of ingredients that you often encounter in preworkouts, each with a specific effect.
- For improved exercise performance: caffeine, L-citrulline, beta-alanine, betaine, alpha-GPC and creatine;
- For improved focus: caffeine, L-theanine and L-tyrosine;
- For faster recovery: creatine, L-citrulline, carnitine, rhodiola rosea and taurine.
HOW LONG IS A PREWORKOUT EFFECTIVE?
How long a preworkout is effective depends on the half-life of each active ingredient. Half-life refers to the time it takes for the body to eliminate half of the substance, or how long it takes for the substance to lose half of its pharmacological, physiological or radiological activity. In the context of supplements, this concept is often applied to understand how long a substance remains active or effective in the body.
The half-lives of the above ingredients are as follows:
- Caffeine: The half-life is approximately 5 hours, although this varies widely depending on individual factors such as metabolism and tolerance;
- L-citrulline: The half-life of l-citrulline increases with dose, ranging from ~40 to 75 minutes for doses of 2 to 15 grams.
- Beta-alanine: half-life is approximately 25 minutes. However, because the benefits come from long-term, cumulative use, the half-life has little impact on how long the effects last;
- L-theanine: half-life is typically just over an hour;
- Betaine: half-life is approximately 60 minutes;
- Alpha-GPC: studies show that after taking alpha-GPC, choline levels increase for up to 2 hours;
- L-Tyrosine: half-life is 2 to 3 hours;
- Taurine: half-life is 1 to 3 hours;
- Rhodiola rosea: half-life is approximately 1 hour;
- Creatine: although creatine monohydrate has a half-life of approximately 90 minutes, its effectiveness extends well beyond this time frame provided you use it daily for an extended period of time. Creatine is therefore not actually a pre-workout supplement.
In other words, most common pre-workout ingredients are effective shortly after ingestion and remain effective for 1 to 2 hours. To benefit from the performance-enhancing effects, it is wise to take the preworkout 15 to 30 minutes before training and limit your training to a maximum of 90 minutes.
WHAT IS THE BEST PREWORKOUT?
The best pre-workout is one that only contains ingredients whose effectiveness has been scientifically proven, in the correct, effective doses. You can also make such a preworkout yourself. You can read all about that in this article.
CONCLUSION
Take your preworkout 15 to 30 minutes before training and do not train longer than 90 minutes.