Pre-workout vs Energy drink: Which should you choose?

December 24. 2021

If you’re starting to struggle with energy and will to work out and you’re wondering what you can do to boost your performance at the gym, you’re just in the right place!

But before you start taking any kind of supplements, you’d probably want to do a little bit of research. Well, we did this one for you. You’re welcome!

There are many similarities related to pre-workouts and energy drinks. But there are differences too. This article summed up all you need to know about energy drink vs pre-workout.

Energy drink vs pre-workout – similarities and differences

The most significant difference between pre-workouts and energy drinks is in their purpose. Pre-workouts help you get the most of an intense workout, while energy drinks give you raw energy and drive to get anything done, not just work out.

Another difference is in their doses. Pre-workouts have ingredients that require precise doses, while energy drinks are pre-maid, so they already contain ingredients but in much smaller doses.

Now moving on to similarities between energy drink and pre-workout, let’s start with energy drinks as they are more available in everyday life. You get to see them in commercials, at supermarkets, at gas stations, and you’ve probably had at least one in your current lifetime. What these beverages do is provide you with energy, as their name says, mainly as a result of caffeine. This “secret” ingredient can be found in many drinks and foods – coffee, tea, chocolate, so that means you’ve probably experienced its effect.

The purpose of caffeine is to block the adenosine molecules from doing their job, which stimulates the brain to release dopamine. That’s why you get a sudden energy boost and feel a lot more alert. This improves the brain’s quality of commands to your muscles, but it doesn’t directly improve your athletic performance.
Overall, having an energy drink before your exercise has a positive performance. Energy drinks improves:

• your mood and endurance
• strength-till-failure
• time-trial performance and high-exertion endurance activity
  

Ingredients

These performances are directly attributed to the caffeine content. Other than this component, these drinks contain sugar, preservatives, co-stimulants, and taurine. Taurine is a compound with several roles in our bodies, so there’s no reason to be concerned. But combined with other present ingredients and caffeine, taurine can cause a problem if overdosed.

Like energy drinks, pre-workouts contain caffeine too. The amount of caffeine in these supplements is enough to get you going both physically and mentally. But the key difference in observing energy drinks vs pre-workout is that pre-workouts are specifically designed to be taken before any exercise. Unlike energy drinks, pre-workouts contain creatine, l-citrulline malate, beta-alanine, glycerol, choline, and many other ingredients that positively impact your exercise performance.

As mentioned previously, the dosage of pre-workout supplements is extremely important. If the ingredients are under-dosed, you won’t have the needed results. So, when looking for a good pre-workout, you should pay attention they contain:

• 150-200mg caffeine
• 6000mg l-citrulline malate
• 3200-4000mg beta-alanine
• BCAAs
  

Advantages pre-workouts have are:

• Improved physical performance
• Expanded energy
• Improved endurance
• Expanded focus
• Improved strength

Are these supplements healthy?

You might ask yourself what facts about energy drink vs pre-workout, health-wise are.

Both contain a lot of artificial sweeteners and caffeine, which can be harmful to your body if consumed often. But in the right situation and the correct dosage, they both serve their purpose.

Several side effects can occur, such as headaches, nausea, increased heart rate, diarrhea, and stomach aches. 

You can think about some alternatives before starting with this kind of supplementation, such as peptides. Peptides are common among bodybuilders. They help boost the release of hormones known to stimulate muscle growth, exercise performance, and recovery. There are not just ones that only maximize your training results. There are peptides for weight loss too!

Final thoughts

There isn’t anything wrong with taking either energy drinks or pre-workout. The important thing is for you to know what you’re looking for. Everything is about you, what you prefer and what fits your way of life. If you need a boost of energy, then an energy drink will do enough. But if you need to enhance your performance, it is time for pre-workouts.

Anyhow, keep up with your exercise, eating healthy and resting enough, and results will begin to form any time soon.

If you are hoping to accomplish your objectives quicker, adding a pre-workout to your routine will do a deed – it doesn’t matter if you mean to lose fat or pack-on bulk. But if you’re looking for a faster and effective way to lose excess weight, then feel free to check different programs we offer at our weight loss clinic (e.g., our most popular one is the lipo-ignite program that includes lipo c injection).

Author

Nurse Walton

Born and raised in Chicago, IL, Chanay received her Practical Nurse licensure and went to work in clinical specialties such as Home Health, Assisted Living, Long-Term Care and Dialysis Centers. Through this work, she realized the importance of diet, nutrition and weight loss among her patients. This led her to open A Better Weigh, Inc. Medical Weight Loss Center in 2009.