What To Expect From A Pre-Workout

Pre-workout supplements typically contain ingredients to support energy and training performance. What level of support can you expect from this type of product? A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research put a pre-workout to the test using 12 male volunteers.

On separate occasions, subjects received either a pre-workout formulation or placebo 15 minutes before a fatiguing ride on a stationary bike and 30 minutes before 4 sets of 4 upper body and 4 lower body exercises to failure using 75% of one rep max.

When using the pre-workout, subjects averaged a 9% increase in total body volume of exercise, and they were able to increase the volume of lower body exercise by around 14%. There was no difference in upper body training volume between conditions.