Pre-workout stimulants are the most poorly-used supplements in the world. We're not against the occasional use of these products, like when you're testing your max or competing, but be smart about it.
The problem?
Using stimulants to be able to train when you have no business training.
If you're too tired to train, the workout is going to be a waste because you have no drive, no motivation, and no energy.
The smart thing to do? Take the day off, then figure out why you aren't in the condition to train.
The likely culprits are:
- not enough sleep
- improper programming
- not enough rest days
- too much training stress
- not enough food
Once you figure out what the problem is, you can fix it.
This will not only help you train hard again, but it'll make your workouts more effective.
Stimulants don't create energy; they mask fatigue.
Choosing exercise over rest is not always better. Taking stimulants to give you fake stim energy instead of digging into the root of the problem leaves you worse off.
That's because stimulants don't fix fatigue, or create real energy. They temporarily mask it. Then the subsequent stress from your stimulant-driven workout adds to your residual fatigue, making it even harder to recover in time for your next session.
For example, your body uses ATP, or adenosine triphosphate, as its primary source of cellular energy. Adenosine, a central nervous system modulator that makes the body feel tired, is a byproduct of ATP's breakdown. When adenosine binds with brain receptors, brain activity slows, signalling to the body that it's time to rest.
Caffeine binds with adenosine receptors, which blocks your brain from receiving signals to feel tired. After 4 to 6 hours your brain receptors are flooded with adenosine — leading to the caffeine crash.
It can become a vicious cycle.
Stimulants can contribute to systemic fatigue.
Stimulants themselves can contribute to systemic fatigue by over-stimulating the beta-adrenergic receptors. This triggers your adrenals to create norepinephrine and epinephrine, A.K.A. noradrenaline and adrenaline, respectively. This can make your body resistant to your own adrenaline.
When that happens, your strength, power, endurance, and drive go down the drain.
It may also lead to feelings of anxiety, jitters, insomnia, or plunge your body into a state of stress.
Non-stim energy vs. stim energy.
Natural energy and metabolism are more than burning calories.
They're the chemical processes that keep you alive by converting food and nutrients into energy. It’s both building molecules to create energy and breaking down molecules to use energy.
The nutrients and vitamins in Energy Stack are crucial for this process, and deficiency can lead to slower metabolic processes, fatigue, brain fog, and low mood.
Energy from stimulants like caffeine is unnatural and unsustainable. It alters vital chemicals in the brain to keep you from feeling your tiredness.
A better, daily use pre-workout.
Use stimulants wisely. Never let stimulants become a crutch for poor programming or nutrition.
Keep the pre-workout stimulant use to a minimum. Instead, look to nootropics like non-stim Energy Stack — an energy-multiplying microdose formula that helps you push through mental and physical barriers leading up to and during your workouts, and supports speedy recovery and improved metabolic health during rest periods.
Energy Stack won't get you hyper. It works by stoking natural energy and metabolic processes while getting you more focused, more motivated, and in a better mood. This helps with performance, but it doesn't mask fatigue as stimulants do.
4. Non-workout days.
Cordyceps and Cinnamon in Energy Stack improve baseline metabolism, insulin sensitivity, glucose tolerance, energy balance, and fatty lipid profile.
Bioactive compounds in Cordyceps and Cinnamon are studied to decrease weight gain, abdominal fat, and liver weight and fat deposits.
Read: Pre, Intra, or Post Workout? How Energy Stack Fits Anywhere in Your Regimen
Read: Athletic Shrooms: 6 Ways Cordyceps Promotes Peak Physical Performance
Read: Horny Science: How Cordyceps Boosts Libido and Fertility in both Men and Women
Read: The Ultimate Guide to Magic Mushroom Microdosing
Read: Microdose Cycling: What It Is, and Why You Should Be Doing It
Read: The Benefits of Microdosing Psilocybin — Without the Fluff
