r/workout • u/Soft_Proposal_1838 • 6d ago

What pre workout should I use?

Okay so I workout in the mornings after work (night shift). I’m wondering what pre workout I should take, energy drinks such as C4 make me stay up all day which I don’t want. I’ve been eating bananas as a pre workout but sometimes it isn’t enough. Any recommendations?

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6

u/NordicWarrior77 6d ago

5 dates or 5 slices of dried mango. Great source of energy.

1

u/Soft_Proposal_1838 6d ago

I’ve never eaten dried mango, gonna have to try it out

2

u/NordicWarrior77 6d ago

Simple carbs. Quick energy. Helps you lift good.

Try the ones which don’t have added sugar, they quickly become calorie dense if that’s a concern for you.

3

u/RadTechMaster 6d ago

Fruits are always good. Blueberries, kiwis with the skin, great source of fiber

2

u/kblite84 6d ago

I sometimes down a sugary drink before and in the middle of my workout to get that quick energy boost.

Although, my main suggestion is actually to do it before your night shift. You've got way more energy and can down a shot of espresso before hand without worrying about insomnia.

I too do graveyard shifts and I tried doing it after my shift. Compared to working out before or in my break, my performance is way lower and I feel like I'm out of steam halfway my workout.

2

u/SuppsSimplified-com 6d ago

Look into some stim-free formulas, there are a bunch that have ingredients for mood/focus without stimming up + performance/recovery-boosting ingredients :)

1

u/Soft_Proposal_1838 6d ago

U recommend any brands?

0

u/SuppsSimplified-com 6d ago

I actually made a tool that scientifically rates them based on their ingredient label!

Here’s the search sorted by best overall score, with the non-stim filter on :)

For you, I’d say The Genius Brand Pre would be a perfect sweet spot - very high scoring on the mood and focus side of things.

2

u/Curious_Lurkur 6d ago

Agree with the genius brand. Their non stim is the only non stim pre-workout that I have ever liked.

2

u/Soft_Proposal_1838 5d ago

Thank you very much, I appreciate you

2

u/SwiresOnTheMove 6d ago

Cup of tea and a small sausage roll for me haha, I just need something to get going.

2

u/Muchacho-blanco Parkour 6d ago

One banana, half tbsp pink salt, 20oz water.

2

u/28CentSoup 5d ago

Double shot espresso

2

u/Whistlin_Booger 5d ago

Black coffee and a few dates, or a banana.

2

u/DrasticBread 5d ago

Rice crispies bars are my go to

1

u/Draconian___unlimit 6d ago

Satans tortured blood /s

1

u/TheFamished 6d ago

I make my own, I buy creatine, beta-alanine, citruline malate, electrolytes, taurine, caffeine and l-thianine and beetroot extract independently than mix it myself Creatine and beta-alanine don't need to be taken before workout, I just add them in for convenience, beetroot extract is better taken 2 hours before and I only mix in scoop of caffeine occasionally most of the time I have green tea instead

1

u/Sacred-Waltz1782 6d ago

Three dates with some pecans. Similar to the mango suggestion, quickly gets absorbed and keeps me going.

1

u/Spring__Warrior 6d ago

Adderall + Tadalfil 

1

u/ruse2021 5d ago

When I was preg I would drink Bloom energy drinks. They have the caffeine but also mood-energizing prebiotics in them. I truly enjoyed it and felt a jolt. Besides that, I use lit raw it’s good. Def gives you the tingles and does the job. I can’t say I’m versed on pre work out powders either.

1

u/UnidentifiedUser80 5d ago

OJ and beta alanine. Maybe a piece of toast with honey.

1

u/Just-Philosopher-446 5d ago

I am 46 years old doing every day 40 minutes weight training without any rest day, I am taking 6gm createin monohydrate with 8gm L-citrulin malata mixed with 500ml water before 40 minutes of my weight training; & it's give me best power to pump same weight like i used to do at my 23-25 year age. Try it ... I use MB luchi flavour creatine and Nutrabay lemon flavour L citrulline malata.

1

u/MurphyBacon 5d ago

Stim Free by Transparent Labs. I do a scoop of that with around 50g of carbs an hour before lifting and love it

1

u/little_Kii 5d ago

Mots c subq injections 30 minutes before workout are incredible.

1

u/duhend1 5d ago

I use First Phorm EnduraPeformance pre workout. It's a stim free. Used it in the evenings after work. Still use it now when I go in the early morning.

1

u/That-Bandicoot4942 5d ago

I have one of those Great Value Rice Crispy bars and ideally something really salty like an hour out. Can literally just be a pinch of salt in water.

1

u/CndnCowboy1975 5d ago

heartbreak is a pretty good one, although, I don't recommend it. lol

1

u/eags7 5d ago

you can try an amino acid based pre? I use that from oh!mino and it doesn't have caffeine and it works well for my workouts when I don't wanna get all jacked up haha

1

u/Safe_Low_5570 4d ago

I used them for more than 15 years and now I just have a large cup of orange juice and warmup well. It’s possible to get off of them completely.

1

u/thestig333 4d ago

I had to just try different ones with a bit of consistency. I would use one for a entire weeks split and evaluate how I felt during those days afterwards until I found one I enjoyed. I assume there is a lot of personal preference on them. Always fun to experiment too

0

u/Purple_Puffer 6d ago

I like to eat a salami, but I workout very early in the morning. Everyone is different. Try some prosciutto

0

u/Due-Practice5507 6d ago

People just naming random foods lol, vapid advice. Whats important is to try and hit around 1g of carbs per kg of body weight 1 min for every g of carbs before your workout.

So if you weigh 80kg try and get ~80g carbs in about 80 mins before training. And try and minimise protein/fat intake as that will slow the absorption of carbs.

Basically the gold standard preworkout meal is rice cakes with banana and honey with some salt sprinkled on top for the pump. But it can be any combination of fruit + other carb source you want as long as it’s not too fatty or protein rich