Top 5 Pre-Workout Supplements for Increased Energy, Strength and Stamina
1) Black Coffee - My #1 favorite pre-workout supplement and just about the only thing that I almost always take before a workout. Black coffee is excellent for some quick energy, especially if you work out first thing in the morning. Black coffee on an empty stomach speeds up the metabolism helping to burn more bodyfat too.
2) Universal Uni-Liver Tablets - My favorite “real” supplement is Liver tabs. Liver tabs are exactly what they sound like, dried Liver in pill or tab form. Absolutely nothing (that is legal) works better than Liver tabs for strength and endurance. Liver is one of the best testosterone building meals you could ever eat, but it’s rough eating it everyday. Swallowing a few Liver tabs is way easier. I take 10-15 Liver tabs before a workout and I feel like the Incredible Hulk. I also take it throughout the day, aiming for about 50-75 tabs per day. I don’t always take it but when I do I notice huge strength differences.
If you have access to Raw Unpasteurized Milk I like to drink a tall glass of it and wash down 15 Liver Tabs. This, I feel, is the single best pre-workout supplement I have ever tried.
3) Yohimbine/Yohimbe
- Yohimbe is a natural bark extract that gives incredible energy. It is also used as an aphrodisiac which, if you read this blog, you will know that increased sex drive leads to increased testosterone. I like to have 1 or 2 cups of coffee and wash down 1 or 2 Yohimbe pills and hit the weights.
4) BCAA’s
- BCAA stands for Branched Chain Amino Acids. BCAA’s are known as the building blocks of muscle. Instead of going on a scientific rant I will just say that the body needs Amino Acids for continued anabolic growth. I don’t notice a huge difference in energy, strength, or stamina while working out on BCAA’s but I do notice quicker recovery. Quicker recovery leads to a better workout next time and the time after that and continued muscle growth.
5) A big meal the night before or several hours before a workout - I don’t like eating within 3 or 4 hours of a workout. It is incredibly uncomfortable and I feel like throwing up with a belly full of food. However, when I have had a big meal the night before or a big meal several hours before my workout I always notice a big difference in energy, strength and stamina. Eating within an hour or two doesn’t do much for you, it takes much longer to digest food. However, food from the previous night should be available to use as energy Try a big meal before bed if you workout in the mornings. If you workout in the afternoons or evenings have a big meal about 4 hours before your scheduled workout. I actually prefer to train completely fasted but I can’t deny how well a big meal works for energy.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Become a better man in 30 days EVERY 30 days.
30 Days of Discipline Available now. For free.
Even the smallest habits make the biggest difference.
Related posts:
Nick
Another great article.
Would be interested to know your thoughts on post workout ‘real’ supplements?
After ditching money-sucking protein shakes I’ve had better gains experimenting with whole milk and liver tabs.
Next experiment – raw eggs.
Stuart
i’m a huge fan of liver tabs and whole milk pre-workout. currently i take nothing but coffee or green tea pre workout. post workout i either:
1) eat a meal – usually steak and eggs
2) swallow 6 raw eggs
3) don’t eat anything and go about my day
when you start with raw eggs there are some things to consider. it’s best to just try one at first until you get the hang of it. buy the good eggs, this is no time to eat the cheapo wal-mart eggs. raw eggs don’t have much of a taste, it’s the texture that some people can’t handle. just gulp the sucker down, no need to savor the flavor. you have only a tiny tiny fraction of a chance of getting salmonella (you’re worse off eating vegetables) – salmonella, if there,will be on the shell and not the egg itself. obviously don’t eat cracked or otherwise fishy looking eggs. if you aren’t used to eating much fat you could experience diarrhea eating a bunch of eggs.
i simply do not believe you must eat within 45 minutes post workout or you will “lose your gains”. that’s a silly myth likely put forth by, you guessed it, supplement companies. currently i am eating one large evening meal and nothing else about 5 days per week, the other 2 days i eat lunch as well. of course, i am only working on leanness. if i were interested in gaining weight i would be eating a huge meal post workout and probably several other meals.
Victor,
How would you choose/rotate the three post workout options – based on hunger?
I was quietly confident the salmonella risk from raw eggs was over exaggerated, but are the gains worth the (albeit marginal) risk compared with zero-risk liver tablets and/or whole milk etc? salmonella would set training back weeks if not months……
Stuart,
i do it based on hunger. if i’m hungry i eat a meal. if i’m not hungry i swallow 6 raw eggs. if i’m only eating one meal per day and my training session doesn’t fit with my dinner-time i just wait to eat.
my official recommendations for post-workout nutrition are in this order:
1) eat a big, protein heavy meal
2) if you can’t eat anything, swallow some eggs – mother natures protein shake
3) don’t eat anything – i only recommend this if you’re eating one meal per day, which most people don’t. if you’re trying to gain weight you should eat more often.
the risk is extremely over-exaggerated to the tune of about 1 in 30,000 eggs even being infected with salmonella. you should be more afraid of fruits and vegetables.
Some of my best workouts have been when i take coffee before i lift. Today one cup 225 for 18 reps 165 lbs.
I also find training in the morning (6am ish) far more productive than any other time of the day.
Wonder if it is to do with testosterone levels being higher in the morning….?
I’ve read alot about the side effects of yohombine and tribulus..i’m still going to try them anyway, but which do you think is better- yohombine or tribulus? or do you think I should just take them combined? Please reply Victor. Thanks.
James,
I never felt anything when I used tribulus. It’s all about experimentation, you gotta find what works for you.