How Often Should You Cycle Off of Pre-Workouts?

Once a brand new product category, pre-workout supplements have become the norm and a staple of the fitness industry. Manufacturers of these products claim that they improve training performance, increase strength and endurance, decrease muscle breakdown during exercise, increase protein synthesis, improve energy and focus and optimize metabolic rate. According to Jerry Brainum’s book “Natural Anabolics,” some of the ingredients are backed by impressive science. However, they are controversial because they often contain powerful stimulants in an industry that some critics feel is underregulated. Should you choose to use pre-workout supplements, you may benefit from taking a break from them or “cycling off” every so often.

  1. Warnings

    • Pre-workout supplements often contain a cocktail of powerful stimulants. According to MayoClinic.com, moderate amounts of daily caffeine are not harmful for healthy adults. They define two to four cups of brewed coffee per day – or 200 to 300 milligrams – as moderate. However, pre-workout supplements may contain this dosage in a single serving, warranting more caution. It’s easy to overdo it and experience side effects like insomnia, nervousness, restlessness, irritability, nausea, muscle tremors and increased heart rate. These symptoms can occur with an intake of 500 to 600 milligrams of caffeine daily, which amounts to only one to three servings of some pre-workouts. Some individuals are so sensitive to caffeine and stimulants that they may have to avoid them altogether. You should always remember to consult with your doctor before adding any supplement to your diet and exercise plan.

    Common Ingredients

    • Pre-workout supplements frequently contain ergogenic performance-enhancing substances that fall into a handful of categories, including muscle growth, energy and focus, nitric oxide, antioxidants and endurance. Common muscle growth supplements include creatine monohydrate, branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and whey protein. Energy and focus ingredients include caffeine, tyrosine and other stimulants, like phenylethylamine, synephrine and yohimbe. So-called NO or nitric oxide boosters contain various forms of the amino acid arginine. Antioxidants, thought to act as muscle protectors and free-radical inhibitors, include N-acetyl cysteine, alpha lipoic acid and vitamins C and E. Some common endurance ingredients in pre-workouts are beta-alanine and citrulline.

    Considerations

    • Many of the ingredients in a pre-workout supplement desensitize your body with continued use. One example is the common ingredient creatine, which must be cycled in order to prevent your body from down-regulating the various pathways that transport creatine into muscle cells. If the creatine can’t get into your muscle cells, it can’t do what it is intended to do, which is energizing muscle contractions. With caffeine and other stimulants, this is even more important because of their effects on adrenal function. According to Brainum, amino acid supplements, like BCAAs, do not need to be cycled because they occur naturally in our diets without supplementation.

    Strategies for Cycling

    • Muscle & Strength recommends taking a pre-workout supplement for six to eight weeks and then taking two to three weeks off. During this time, you might consider switching pre-workout supplements or abstaining from them altogether. In particular, decreasing your intake of caffeine and other stimulants during the off-cycles, brings adrenal function back to normal. The adrenal glands proper function is vital to your fitness goals due to the production of fat-burning hormones like DHEA, epinephrine and norepinephrine. Another strategy is to cut out or cycle off of pre-workout supplements and opt instead for 1 to 3 cups of green or herbal tea. Green tea, in particular, naturally contains the amino acid theanine, which has a calming effect and may help to normalize adrenal function, according to Shawn Talbott’s book “The Cortisol Connection.”