We all know about pre- and post-workout supplements, but intra-workouts can work wonders for all of our gains.
When it comes to our mid-workout needs, looking to an intra-workout supplement is exactly what we need to power us through. Finding a good supplement can be challenging and while a lot of focus is put on pre- and post-workout needs, for those are the best times to prime and recover your body, the middle of our workout still needs to be shown some love. While we are grinding and working our bodies, it should be a priority to continually pump ourselves with all of the essential nutrients for growth and recovery as we seek the absolute best for our gains.
What an intra-workout supplement can do is aim to help with growth and recovery while also hydrating and ensuring your muscles are fully taken care of. It can be very easy to deplete your body of all that it needs to truly succeed and thankfully, companies have begun to look heavily into products that will keep us fueled for any stage our workout. With clean and effective intra-workout ingredients, you’ll never have to worry about feeling fatigued or sacrificed gains again.
Let’s take a look at intra-workout supplements and really see what they can do for our intra-workout needs. With so much to offer and great companies backing some really awesome products, it is possible for you to start to see the desired growth you want most out of each and every workout.
What Are Intra-Workout Supplements?
Intra-workout supplements are those meant to be taken during your workout. This would effectively round out the three stages of your workout being pre-, during, and post-workout. While a pre-workout will give you energy and muscle pumps and a protein supplement will enhance growth and recovery, an intra-workout fills in the gaps in between for increased energy, better hydration, less fatigue, and faster recovery. Able to be absorbed quickly by the body, your muscles can use it for optimal performance and these amazing ingredients can quickly begin to make an effective change.
Key Ingredients Included
- BCAAs: Three branched-chain amino acids work for a host of benefits including muscle growth, reduced fatigue and soreness, and recovery (1).
- Leucine: Works for muscle maintenance, recovery and can change body composition.
- Isoleucine: Can decrease muscle damage and soreness as well as reduce fatigue.
- Valine: Will enhance energy and stimulate muscles for faster recovery.
- Creatine: Can increase strength, size, and power output while also boosting recovery and high intensity work (2).
- Betaine: May improve muscle mass, help with aches and soreness, and could promote fat loss.
- Beta Alanine: Delays fatigue and boosts muscle building for better athletic performance.
- L-Citrulline: Reduces muscle soreness and increases both exercise capacity and athletic performance (3).
Benefits Of Intra-Workout Supplements
With a host of benefits towards your overall training, performance, health, and wellness, all of your needs will be covered to ensure you get the most out of every workout. Benefits of intra-workout supplements include:
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Increased Muscle Growth
Intra-workout supplements can work to enhance muscle growth by stimulating your muscles and allowing for hypertrophy to take place. With ingredients like creatine included in the formula, this will increase strength and size and really target the acceleration of those muscles to grow (4).
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Enhance Strength & Power
With less fatigue and more energy, you allow yourself to really target time under tension and more resistance against your muscles. This increases strength, but also power as you now rely on your muscles to do more work and with more explosivity.
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Boost Energy
With certain ingredients and often times a healthy amount of carbs, your body can then use these for energy and allow your workouts to really thrive. This will work to improve endurance and all of your other aerobic needs as well.
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Reduce Fatigue & Muscle Soreness
Fatigue and muscle soreness may be a bit inevitable when it comes to working out and pushing your body to the max, but there are ways to tackle this so they don’t become as debilitating. By reducing these, you really work to give your body the best chance at overall growth (5).
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Hydrate Muscles
When your muscles are dehydrated, they cannot function properly and your gains will suffer. These supplements can hydrate your muscles and make sure it is sustained throughout the workout as well.
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Decrease Muscle Breakdown
We all work hard in the gym and deserve to see our gains fully come to life. With these supplements, you work to decrease catabolism and keep those muscles intact for whatever your goals may be (6).
Featured Intra-Workout Supplement
Finding the best products out there for you can be challenging but it is possible. With the right guidance and the best brands representing top tier products, you’re quest to using the best intra-workout supplement just got a bit easier. While other supplements like protein powder, pre-workout, or fat burners are great for boosting your overall gains, something like an intra-workout product is what you need for those mid-workout boosts.
Performance Lab SPORT BCAA
Performance Lab SPORT BCAA is a versatile performance and muscle boosting supplement. With a great 2:1:1 ratio of BCAAs, this will allow for increased strength and better overall performance.
Performance Lab SPORT BCAA is a versatile performance and muscle boosting supplement in the convenience of a capsule. SPORT BCAA can elevate strength and endurance, block muscle breakdown and soreness, and optimize muscle growth and recovery. With a solid ratio of 2:1:1 of L-leucine, L-isoleucine, and L-valine, it makes this supplement very easy to absorb and makes it versatile for all athletes. L-leucine works with protein synthesis and muscle growth, L-isoleucine helps transport oxygen to muscles and support healing, while L-valine optimizes muscle tissue growth and repair. As a result of the easy absorption and ability to refuel quickly, Performance Lab SPORT BCAA is a great supplement for that boost in performance.
Price: $39.00
Check out our list of the Best BCAA Supplements for more great products!
Wrap Up
Intra-workout supplements have the ability to really enhance all areas of our overall performance and health. With amazing ingredients and proven benefits, taking these supplements will give you the boost you need most. When it comes to those pre- and post-workout needs, we have those covered. But your mid-workout goals should be achieved also and with a quality intra-workout product, they are much closer than they appear.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*Images courtesy of Envato
References
- Negro, M.; Giardina, S.; Marzani, B.; Marzatico (2008). “Branched-chain amino acid supplementation does not enhance athletic performance but affects muscle recovery and the immune system”. (source)
- Kreider, Richard B. (2003). “Effects of creatine supplementation on performance and training adaptations”. (source)
- Gonzalez, Adam M.; Trexler, Eric T. (2020). “Effects of Citrulline Supplementation on Exercise Performance in Humans: A Review of the Current Literature”. (source)
- Blomstrand, Eva; Eliasson, Jorgen; Karlsson, Hakan K. R.; Kohnke, Rickard (2006). “Branched-chain amino acids activate key enzymes in protein synthesis after physical exercise”. (source)
- Blomstrand, Eva (2006). “A role for branched-chain amino acids in reducing central fatigue”. (source)
- Shimomura, Yoshiharu; Murakami, Taro; Nakai, Naoya; Nagasaki, Masaru; Harris, Robert A. (2004). “Exercise Promotes BCAA Catabolism Effects of BCAA Supplementation on Skeletal Muscle during Exercise”. (source)