Some ingredients in a pre-workout can take a few weeks for their benefits to be fully realized.

By Dr. Adam M. Gonzalez
SHIFTED’s Chief Scientific Officer

Consistency is key to many things in life – Building muscle. Learning a new instrument.  Developing a new skill.

Consistency is also the key to getting the most out of SHIFTED's Pre Workout products.  Although a single dose of SHIFTED Pre Workout will rapidly increase energy and performance, some ingredients like beta-alanine and creatine monohydrate, when taken consistently, offer long-term physical and mental benefits.

The Long Term Benefits of Beta-alanine

Beta-alanine is taken up by the muscle to increase the concentration of carnosine – a unique dipeptide that plays several important intramuscular roles during exercise including buffering hydrogen ions, fighting free radicals, and ultimately enhancing muscle endurance and exercise capacity by delaying fatigue.

Beta-alanine is the rate-limiting step for carnosine synthesis and is therefore the most efficient dietary supplement for increasing the muscle’s carnosine concentrations (as opposed to supplementing directly with carnosine).

However, it takes time to build up in your system.  Taking 2-6 grams of beta-alanine per day for several weeks at a time will help keep your carnosine levels up and give you more endurance during physical activities.

There is strong evidence to show that a higher dose and/or longer supplementation period leads to greater accumulation of muscle carnosine.  However, a more moderate dose for longer periods of time may be the best option for reducing the severity of the uncomfortable tingling sensation on the skin that accompanies higher doses. Therefore, regular supplementation, spread out throughout the day, with a dose between 1.6-3.2 grams per serving is ideal.

Interestingly, there is also emerging evidence suggesting that elevated carnosine levels in the brain may enhance cognitive performance and increase resiliency to stress.

The Long-Term Benefits of Creatine

Creatine monohydrate is a similar ingredient in that it takes time to build up muscle creatine concentrations via supplementation.

Creatine monohydrate is the most effective supplemental ingredient for increasing high-intensity exercise capacity and gains in muscle mass during training. However, the ability of creatine to boost performance is dependent upon its concentration within the muscles.  It takes up to a month of daily creatine monohydrate intake to meaningfully increase muscle creatine stores.

It is recommended to take between 2-5 grams of creatine monohydrate per day to fully reap the performance benefits. There is also growing evidence that creatine monohydrate can aid brain health and cognition.  Lastly, don’t
fall for all the hype from other companies using alternative forms of creatine – No other form of creatine has ever shown to be superior to creatine monohydrate for saturating muscle creatine stores.

Do you need to take SHIFTED Pre Workout every day?

Missing a day isn't the end of the world, but missing several days to weeks could pretty much put you back at square one.  Once regular supplementation of beta-alanine and creatine monohydrate ceases, a “washout” of muscle carnosine and creatine levels begins which will eventually drop back to pre-supplementation concentrations. Thus, the more frequently you take it, the more you'll realize the benefits.