When It Comes to Pre...Use The Best
As you know, I have been cutting for the summer. From my review on Cellucor C4 Ripped to the Sweet Sweat article, it has been a season long commitment. I have recently switched up my supplement strategy when it comes to training. First off, I am still using Sweet Sweat along with the waist trimmer; I have been using using it for 3 weeks and the results are still phenomenal My favorite part of the Sweet Sweat experience is the elimination of my midsection bloat. I used to constantly find myself tugging at shirt to “loosen” it up, but with Sweet Sweat my midsection is never bloated. The one aspect of my supplementation that I did switch up is my pre workout routine. If I am training a muscle group, I have a whey protein isolate (Rule1 Protein) before I workout out and one more serving post workout. This has been helping speed up my muscle recovery and increase muscle protein synthesis. My next theory on this (my own personal experiment, not proven) is that it will amplify my fat loss when I train fasted for cardio. Now for the sake of this article, when I train fasted, I am using The Best Pre Workout. This is not my opinion, it's the actual name of the product.
Honestly, the name of this product seems pretty funny to me. When I think of the BEST pre workout, I would think of a formula that is for everyone. A formula that is a little more hardcore with its formulation so that everyone is “wow’d” by its experience. This is NOT that pre workout. It is a very unique and targeted pre workout, which is why I love it. The Best Pre Workout is ideal for people that are cutting and using the fasted training strategy. It's even more ideal for people that go by the keto diet. To anyone who doesn't know what that foreign sounding word is, it is a diet that is EXTREMELY low in carbs and high in fat. The theory is that your body will burn all its stored fat and then use the fat from your diet for energy. If this seems interesting to you and you like bacon, I would suggest looking it up. I doubt most people are full keto so I will focus on the fasted training aspect of this formula.
BPi’s formulation of this pre-workout is what differs from the competition. Usually brands, create a “strength,” “pump,” and “energy” complex with their formulas. In The Best Pre Workout’s case, the “energy” is what truly makes it unique. Bpi uses Exogenous Ketones in the formula to amplify fat loss as well as creating energy. This has never been done before in a pre workout so it takes a little bit of understanding how Exogenous Ketones work.
Recently, I have been doing a ton of research on Exogenous Ketones and here is what I found in a nutshell: They are the supplement form of the ketones your body produces when it has no carbs for energy. When in your system, they feed off of fat stored and CREATE energy. This just means that when they are in your system, the body becomes a fully energized furnace for burning fat. The energy is so clean that you don't even realize that there is pre workout in your system. You do not get jitters or the shakes similar to those other “intense” pre workouts. When thinking of comparing the energy of this pre workout to others, I use the analogy of using diesel gas when you have been using premium unleaded for your whole life.
Over the past two weeks I trained fasted with The Best Pre Workout and here is my review:
The first day I took this pre workout was on a training day, specifically international chest day. I woke up fasted for 12 hours and took one scoop of the watermelon ice (taste: 8/10). Looking at the label, I was a little nervous because all I saw in the formula was exogenic ketones, focus ingredients and caffeine. There was no strength and my chesticles were scared. I got to the gym 20 minutes after my last sip and I was definitely awake. In this case, my eyes were wide open and my body was ready to go! I went straight to the bench as I always do. I wanted to fully test this product out and it turns out that this product is not the “best” when it comes to strength. I could not up my weight BUT one thing did change...my reps. I choose to do the reverse pyramid strategy with my lifts, doing my strength sets first. I do 3 working sets and on my 4-rep/6-rep range, I hit most of them just like I did the week before. However on my last set (8-rep range), I still had so much energy left that I was able to hit 13 full reps. I just felt like I had too much juice in the tank.
The way I approach weight training is that I want to be out of breath after each set. My reasoning behind this is and I pushed my body to its limit, maximizing my caloric burn. I had difficulty burning out when I was on the The Best Pre Workout. The sweating part was not an issue though. I did so many extra reps which caused me to sweat profusely. This made me really excited for my next cardio day.
Fast forward two days to my next spin class. I decided that I was going to do the exact same thing and take 1 scoop on an empty stomach. When I took C4 Ripped, I had lots energy and endurance. This was because Cellucor used beta-alanine in their formula, which buffers lactic acid build up. The Best Pre Workout does not have beta-alanine and yet I was able to kill my class. I usually burn 450-550 calories per class, but my Apple Watch told me that I eclipsed 600 total calories burned. I was in a little bit of shock, but at the same time I was more worried about the crash since I had a full day of work ahead of me. This is where this pre workout really showed its true colors. The ENERGY CONTINUED for hours after...and no I am not on pre while writing this. I wake up everyday at 5am for my workouts and usually need a cup of coffee around 9am at work to help pick me up. It has been 2 weeks on this pre and I have yet to pour a glass of coffee at work. Now that you know the cardio workouts are great, how is it affecting my cut?
As I said earlier, on training days I am now having protein before I lift and cardio days, I train fasted. I have seen great results with this strategy and they got even better when I started taking The Best Pre Workout. On cardio days, my first carb is around 1pm so I am in full keto up until then. My body is using its stored fat as energy and I have seen really good results on day 20 compared to day 1. In the past when I went keto, I would feel drained and out of it. With the Exogenic Ketones in my system, I was able to get in the zone and have a productive day at work.
This Pre Workout is just different - from the formula and its use of exogenous ketones, to the experience you feel on it. I strongly suggest this product for everyone who likes to train on an empty stomach (fasted). As I had to learn, if you want to take this on strength days, add a pump product like Man Sports Pump Powder to this mix and you will be just fine. Another option would be to try the brand new “Switch It Up Stack” which I made for this exact reason. At the end of the day, this is a great pre workout for a very particular type of training. In my review, it’s worth cycling into your routine
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