A
Awavem
Iron
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2026
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People think that simply chugging a white monster and blasting music in the car is enough to get you an optimal workout. They're all wrong.
This will be a pretty short guide on the basics of what you should be doing PRE-WORKOUT.
To get an optimal workout, you need to maximize "Central drive" (CNS output), while preserving as much muscle glycogen as possible. This makes sure that your brain triggers muscle fibers efficiently, without the risk of hitting an early psychological or physical barrier. For a good workout, you need a mix of carbs, based entirely on timing, with hydration and targeted neuro-stimulants (to be more specific).
CARB STRATEGY: AMOUNT AND TIMING
Random graph showing how caffeine spikes. Would recommend keeping caffeine at the gym to use when you start feeling tired.
By doing this, you are ensuring that you 1. have high reservoir of glycogen in the muscles to promote endurance and strength. 2. focus and lowered perception of effort while lifting. 3. proper blood sugar to tell the body that it has enough energy to push hard all the way through the workout. 4. Keeping central drive high to prevent post-workout brain fog.
Final tip: Baking soda + Sea-salt method
Try getting a teaspoon worth of pure baking soda and a pinch of sea salt under you're tongue. It will draw more water into the muscles, giving a better pump, and the alkaline qualities of the baking soda will delay the acid buildup (PH) in the muscles, allowing you to squeeze out an extra 2-3 reps on the given exercise. People commonly call this BS. It's not. It just isn't a substitute for something like caffeine, It's just something handy you can add to your pre-workout stack.
Miscellaneous advice:
This will be a pretty short guide on the basics of what you should be doing PRE-WORKOUT.
To get an optimal workout, you need to maximize "Central drive" (CNS output), while preserving as much muscle glycogen as possible. This makes sure that your brain triggers muscle fibers efficiently, without the risk of hitting an early psychological or physical barrier. For a good workout, you need a mix of carbs, based entirely on timing, with hydration and targeted neuro-stimulants (to be more specific).
CARB STRATEGY: AMOUNT AND TIMING
- 2-3hrs before: Try to get roughly 1-1.5g of carbs per kg of body weight. The carbs that should be eaten are slow-digesting carbs (ex: oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potatoes). This should be paired with 20-30g of lean protein. This will build a solid foundation of glycogen.
- half an hour/an hour before: Get around 0.3-0.5g of carbs per kg of body weight. Here the focus is on fast digesting carbs like rice cakes, honey, syrup, bananas or a sports drink. This will spike your glucose as you begin, without diverting blood flow from the muscles to digest heavy food.
- and hour to an hour and a half before: get in 16-20oz of water with a pinch of sea salt, ideally with electrolyte powder. This ensures cellular hydration, and prevents cramping, while maintaining blood volume.
- 30-45 minutes before: Take caffeine. No, this is not just an energy booster. No specific dosage for this one, you can do whatever you tolerate. If you aren't acclimated, 100-150mg will start you. You can get this through a supplement or drink. Bonus add-ons would be L-Tyrosine or Alpha-GPC. Caffeine lowers your "Perception of effort" (it blocks your adenosine receptors) which are fatigue signals, increases dopamine and acetylcholine to boost focus. (No, don't rip zyns pre-workout).
Random graph showing how caffeine spikes. Would recommend keeping caffeine at the gym to use when you start feeling tired.
By doing this, you are ensuring that you 1. have high reservoir of glycogen in the muscles to promote endurance and strength. 2. focus and lowered perception of effort while lifting. 3. proper blood sugar to tell the body that it has enough energy to push hard all the way through the workout. 4. Keeping central drive high to prevent post-workout brain fog.
Final tip: Baking soda + Sea-salt method
Try getting a teaspoon worth of pure baking soda and a pinch of sea salt under you're tongue. It will draw more water into the muscles, giving a better pump, and the alkaline qualities of the baking soda will delay the acid buildup (PH) in the muscles, allowing you to squeeze out an extra 2-3 reps on the given exercise. People commonly call this BS. It's not. It just isn't a substitute for something like caffeine, It's just something handy you can add to your pre-workout stack.
Miscellaneous advice:
- Try not to walk to the gym. Might be personal preference but I don't like burning calories until I get there.
- Not breathing during sets. This should be well known by now but I see so many people doing it.
- Eating Rice Krispys or candy before or during the workout. Get your carbs from ANYTHING ELSE.
- Not bringing extra carbs to the gym. You are going to need it before cardio (If its done right.)
