If you want to get the maximum out of your workout, you go to your limits of performance. In order to stretch these limits, some use so-called training boosters. We have clarified with an expert what these really bring and what is in them.
The english word «to boost» means translated «increase». Training boosters should accordingly fulfill the purpose of being able to extend the workout. «And not only the duration of the workout should be increased, but above all the number of possible repetitions of a set and the intensity of the training,» explains Simon Gavanda, research associate in the field of fitness & health at the IST University of Management in Düsseldorf . In summary, such boosters should increase the training effect. For many athletes, taking the appropriate nutritional supplement powder is part of their regular training routine. But isn’t that almost doping, or is it really completely harmless?
Training booster: How it works and common ingredients
«Most popular boosters contain a combination of ingredients designed to make the exerciser more alert, fitter and focused,» Gavanda told FITBOOK. Those products promise an acute increase in strength and endurance as well as improved adaptation to training.
In a study, the sports scientist analyzed the consumer behavior of fitness athletes and 30 corresponding products. The most common ingredients in workout boosters are caffeine, beta-alanine, and taurine, along with creatine, L-citrulline, L-tyrosine, and L-arginine.
Two of the ingredients are considered effective: caffeine and creatine. Caffeine makes up the largest part. “It has a stimulating effect on the central nervous system, thereby improving cognitive ability and alertness. In addition, it increases fat oxidation and thus protects the glycogen stores of the muscle cells, which leads to a delayed onset of fatigue during intensive sporting activity.” And indeed, increases in strength due to caffeine could be measured in the test subjects. Whether long-term intake of caffeine leads to better strength adjustments has so far been controversial.
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As for creatine, FITBOOK has already reported extensively on the effect of that supplement. And Gavanda also confirms: “By taking creatine, the body’s own creatine phosphate stores in the muscle cells can be increased. And in addition to a whole range of positive effects, you can see an increase in anaerobic performance and strength in particular.» This means that, above all, the rapid access to energy can be supported – «but only if creatine is taken long-term», Gavanda emphasizes, “Not for single use.”
The expert is fundamentally skeptical about the other additives (L-citrulline, L-tyrosine, L-arginine and taurine). «The study situation on the performance-enhancing effectiveness of these substances has not yet produced any clear results,» he says. “Your commitment is therefore questionable. Little is known about the interactions and potentiation.”
With training boosters, the right dosage is crucial
Gavanda sees a crucial point of criticism: the manufacturer’s dosage recommendation is made independently of the consumer’s weight. “A spoonful of a booster has a very different effect on the organism of a 50-kilogram lady than that of a 100-kilogram man,” he explains to FITBOOK. Therefore, many athletes overdosed on their own in order to achieve more effect. This could lead to a number of side effects, including paraesthesia (abnormal sensations, tingling), insomnia and headaches, as the sports scientist found in 82 percent of his subjects.
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Another problem: The individual ingredients (except for L-arginine, nothing more precise is known) take different amounts of time to work. In order to achieve the desired effect, one would have to recommend a different intake accordingly. In fact:
- Caffeine 60 minutes before exercise
- Beta Alanine daily for at least 4 weeks
- L-citrulline, taurine and creatine once a day and
- L-Tyrosine 60 to 120 minutes before exercise
“However, most manufacturers recommend taking it only directly before training. As a result, the timing is wrong with almost all ingredients. At least an overdose is not really problematic, let alone potentially fatal. «Risks would be reduced sleep quality when taking boosters in the evening due to the caffeine they contain. Here you have to ask yourself whether an extra rep or two per exercise is really worth sleeping badly afterwards,» says Gavanda.
And something else. «There are also probably high habituation effects to caffeine,» warns the sports scientist. This means that you have to increase the dose soon, so you need more of the training booster.
Attention, doping danger!
In the case of competitive athletes, there is also the risk that any doping controls may be positive, since some boosters contain substances such as synephrine, higenamine or DMAA. “In the past, there have been many an athlete who tested positive for stimulants after taking a booster.” Here too, of course, the expert leaves it up to everyone to decide for themselves whether they want to take this risk. «Personally, I can only advise every competitive athlete against it.»
You should also know this: Individual studies have shown that in the booster groups, at best, the strength endurance performance could be increased. With regard to speed and maximum strength, there was apparently no difference to the test group.
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Conclusion on training boosters
Gavanda advises against commercially available training boosters. «My recommendation would be a strong coffee in the hours leading up to a workout,» he says, before jokingly adding, «and a slap in the face for focus if necessary.»