Pre-workout supplements have been a rising trend in the fitness community, not only for promoting muscle growth but also for better blood circulation. And as they become more popular, people want to know which pre-workout ingredients increase blood flow and pump.
Many brands advertise proprietary blends with pre-workout ingredients that increase blood flow and pump to help enhance training sessions. While some of those blends are truly helpful, some are not. Thus, knowing which pre-workout ingredients actually work and provide increased blood flow and pump is critical.
While it’s certainly possible to get some great ingredients from a balanced diet, supplementation is key to achieving optimal levels of key ingredients when you need them most.
Key Point: Research suggests that the best pre-workout supplements that boost blood flow, and pump are L-citrulline, nitrates-rich foods, Glycerol, and Agmatine Sulfate.
Table of Contents
- Why is Blood Flow and Pump Important for a Good Workout Routine?
- L-Citrulline
- Nitrates
- Glycerol (GlycerPump)
- Agmatine Sulfate
- Are These Ingredients Safe?
Why is Blood Flow and Pump Important for a Good Workout Routine?
In an endurance training session, working muscles need proper blood flow and pump to have optimal muscle growth. Furthermore, having better blood flow has a range of benefits for you.
- Better blood flow will help prevent muscle breakdown
- Improves oxygen levels
- Improves transfer and absorption of nutrients
- Reduces muscle soreness
- Improve muscle endurance
- Promotes better brain health and mind-body connection
When doing extensive training, you force your skeletal muscle to work longer and harder than your body usually does. It is scientifically proven that good blood flow and pumps are essential to achieve the best workout results.
When your blood vessels provide a good oxygen flow to your muscle cells, your body can better endure fatigue. This makes muscle building and muscle growth more comfortable and more enjoyable.
Major Takeaway: The best pre workout ingredients for blood flow and pump will improve the efficiency of your workouts by increasing muscle endurance, resistance to fatigue, and muscle growth.
L-Citrulline
L-citrulline is a non-essential amino acid that works with L-arginine to aid in nitric oxide production and blood flow. L-citrulline is a common choice included in pre-workout supplements that has been shown to help with vascular issues and other medical conditions related to blood flow.
How does it work? Your body converts L-Citrulline into L-Arginine which provides a wealth of benefits:
- This pre-workout supplement widens your blood vessels, and as a result, you’ll have an enhance blood flow and stable blood pressure since you’ll have better oxygen levels used in your muscle tissues.
- Some research suggests that L-citrulline may be taken with branched chain amino acids or BCAAs, this combination will help stimulate protein-building in muscle to reduce muscle weakening and breakdown.
- L-citrulline will help provide you with better muscle pumps and higher muscle pain tolerance, allowing you to endure intense workout routines.
- L-citrulline will increase nitric oxide synthase, which improves blood pressure and blood flow so that you’ll feel a lot more relaxed.
- Aside from its circulatory benefits, L-citrulline will also help boost your immune system.
How much L-Citrulline should you take? Research suggests that higher doses will not help raise arginine in the blood after a point, implying that your body can only utilize so much of this supplement. In general, the study concluded that doses over 10 grams are unnecessary.
Key Points: L-Citrulline converts into L-Arginine which then creates nitric oxide, a gas that dilates blood vessels in the body and improves blood flow.
Nitrates
Unlike Nitrites, Nitrates are thought to be relatively safe by experts. Nitrates increase nitric oxide synthase that responsible for relaxing blood vessels when consumed. You can find high levels of nitrates in beetroot and red spinach.
Red spinach is high in iron. And so beyond offering a good source of nitrates, it cleanses your blood and increases hemoglobin levels, making it one of the best ingredients for pump in the pre-workout market.
So what are the benefits of eating a balanced diet that’s high in nitrates?
- Nitrates also help to release antioxidants that prevent overall cell damage and lessen the risk of heart disease.
- The nitric oxide from beetroot juice prepares you for better pre-workouts as it helps your heart and lungs work better during your training.
- When you administer pre-workout with dietary nitrates, you’ll experience an increased blood flow and pump throughout your body with optimum oxygen levels.
Red spinach is high in iron. It cleanses your blood and increases hemoglobin levels, making it the best pump supplement in the pre-workout market.
Key Points: Eating nitrate-rich foods like beetroot and spinach will improve your overall exercise performance by reducing body fat accumulation and muscle fatigue.
Glycerol (GlycerPump)
Glycerol is an essential element of triglycerides, the primary type of fat found in the body’s bloodstream, natural fats, and oils. It is considered safe to consume according to the FDA.
Glycerol also known as GlycerPump has been linked to positive effects on many people both in aerobic and anaerobic power output.
How does it do this?
- Glycerol can improve blood flow and pump by significantly delaying muscle fatigue. It does this by increasing inter-muscle hydration for extended periods of time throughout hard workouts.
- It also aids in heat regulation, which aids in reduction of fatigue and physical stress throughout an intense workout.
- Glycerol is one of the best pre-workout ingredients to increase nutrient transport and absorption. Well-hydrated muscles transfer and use nutrients more effectively, making glycerol a great addition to any sports nutrition regimen.
- Glycerol pump encourages more blood to travel across through blood vessels which boosts energy production and muscle performance, as more oxygen reaches the brain and muscles.
- Glycerol also improves cellular volumization, in other words in improves the rate at which your muscles pump up!
Key Points: Glycerol improves pump drastically by increasing cellular hydration in the muscles, which in turns boosts cellular volumization.
Agmatine Sulfate
Agmatine sulfate is a metabolite of L-arginine. Agmatine sulfate is one of the key body-building supplements associated with increased power and increased pump.
How does it increase these things?
- Agmatine sulfate increases levels of Nitric Oxide in the blood, by slowing down the process by which it is broken down.
- This means agmatine can work to make sources of nitric oxide supplementation more effective.
- A significant level of nitric oxide will help increase blood circulation, which results in the nutrients being distributed throughout your active muscles and eradicating waste products that cause fatigue.
- Agmatine increases the amount of glucose from the bloodstream absorbed by muscles, improving glycogen storage in muscles. This improves muscle energy and endurance throughout one’s workout, increasing the effectiveness of strength and resistance training.
Key Points: Agmatine works by increasing levels of nitric oxide in the blood and by increasing the rate at which muscles use glucose, or sugar, from the bloodstream.
Are These Ingredients Safe?
L-citrulline, nitrate-rich foods, glycerpump, and agmatine sulfate are safe and effective supplements you should include in your next training session.
These supplements help your body attain the best exercise performance by improving blood flow throughout your body to deliver oxygenated blood to working muscles and improve exercise performance. In turn, your muscles will work more efficiently and pump up more quickly and fully.
Although these supplements are excellent for your body and can be ingested on an empty stomach, you should still be cautious with your intake and dosage as some health concerns may arise, such as:
- L-citrulline can increase overall creatine, which can affect your kidneys, so the right amount of intake should be followed.
- You might experience an upset stomach, stomach cramps, too much gas, and diarrhea if you’re still not used to taking supplements.
Conclusion: These ingredients are not only proven to work safely and effectively, but they offer functionalities which improve the effectiveness of other ingredients in your pre-workout regimen. This means they are best taken together!
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