Pre-workout Shake - Kinetica Enery or ON Amino Energy

hadoken13

Like the title says, anyone recommend Kinetica Energy over ON Amino Energy for a pre-workout boost? I've used Amino Energy before and it was decent.

I was trying to bring pasta to work to be eaten about an hour and a half before a workout but I got lazy and starting using an energy drink.

What do other people use for energy before a workout? I would usually be working out for about an hour & 15 - 30 minutes and tend to get a lack of energy around half an hour in.

Zombienosh

Have a double espresso

hadoken13

Zombienosh wrote: »

Have a double espresso

There's caffine in the amino energy drink but I suppose the above is cheaper. Would it sustain you for an hour and a half? I rarely drink coffee.

Alf Veedersane

Neither are likely to have much more of a discernible effect than a coffee, to be honest.

Also, if you're expecting an energy slump half an hour in, you're going to get one.

Mellor

hadoken13 wrote: »

There's caffine in the amino energy drink but I suppose the above is cheaper.

Is it?
Where I am, buying espresso from a coffee shop isn't exactly a cheap source of caffeine.

hadoken13

Mellor wrote: »

Is it?
Where I am, buying espresso from a coffee shop isn't exactly a cheap source of caffeine.

True - I think I'll stick to Amino Energy.

Would anyone recommend Kinetica Energy over Amino Energy?

.ak

I'd recommend the ON product. I use it quite a bit. I like it in the sense you don't feel it like you would with a shot of coffee or other pre-workout formulas like ON's Platinum Pre. It's much more smooth and, to me, feels like it lasts longer. You especially notice it towards the end of the work out, when the muscles are giving out but you still have the stamina to go longer.

I just take a single serving of it before my workout, or if I'm playing a match I might have a bottle on the side line and sip on it.

Nervous Wreck

hadoken13 wrote: »

What do other people use for energy before a workout?

8 hours sleep and a healthy dinner.

hadoken13

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

8 hours sleep and a healthy dinner.

I have a high metabolism so even with a healthy dinner I run out of energy quite quickly unless I have something about an hour/hour and a half prior to a workout. So a pre-workout energy shake may be more suited to complement a healthy dinner.

Alf Veedersane

hadoken13 wrote: »

I have a high metabolism so even with a healthy dinner I run out of energy quite quickly unless I have something about an hour/hour and a half prior to a workout.

Just out of interest, have you had this confirmed by a doctor?

It could be a case of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Maybe it's not but just that it might be a posssibility.

.ak

Well you're fasting over night so it's perfectly acceptable that you have little in the tank come morning time.

I myself always eat in the AM before the gym. I would generally have a shake made from oats, whey, egg whites, peanut butter and banana. Leave it about 30-40 min before training to settle. If I missed out on that I certainly wouldn't be able to perform an intense work out in the morning.

I do drink the amino energy drink after my food, as it gives me a caffeine like kick and keeps me going throughout a 1.5-2hour workout.

Mellor

.ak wrote: »

Well you're fasting over night so it's perfectly acceptable that you have little in the tank come morning time.

You are also doing nothing during the night that might empty the tank. And realistically, anything you eat before a morning workout is barely digested by the time you start.

I think I read that a typical man's glycogen store is good for about a 20km run. Which would tally up with the apparent 400-500g CHO stored.

I don't care how fast your metabolism is. It's not doing 20km in your sleep.

.ak

Yeah true, good point.. Actually decent article up on Leinster rugby's site with their nutritionist, in particular he talks about pre-match nutrition planning. For pro game an athlete can typically burn up >3000 calories, which is crazy in itself, and that the meal preparations start between 36-48 hours prior to kick off. But immediate pre-match meals are important, and are considered 'topping up'.

So in short, yes, you won't burn off your meal you had before sleeping in your sleep, but you may require a topup, especially in simple carbs.

Mellor

Yeah of course, pre-event nutrition is hugely important for optimum performance.
Optimum being key. I'm not saying you should perform at your best first thing in the AM, but you should be able to perform. People who insist they can't get through a couple hundred calories of work are being lazy imo.

The fact they they start fueling 48 hours out backs up my point that nutrition is a long haul game.

Somewhat related;
I has an event recently, from 44-24 hours out, I "ate" scrapings of coconut oil and sweetner, and sucked ice chips. To stay on weight. But the next 24 hours, was a beautiful, meticulously, precise feast of fluids, salt, sugar, carbs, creatine, protein and fats. Milkshake and glucose for dessert. That basically occupied my entire preparation

hadoken13

Don't know where you're getting that I workout in the morning, I never said when I workout. I'm talking about after work. I suppose what I'm saying is just after work I've no energy and I'm looking for a boost.

Alf Veedersane

hadoken13 wrote: »

Don't know where you're getting that I workout in the morning, I never said when I workout.

It was a response to .ak who does work out in the morning.

Alf Veedersane

hadoken13 wrote: »

I suppose what I'm saying is just after work I've no energy and I'm looking for a boost.

What do you eat during the day and is your job physically demanding?

hadoken13

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Just out of interest, have you had this confirmed by a doctor?

It could be a case of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Maybe it's not but just that it might be a posssibility.

Ye went to a doctor when I was a teen due to being very thin and eating loads, and was informed I had a high metabolism. I eat alot (healthy meals) and have remained at around 75kgs for the last 4 years - never lose or gain weight. I've only been trying to gain weight through exercise in the last 6 months or so.

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

It was a response to .ak who does work out in the morning.

Ah I see, no worries.

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

What do you eat during the day and is your job physically demanding?

Oats with linseed and berries for breakfast with a protein shake, 2 x salmon wraps with vegetables for lunch. I suppose I don't really eat anything between lunch and leaving work - apart from some fruit on the way to the gym and that may be why I have no energy (this is why I was asking if an energy shake would be useful). No I sit at a PC all day.

Alf Veedersane

hadoken13 wrote: »

Oats with linseed and berries for breakfast with a protein shake, 2 x salmon wraps with vegetables for lunch. I suppose I don't really eat anything between lunch and leaving work - apart from some fruit on the way to the gym and that may be why I have no energy (this is why I was asking if an energy shake would be useful). No I sit at a PC all day.

How high is the metabolism/BMR?

How many calories are you getting in with the breakfast and lunch?

I go to the gym straight from work with what looks like less on board than that and I've never found it a problem. Especially not if I know what I'm going to be doing.

Mellor

hadoken13 wrote: »

Oats with linseed and berries for breakfast with a protein shake, 2 x salmon wraps with vegetables for lunch. I suppose I don't really eat anything between lunch and leaving work - apart from some fruit on the way to the gym and that may be why I have no energy (this is why I was asking if an energy shake would be useful). No I sit at a PC all day.

That all sounds perfectly healthy. But it's no where near enough calories to put on weight. I'm around the same weight, I'm trying top put on a bit right now and by the time I leave work I've a lot more food eaten. Weight is still slow to creep up

Squat Rack Curler

Take a caffeine pill

hadoken13

Mellor wrote: »

That all sounds perfectly healthy. But it's no where near enough calories to put on weight. I'm around the same weight, I'm trying top put on a bit right now and by the time I leave work I've a lot more food eaten. Weight is still slow to creep up

Ye I've to definitely up my calorie intake - although I am only looking to put on around 5kgs (I play a good bit of astro soccer and regularly jog 5k so 5kg would be plenty for me) - just after realising that to put on an extra 5kg while doing cardio I'd need to up my intake and workouts big time. I think my lack of food between lunch and leaving work is what is causing my lack of energy,hence this thread on pre-workout shake. I may have a meal between lunch and leaving work and possibly an energy shake when I leave work to head to the gym.

Squat Rack Curler wrote: »

Take a caffeine pill

I try not to take any pills at all even if they are simple caffeine pills.

Alf Veedersane

hadoken13 wrote: »

I try not to take any pills at all even if they are simple caffeine pills.

A lot of people move onto powder from pills anyway. Might as well cut out that step.

.ak

On first glance I'd recommend bumping up your carbs if you're looking at adding weight. Maybe instead of the wraps have some salmon and wholegrain rice? I think the general macro for adding weight is around 50:30:20 (carbs:proteins:fats). It will also help with your energy levels as you'll build up a store of glycerin stocks in your body, or so I'm told! I definitely notice a difference in the days where I'm eating a higher quantity of quality carbs for my lunch in terms of my performance in the gym or on the field that week.

hadoken13

.ak wrote: »

On first glance I'd recommend bumping up your carbs if you're looking at adding weight. Maybe instead of the wraps have some salmon and wholegrain rice? I think the general macro for adding weight is around 50:30:20 (carbs:proteins:fats). It will also help with your energy levels as you'll build up a store of glycerin stocks in your body, or so I'm told! I definitely notice a difference in the days where I'm eating a higher quantity of quality carbs for my lunch in terms of my performance in the gym or on the field that week.

Good advice, thanks. I think I'll go with this and add in an energy shake too. Off on holidays on Saturday so I won't be working out too much for the next two weeks, but I'll try this when I get back.

Mellor

Energy shakes will help. If only for the calories. I often grab a string coffee and a handful of jellies before the gym.

But overall food needs to be looked at. You need more food all over. I'm looking to add 5kg max also. So our diets should be pretty similar.

My food during a good day might be;
9am Eggs and meat
11am coffee and protein bar (homemade)
1pm homemade beef curry and rice
3pm 40g nuts/trail mix
5pm protein Shake or tuna
6pm gym

And eating at a similar frequency after the gym.

GerSmith

I eat 90mins before a workout then take a pre-workout. Right now i'm using gaspari superdrive. I've used Amino Energy in the past and it is a good supp, especially with the beta alanine. But a good digested meal is essential.

As a person with a high caffeine tolerance, I do find the high-caffeine dosage pre-workouts effective, with no energy dump.

I try to 'cycle' them. I'll go through a stage of taking them, say 2 months. Then take a few weeks off.

senordingdong

hadoken13 wrote: »

Like the title says, anyone recommend Kinetica Energy over ON Amino Energy for a pre-workout boost? I've used Amino Energy before and it was decent.

I was trying to bring pasta to work to be eaten about an hour and a half before a workout but I got lazy and starting using an energy drink.

What do other people use for energy before a workout? I would usually be working out for about an hour & 15 - 30 minutes and tend to get a lack of energy around half an hour in.

Never used kinetica but I did use ON amino and I have to admit I found it no good as a pwo. It was slow acting and as a result I found it didn't bring much to the table unless I used an unreasonable dose. However, I find it's great as an intra workout drink.

I think ON platinum PRE might be more up your alley. It's got a good stable release and as a result, there's no crash afterwards. The pepper in it is a nice touch too.

Been using MP assault lately. Some kick off it altogether. But it comes with a crash.

.ak

I use ON Pre sometimes too. Great pre-workout drink, but doesn't really suit me as I do a lot of aerobic stuff with rugby training, I find it pushes you a little too much for that... But if I'm doing a weight session in the gym it's great.

hadoken13

I ended up going with Kinetica as Elverys had a buy one get one half price and I ended up getting two.

Seems good so far.

generic2012

You're confusing metabolism with digestion. Metabolism is just a measure of how much energy your body uses. You could have the highest metabolism in the world, it doesn't mean you're going to fully digest a meal in an hour and half, it's still going to take MINIMUM 24 hours.

Buy some caffeine powder, it works out 1 cent a serving or something and it's what all decent pre-workouts are based around, without all the expensive added ingredients. And also unlike the added ingredients, it's proven to benefit performance in the short term.

What sort of workout do you do? The workouts I see most people do seem ridiculously boring. I know it's subjective and to each his own, but hitting each body part once a week, 3 exercises, 3 sets of 10 and follow up with bad core exercises would give me an 'energy slump' (read as fall asleep on my preacher curl rack).