The great stimulant experiment

DISCLAIMER: I'm not a moron.  I know pre-workout is for strength training.  With that said, read on...

Oh my holy God, y'all.  Pre-workout.  It should probably be illegal, because it was awesome.  And terrible.

So, I had some samples of pre-workout and other assorted things (delicious protein for days that I forget to pack my breakfast for work, mostly) from the Vitamin Shoppe (thanks, Strongman/ma'am competition!) and I thought, I wonder if this is all it's cracked up to be.  So I thought I'd give it a whirl.

It was orange-flavored.  And it tasted like glorious Tang.  Just like Grandma Irma used to make.

The stuff winners are made of, apparently.

I drank it on the way to the gym, and on my first few minutes on the elliptical.  Yes, it was cardio day.  I tried it anyway.

At first, I was like, "meh."  I felt pretty much the same.  On cardio day, I tend to get bored, and typically spend 5-10 minutes on one machine before switching to another, and another, and another.  

The patron saint of cardio day.

After about 20 minutes, I realized I was still on the elliptical, and wasn't bored yet.  Score one for pre-workout.

I checked my fitbit, and my heart rate was slightly higher than it normally is.  Now, it was still on the low-ish end for a cardio session (my beta blockers lower my heart rate, because SCIENCE!), and I'm not sure if it was higher because of the caffiene in the pre-workout or because my beta blockers were just decreased.  I'm going to say it was both.

The husband finished his training session, I hopped off the elliptical.  Checked the fitbit, and I'd burned about 90 more calories than normal in 35 minutes.  Score one for pre-workout.

Then, we went to the grocery store.

I could NOT shut up.  Words kept spilling out of my mouth and it felt like I had to say them or my brain would explode from being too full of thoughts and information.  I talk a lot to begin with, and according to Jeff, this "side effect" was EXTREMELY noticeable.

Conclusion:  pre-workout may or may not be straight up methamphetamines.  Having never used methamphetamines, I can't say for sure, but based on my knowledge of them (a few pharmacology classes and the movie "Requiem for a Dream"), I can only assume this is the case.  I do not suggest trying methamphetamines to test this hypothesis, by the way.

Pictured above: pre-workout supplement

Jeff has also asked me not to use the pre-workout any more, because of the incessant talking and, quote, "you were just weird."  I agree with this request...partially to honor Jeff's wishes, and partially because I WAS frickin weird on it.

Experiment over!