If you are one of the many stepping up your exercise and health routine by taking advantage of pre-workouts, are you noticing an itch that concerns you?
What is a Pre-Workout?
The pre-work supplement is designed to give you more energy and help you experience an even more effective workout.
Pre-workouts may vary in their ingredients, which is why you should research them before taking them, but they all work toward the main purpose of increasing your energy and focus to improve your overall workout.
Recent studies have shown increased cardiovascular activity, endurance, and muscle strength when using a pre-workout before exercising. Still, more research into the long-term effects of pre-workouts is needed.
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The ingredient that mostly makes up pre-workouts is caffeine, making up 100 to 300 milligrams, which is up to three times the amount in a cup of coffee.
Other ingredients include arginine, which increases blood flow to the extremities. The stimulant dimethylamylamine increases the heart rate. All these ingredients, if the intake is too much, can affect the body in a negative way.
Why Does Your Pre-Workout Make You Itch?
One odd side effect of taking a pre-workout is the tingly feeling of an itch that is usually reported on the back of the hands, the face, or the neck.
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This is called paresthesia and can be characterized in the following ways:
- Flushed skin
- Numbness
- Pins and needles feeling
- A prickly feeling across the body
For some, the itchiness may be a sign of the pre-workout kicking in for your workout. For others, the itch can become too uncomfortable, at times lasting for around one hour, even up to 90 minutes.
The length of the itchiness all depends on the dosage of beta-alanine. With low doses, the side effect of itchiness is close to non-existent, but the higher the dose, the increased instances of itchy skin.
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One reason for connecting the itch to your pre-workout is the amino-acid beta-alanine. Naturally in the liver, this ingredient is reported to elevate peptide levels, also known as carnosine, which enhances exercise performance and allows you to train harder for a longer time.
The beta-alanine seems to activate a specific gene that switches on sensory neurons lying beneath the skin, which then results in the tingle and itch.
Other reports say the opposite for beta-alanine, with studies showing less favorable results on the overall effects of exercise performance.
In the end, it depends on you and if you feel you can deal with the itchiness from your pre-workout, if you experience a tingle or itch at all. Research the various pre-workouts because some may not be as effective as others.
There are also other supplements that provide the same benefits in your workout but without the beta-alanine ingredient.
