So you come home from a long day of work, you grab something to eat, and you head to the gym for a quick workout. While driving, you start to feel sluggish, then tired, then wanting to make that U-turn to head back home because now you don’t feel like going to the gym. So instead of making that U-turn, you decide to hit up the local convenience store. You walk in and head straight to the back of the store. You start paneling through the glass doors.

Bingo! You grab a can and head to the front to make your purchase. While in the checkout line, your eyes come across the same drink that you picked up from the back, except this one is a “one hitter quitter” (5 hour energy shot), so you pick one up for next time. You get back in your car, and as you’re driving to the gym, you gulp down that 16oz energy drink. You get out of your car feeling ENERGIZED and ready to throw around some weights! An hour later, you come out of the gym feeling great, knowing that if you didn’t have that energy drink, none of that enthusiasm in the gym would have been possible.

Well here comes the research. Energy drinks have been picking up steam since its big inception in 2002. Don’t get it twisted, people have been taking energy boosters orally for thousands of years. The only difference is that it’s more popular now. Most energy drinks are comprised of mostly carbohydrates (glucose) and caffeine. You will catch amino acids like l-carnitine (helps your body turn fat into energy) and taurine (helps regulate the levels of water in your body but is also speculated to help mental performance when combined with caffeine) in some of the energy drinks. Some of the known dangerous ingredients are herbal stimulants like yohimbine and evodamine, Google these stimulants and you will find some interesting research.

Not to go off on a tangent, but one of the reasons why these stimulants are allowed in these drinks is due to the fact that they are not regulated by the federal government, surprise, surprise. Anyway, the reason I am writing about energy drinks is because there has been questions on its safety and whether it really works, especially during exercise. There were a couple of studies done by the NSCA testing the effect of an energy drinks during exercise.

The results go like this; there were two studies used to find the effect energy drinks would have on an individual during aerobic exercise ( i.e such as biking, distance running, swimming for a long duration, etc…). Out of the two studies, there was conflicting data because one said that energy drinks do increase your performance during aerobic exercise while the other study stated there was no difference between the experimental group and the controlled group. The scientists believe this could be so due to the combining of the two drugs, which can potentially cancel out each other inhibiting an increase of energy.

It is known that carbohydrates are an ergonomic nutrient that can be used before, after, and during aerobic activity for increased performance. The study also tested the effects of energy drinks during anaerobic exercise (i.e. exercise that are less than 6 repetitions for a given set). The results from the test stated that the experimental group increased repetitions in the bench press, while there was no increase in power. So basically the energy drink did have an effect!

Look, personally I don’t have a major issue with energy drinks. I am just a little skeptical about some of the ingredients. Again, the reason I wrote this blog was because I was very curious if energy drinks result in better production in the gym and whether it was safe. In some instances it does result in better production. In others, you could drink water and receive the same results. The safety of energy drinks is still up in the air since the product has not been on the market for very long. If you are drinking an energy drink once in a blue moon, I wouldn’t worry too much, but if you are slamming back 3 or 4 before, during, or after your workout you might want to cut back.

If you want to cut out the extra stuff that’s in those energy drinks but still need a boost before the gym, go ahead and drink caffeinated coffee or Tea. There is actual data in scientific journals showing that people that drink caffeine just before a workout perform better in all exercises. So if you want another alternative, there it is! Otherwise do what best suits you. I’m just here to give you the facts. Till next time……

Check out:

http://www.acsm.org/about-acsm/media-room/acsm-in-the-news/2011/08/01/college-athletes-take-risks-with-alcohol-and-energy-drinks

http://www.nsca.com/ContentTemplates/SimpleArticleTemplate.aspx?id=2897

-Phil