Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is sometimes used by athletes before workouts due to its potential benefits in enhancing exercise performance, particularly in activities that involve high-intensity efforts or endurance. Here are some potential benefits:

1. Buffering Lactic Acid: During intense exercise, the body produces lactic acid, which can lead to muscle fatigue and a burning sensation. Baking soda may help buffer the build-up of lactic acid by neutralizing hydrogen ions, which could delay fatigue and improve performance.

2. Improved Endurance: Some studies suggest that taking baking soda before endurance activities (like running or cycling) can help increase time to exhaustion. It may help delay the onset of muscle fatigue, allowing you to push through longer or harder workouts.

3. Increased Power Output: In high-intensity activities, such as sprints or strength training, baking soda might help improve short bursts of power by reducing muscle acidity, which can improve performance.

4. Reduced Muscle Soreness: Some people report less muscle soreness after a workout when they take baking soda, possibly because it helps manage the acid build-up during exercise, aiding in quicker recovery.

Important Considerations:

• Dosage: It’s usually recommended to take around 0.3 grams per kilogram of body weight, but it’s important not to overdo it. Taking too much can lead to digestive issues like bloating or diarrhea.

• Timing: Taking baking soda about 60-90 minutes before exercise may be the most effective.

• Side Effects: Some people may experience stomach discomfort, so it’s essential to test it during lower-intensity workouts first to see how your body reacts.

Read about Sodium & Caffeine in comments… of course all these recommendations should be run by your “doctor” and are for entertainment purposes only (entertaining better performance, strength, and muscle gains! Haha). 

Taking sodium pre-workout can offer several benefits, especially for endurance and high-intensity training. Here are a few key advantages:

1. Electrolyte Balance: Sodium is an essential electrolyte that helps maintain fluid balance in the body. During intense exercise, you lose electrolytes through sweat, and supplementing with sodium can help replenish them, preventing dehydration.

2. Improved Hydration: Sodium helps the body retain water, which is crucial for maintaining hydration levels during exercise. Proper hydration can enhance performance, prevent fatigue, and reduce the risk of cramping. 

3. Enhanced Muscle Function: Sodium plays a key role in muscle contraction and nerve function. Having adequate sodium levels pre-workout can help improve muscle performance and reduce the risk of muscle cramps.

4. Better Endurance: Sodium can improve endurance during prolonged exercise by ensuring that muscles continue to function optimally and prevent the onset of fatigue.

5. Boosted Blood Volume: Sodium helps increase blood volume by retaining water, which can lead to improved circulation, ensuring that oxygen and nutrients are delivered to working muscles during exercise.

(Blood flow = greater hypertrophy, and nutrient delivery to the muscles!)

However, it’s important to note that excessive sodium intake can have negative health effects, such as increasing blood pressure, so it’s crucial to consume it in moderation and in balance with other electrolytes like potassium. (Hence why consuming a banana in your pre-workout meal is a great idea). 

Caffeine can be a great addition to your pre-workout routine due to several benefits:

1. Improved Performance: Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system, increasing alertness and focus, which can lead to better workout performance. It helps enhance endurance, strength, and power output, making it easier to push through intense sessions.

2. Increased Fat Burning: Caffeine boosts metabolism, encouraging the body to burn fat for energy. This can improve fat loss, especially during cardio workouts.

3. Enhanced Focus and Motivation: By reducing fatigue and increasing mental clarity, caffeine can help you stay focused and motivated during your workout, making it easier to maintain intensity.

4. Delayed Fatigue: Caffeine can help delay the onset of fatigue by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain, reducing feelings of tiredness and allowing you to exercise for longer.

5. Improved Strength: Research suggests caffeine may help increase strength during high-intensity training by improving muscle contraction and the ability to lift heavier weights.

6. Increased Blood Flow: Caffeine may increase blood flow, helping deliver more oxygen and nutrients to muscles during a workout, which can improve performance and recovery.

✅It’s important to keep in mind that caffeine tolerance varies from person to person, so it’s best to experiment and find the optimal dose for your body. (200-350mg for most… greater than 400 mg usually leads to vasoconstriction— not good). 

Additional pre-workout benefits found in NO7rage…

NO7Rage is a popular pre-workout supplement that claims to provide various benefits due to its blend of ingredients. Some key benefits typically found in NO7Rage, based on its formulation, include:

1. Increased Energy: NO7Rage often contains caffeine and other stimulants to boost alertness and energy, helping you push through intense workouts.

2. Improved Focus: Ingredients like L-Tyrosine are included to enhance mental clarity and focus, keeping you sharp throughout your training.

3. Enhanced Endurance: Some ingredients, such as beta-alanine, are known to help buffer lactic acid buildup in muscles, reducing fatigue and improving endurance during longer or more intense workouts.

4. Better Blood Flow and Pumps: NO boosters like L-arginine or citrulline are often included to increase nitric oxide production, leading to improved blood flow and muscle pumps during exercise.

5. Faster Recovery: The inclusion of ingredients like creatine may help with muscle repair and reduce soreness after workouts.

6. Strength and Power: Some formulas contain creatine, which is known to improve strength, power, and muscle mass over time when combined with resistance training.

+ N07 rage contains L-citrulline 

1. Improved Blood Flow: L-citrulline is converted into L-arginine in the body, which helps increase the production of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide helps dilate blood vessels, improving blood flow and nutrient delivery to muscles during exercise. This can enhance endurance and reduce fatigue.

2. Increased Endurance: By boosting blood flow and oxygen delivery, L-citrulline can help increase stamina, allowing you to exercise for longer periods without feeling as tired or fatigued.

3. Reduced Muscle Soreness: Some studies suggest that L-citrulline can help reduce muscle soreness after intense workouts. This may help you recover more quickly between training sessions.

4. Enhanced Performance in Strength and Power: L-citrulline may help increase performance in high-intensity exercises such as weightlifting and sprinting by reducing the accumulation of lactic acid, which causes fatigue.

5. Improved Aerobic Capacity: L-citrulline has been shown to improve aerobic exercise performance, helping with endurance activities like running or cycling.

6. Faster Recovery: By aiding in the removal of waste products like ammonia, L-citrulline can help reduce post-workout fatigue and speed up recovery, so you’re ready for your next session sooner.

Overall, L-citrulline can help you push harder during your workouts, increase your endurance, and recover more quickly afterward, making it a great addition to a pre-workout routine.

Overall, NO7Rage can provide a combination of energy, focus, endurance, and muscle performance benefits.

Workout Extreme is essentially pharmaceutical grade caffeine… you can acutely add alongside the NO7 rage to get an approximate/beneficial amount of caffeine for your body and tolerance levels. Utilizing workout extreme alongside N07 rage helps keep the cost of your pre-workout lower well, gaining the benefits of the aforementioned N07 rage ingredients.

💥Start with just one scoop of N07 Rage before adding any caffeine additionally.

ExtremeCreatineXXXL+™ delivers a mega-dose of Creatine Monohydrate and Beta-alanine at clinically studied and efficacious dosages.  Individually these ingredients enhance strength, buffer lactic acid build up and support muscle volume†.  However, studies show that combining these two super ingredients creates the perfect anabolic complex to generate superior strength gains and extraordinary high intensity workouts.  In fact, one study using the combination of ingredients found in ExtremeCreatineXXXL+ showed a significant increase in lean tissue over placebo†.

ExtremeCreatineXXXL+™ acts as your secret weapon in increasing Carnosine levels in the muscle.  Carnosine is primarily found in fast-twitch muscles like those found in the physique of Olympic sprinters.  Carnosine works to buffer Hydrogen ions in the muscle that are associated with muscular fatigue from intense exercise.  The higher the levels of Carnosine found in the body the better, as this has been shown to help fight muscle fatigue, meaning you can train harder and longer in the gym.

Ryan’s mix=

Tsp baking soda. 

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 scoop NO7rage

1 scoop ExtremeCreatineXXXL

1-2 capsules of Workout Extreme (usually just one unless I’m exceptionally tired/towards the latter stages of a bodybuilding prep).

(be careful when you shake it up… as a baking soda will make it explosive— so shake briefly and release the pressure several times before consuming)

✅Apply the rule of minimum effective volume when it comes to your pre-workout mix.

Remember: a pre-workout mix is not the solution to a poor diet, it is beneficial only in addition to a good diet and consistent training program. 

If you are sensitive to caffeine, you could still get some great benefits, simply from the salt and baking soda. But that will likely taste pretty gross. FYI. 

Thank you for coming to Ryan’s pre-workout talk. 

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Here is our link, but see our dotFIT supplement section for full recommendations. 

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