You’re probably wondering what drink or supplement you should have to boost your energy before working out.
Pre-workout drinks are great for that purpose but have you ever thought that energy drinks could also enhance your physical performance.
Energy drinks are a good option if you want an alternative to pre-workout. Energy drinks are also meant to increase your physical performance and make you more alert.
If you wonder how energy drinks and pre-workout are similar, then you will get all of your answers in this article.
Let’s begin.
Page Contents
What Are Pre-Workout Drinks?
Pre-Workout drinks are a dietary formula that contains numerous ingredients that can boost your energy levels. And can improve your athletic performance.
Generally, pre-workouts come in a powdered form that you have to mix with water to form a drink.
Pre-workout drinks are designed to enhance your sports performance, so drinking them before your exercise session can help you burn more calories at the gym.
What Do Energy Drinks Do?
Energy Drinks are caffeinated beverages that provide you a boost of energy and reduce your fatigue.
They contain caffeine as the main ingredient that helps them in improving your physical performance.
A lot of energy drink brands are available in the market that you can choose from, and every energy drink has a different amount of caffeine.
Energy drinks are one of the most consumed beverages by athletes and celebrities since they can improve their brain functions and sports performance.
Energy drinks can have the following health benefits:
- Improved Brain Functions
- Reduce Mental Fatigue
- Increased Memory
- Improved Reaction Time
- Improved Concentration
However, you should always keep an eye on how much energy drinks do you consume since they have caffeine which can be harmful to you.
Energy drinks work best only when you drink them in a controlled amount.
Otherwise, drinking them too much and too often can result in the following side effects:
- Increased Heart Rate
- High Blood Pressure
- Heart Palpitations
- Insomnia
- Dehydration
- Restlessness
Effects Of Pre-Workout Drinks
Pre-Workout Drinks are great to drink before a workout, and they can increase your muscle endurance, which can benefit you during a workout.
However, they may cause some side effects because of caffeine and sugar alcohol present in them. Drinking Pre-workout drinks excessively can lead to the following health issues:
- Jitters
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Increased heart rate
- Stomach aches
- Bloating
- Tingling sensation in hands or feet
- Diarrhea
To avoid these side effects, you need to have a pre-workout according to your body’s needs. Try starting from small doses and then gradually increasing your dose so that your body can get used to it.
Moreover, I suggest you have pre-workout on days when you plan to work out hard at the gym.
Here’s a video discussing pre-workout drinks:
Effects Of Energy Drinks
Energy drinks are often utilized as an energy booster.
Energy drinks have some ingredients that increase your energy levels and make you more alert.
The primary ingredient of energy drinks is caffeine since caffeine improves your brain functions. Once you ingest caffeine, it takes around 40 minutes for your body to fully absorb the caffeine.
After that, your heart rate goes up, and your energy levels get increase. You’ll feel more alert after drinking an energy drink.
However, if you’re sensitive to caffeine, then you might experience the following effects after drinking energy drinks:
- Rapid Heart Rate
- Headache
- Jitters
- Nervousness
- Restlessness
- Insomnia
Moreover, if you’re pregnant, you should avoid drinking energy drinks since they can be dangerous.
Ingredients In Energy Drinks
Caffeine
The essential ingredient of energy drinks is caffeine. Caffeine opens your eyes and makes you more alert.
Every energy drink brand has a different amount of caffeine in its drink. Some brands contain a low amount of caffeine, whereas some have high caffeine content.
Besides boosting your energy, caffeine has the following health benefits:
- Enhances Physical Performance
- Improved Brain Functions
- Reduced Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
- Improved Memory
- Improved Reaction Time
- Increased Focus
According to the FDA recommendation, an adult with no medical condition shouldn’t have more than 400mg of caffeine in a day.
Consuming more than that can lead to the following health issues:
- Anxiety
- Dehydration
- Irregular Heart Rate
- High Blood Pressure
- Insomnia
- Addiction
- Headaches
Sugar
This depends on which drink you get.
There are some energy drinks that contain sugar. However, the amount of sugar depends on the brand you’re going for.
Some energy drinks have a high amount of sugar, while some have really less amount of sugar.
Sugar offers the following health benefits:
- Provided Burst of Energy
- Stored Energy
- Instant Mood Boost
- Improved Thinking Skills
For your reference, a woman shouldn’t have more than 24g of sugar in a day, while a man shouldn’t have more than 36g of sugar in a day.
Consuming more sugar than recommended intake can lead to the following health problems:
- Obesity
- Acne
- Skin ageing
- Diabetes
- Tooth decay
- Increased risk of heart disease
- Increased risk of cancer
- Low energy
- Depression
However, energy drinks do come in sugar-free versions if you don’t like to have a lot of sugar or you’re diabetic.
Drinking sugar-free energy drinks instead of energy drinks with sugar can improve your overall health. Besides that, it can have the following positive effects:
- Higher Energy Levels
- Boost Immune System
- Better Sleep
- Weight Loss
- Improved Gut Health
If you want sugar-free energy drinks, check this article I wrote: 10 Best Sugar-Free Energy Drinks (Detailed List)
Calories
Every energy drink has a different amount of calories.
Some energy drinks contain zero calories, and some contain some calories. It really depends on which brand do you go for.
If you’re health-conscious and take a restricted amount of calories, then you should go for zero-calorie energy drinks.
However, if you don’t really care about the calorie content of energy drinks, then you can go for any brand.
For your reference, a woman should have around 2000 calories in a day while a man should have around 2500 calories in a day. Try to keep your calories intake under control to avoid weight gain.
Here’s an article I wrote discussing zero-calorie energy drinks: Best Zero-Calorie Energy Drinks (No Sugar)
Taurine
Taurine is one of the main ingredients of energy drinks.
Taurine is an amino acid naturally produced by your body. It can improve your sports performance.
Taurine can have the following health benefits:
- Supported Metabolism
- Supported Nerve Growth
- Lowered Blood Pressure
- Calmed Nervous System
Despite these benefits, you should still have taurine within a certain limit. Otherwise, it can have adverse effects:
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Headaches
- Difficulty Walking
Sucralose
Sucralose is commonly used in sugar-free energy drinks since sugar-free energy drinks need to add sweetness and flavor to the drink.
Sucralose is a zero-calorie sweetener, so consuming sucralose won’t increase your blood sugar levels. Also, it won’t increase your daily calorie intake.
Moreover, sucralose is safe to consume since FDA approves it. However, you should still have it moderate since excessive consumption of anything isn’t healthy.
Difference Between Energy Drinks And Pre-Workout Drinks
Pre-Workout Drinks and Energy Drinks are quite different from one another.
Though they have almost the same ingredients, both of these drinks will most likely always have caffeine as the main ingredient.
Pre-workout often has creatine, more amino acid, and minerals, and they also have a lot more caffeine than energy drinks.
Pre-workout are much stronger than energy drinks, which means they are good or bad. It really depends on your caffeine tolerance and your caffeine metabolism.
Pre-workout drinks are meant to increase your physical energy and increase your stamina. It has some ingredients which really help you in working out longer at the gym.
So this means energy drinks and pre-workout have almost the same purpose and work the same way, but pre-workout drinks cater if you’re working out.
Where Can You Buy Pre-Workout Drinks And Energy Drinks?
Pre-Workout Drinks and Energy Drinks are both easily available in the market.
You can get both of these drinks from any convenience store, like Walmart and Target.
You can even order them online from e-stores like Amazon and eBay, while some brands have their own official website as well.
Can You Drink Energy Drinks As Pre-Workout Drink?
You can drink energy drinks as a pre-workout drink.
The main purpose of a pre-workout drink is to increase your endurance and help you work out better, and energy drinks can still help you attain that.
Energy drinks have caffeine and other ingredients which can help you with your stamina and endurance, thus helping you exercise more at the gym.
This study showed that drinking energy drinks can enhance your strength and increase your sports performance, which you definitely want to have during your workout.
Also, some energy drinks contain sugar, giving you more energy to work out. Therefore, it’s completely fine to drink an energy drink as a pre-workout drink.
Can pre-workout drinks be used as a substitute for energy drinks?
Although there are some similarities between pre-workout drinks and energy drinks, it is generally not advised to use pre-workout drinks as an exact replacement for energy drinks. Pre-workout beverages are designed with particular ingredients to support athletic performance, with an emphasis on elements like energy, endurance, and focus during exercise.
On the other hand, energy drinks serve a wider purpose, boosting energy and alertness throughout the day. They might include extra components that are not typically found in pre-workout drinks, like B-vitamins and herbal extracts. It’s crucial to consider the effects that each beverage is meant to have.
Is Bang Energy Good Before Workout?
Some energy drinks, like Bang, can be used as a pre-workout drink.
Bang Energy is a famous energy drink brand that contains 300mg of caffeine which is enough to boost your energy. Drinking a can before a workout will definitely help you in a workout session.
It has a sufficient amount of caffeine that can significantly increase your physical performance since drinking a single can of Bang Energy will make you more alert and will aid you in burning more calories at the gym.
Therefore, drinking Bang Energy before a workout is totally fine because Bang Energy and a Pre-Workout have similar results.
What is the difference between pre-workout drinks and energy drinks?
Pre-workout drinks and energy drinks are both popular beverages consumed for their potential performance-enhancing effects, but they have distinct differences. Pre-workout drinks are specifically designed to be consumed before exercises and workout routines in order to enhance energy, focus, and muscular endurance.
On the other hand, energy drinks are formulated to provide a general energy boost and increased alertness throughout the day. While they also contain caffeine and other stimulating ingredients, energy drinks may not include the same targeted performance-enhancing compounds found in pre-workout drinks.
Best Energy Drinks
Here’s a list of energy drinks for you to try:
Final Verdict
Overall, Energy drinks and pre-workout drinks are pretty similar.
Both of them have almost the same purpose that’s to boost your energy, and they also have almost the same ingredients they utilize caffeine as the main ingredient.
If you have an energy drink instead of pre-workout, then also you will be able to work out better at the gym.
However, pre-workout are stronger than energy drinks due to their caffeine content. It depends on your caffeine tolerance and how much caffeine you can handle at once.
If you have a fast caffeine metabolism, you can go for pre-workout. Otherwise, energy drinks are a better option for you.
Whichever drink you go for, remember to drink in moderation.