Will Pre-workout Break a Fast?

When it comes to supplements and intermittent fasting, one of the key questions asked is ‘will pre-workout break a fast?’. Intermittent fasting is a key trend in the fitness industry at the moment, with average people to pro-athletes trying it in-order to achieve their fitness goals. Which is something we will be discussing in this article.

What is pre-workout?

First things first, you need to know exactly what pre-workout is. To put it simply pre-workout is a form of supplement used to enhance your training session. The ingredients found in it are there to help boost how well you perform in terms of power and muscle endurance.

Have you ever got to the gym and felt like you were way too tired to be there? This is where pre-workout comes in. Taking the supplement will usually last around 1 ½ – 2 ½ hours and not only gives you an energy boost, but also helps your muscles fight against fatigue so you can lift a little heavier or get those last few reps in.

What are the ingredients in pre-workout?

The ingredients in pre-workout are key to how the supplement reacts with your body. As there are different flavours and varieties of it, the ingredients will vary, however most of them contain these four ingredients:

-Caffeine

-Beta Alanine

-Creatine

-Nitric Oxide

Technically speaking, these four ingredients will not break a fast as they do not contain enough calories to cause a spike in your insulin levels. It is however other ingredients that you should look out for that could break your fast. To find out more about pre-workout and what the ingredients do, check out one of our other posts here.

What is an intermittent fast?

When people hear the word ‘fast’ it usually sends them into a state of fear, but really, we fast each day when we sleep for 8 hours and don’t eat a single thing. To put it simply, intermittent fasting is just reducing the time period in the day that you are eating, so you go for a longer period without food.

There are several different opinions on fasting in the fitness world about whether it is beneficial or not, but if you want to try it then we recommend you consult a specialist such as a nutritionist or doctor first.

There are certain things you can consume when you’re fasting, such as water and herbal teas, but the big is whether or not pre-workout will break your fast.

Will pre-workout break a fast?

So finally, the answer to will pre-workout break a fast? Well unfortunately it isn’t as simple as that. The main thing that determines whether pre-workout will break a fast is the ingredients that are going into it.

Sweeteners

If your pre-workout contains sweeteners then the chances are that it will be breaking your fast. Sweeteners are added to the supplement to give it an enhanced flavour, but there are some suggestions that some sweeteners can cause an insulin response. As a result, this would mean breaking your intermittent fast.

Whey protein

Likewise, if the pre-workout you are using contain whey protein then this will cause a break in your fast. Whey protein has calories in it and therefore you wouldn’t be fasting if you were consuming something with calories.

In-short, if you’re looking for a pre-workout that won’t break your fast then you need to be sure to check the ingredients. Look out for the number of calories per scoop and whether or not there are added sweeteners that could break your fast. If you want to know more about what you can drink during a fast then check out this blog post.