Pre-Workout Powders: Friend or Foe for Your Heart?

If you spend any time in a gym or follow fitness influencers online, you've definitely come across pre-workout supplements. Those colourful powders promise to give your workout a serious boost, helping you push harder, lift heavier, and last longer. They're incredibly popular, but whispers about potential side effects, especially concerning heart health, often follow them around.

So, what's the real story? Are these supplements safe for your ticker? A recent scientific review tried to get to the bottom of it by looking at 24 different studies on multi-ingredient pre-workout supplements (MIPWs) and their effects on the heart and blood vessels.

What's Actually in These Pre-Workouts?

Pre-workouts aren't just one thing; they're usually a cocktail of ingredients. Common players include:

• Caffeine: For that energy kick and focus.
• Creatine: Helps with power and strength.
• Beta-Alanine: Known for improving endurance (and sometimes causing a harmless tingling sensation!).
• Nitric Oxide Boosters (like L-citrulline or L-arginine): Aim to improve blood flow.
• Taurine & Betaine: Other compounds linked to performance and potentially health benefits.
• Synephrine (from Bitter Orange): Sometimes included for energy and fat burning, but this one has raised more questions.

What Did the Science Review Find?

Researchers sifted through studies published between 2010 and 2024 to see what effect these popular supplements had on cardiovascular health.

The Good News:

• Performance Boost: The review confirmed that pre-workouts often do deliver on their promise of enhancing physical performance – think increased energy, focus, strength, and endurance.
• Generally Safe for Healthy Folks: For the most part, in the studies analysed (20 out of 24), healthy, active people taking pre-workouts within the recommended doses didn't experience significant negative effects on their heart rate, blood pressure, or heart rhythm.
• Potential Heart Perks?: Some ingredients commonly found in pre-workouts, like creatine, beta-alanine, betaine, and nitric oxide boosters, might even have some positive effects on cardiovascular health when studied individually, such as helping with blood pressure, cholesterol levels, or protecting heart tissue.

The Potential Downsides:

• Adverse Effects Reported: A smaller number of studies (4 out of 24), particularly case reports (studies looking at individual incidents), did link pre-workout use to cardiovascular problems like chest pain, palpitations (feeling your heart race or skip beats), arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats), and even heart muscle strain (ischemia) or stroke-like events in rare cases.
• Key Factors: These negative effects seemed more likely when:
  • People took much higher doses than recommended.
  • The supplement contained synephrine, especially when combined with caffeine.
  • The person had pre-existing health conditions (like high blood pressure), smoked, drank alcohol heavily, or was particularly sensitive to caffeine.
• Other Side Effects: Less serious, but still common, side effects mentioned included skin tingling (from beta-alanine), nausea, headaches, insomnia, and tremors.

So, Are Pre-Workouts Safe for Your Heart?

Based on this review, if you're generally healthy, active, and stick to the recommended dose, using a standard pre-workout supplement seems unlikely to cause major heart problems. Many common ingredients appear safe and might even offer some benefits.

However, it's not a completely risk-free situation. The potential for side effects is real, especially if you overdo the dosage, choose products with controversial ingredients like high-dose synephrine, or have underlying health issues.

The review highlights that results across studies can be conflicting, partly because products, dosages, and the people studied vary so much. More research is needed for really clear guidelines.

The Bottom Line

• Pre-workouts can boost exercise performance.
• Most studies in this review found them to be generally safe for the cardiovascular system in healthy, active individuals using recommended doses.
• Some ingredients might even have heart-healthy properties.
• However, adverse effects (including serious heart issues) have been reported, often linked to high doses, synephrine, or pre-existing health problems.
• Common minor side effects like tingling and nausea can occur.

Our Advice?

Listen to your body. Start with a lower dose to see how you react. Always stick to the recommended serving size. If you have any history of heart problems, high blood pressure, or other health conditions, or if you're sensitive to stimulants, it's crucial to chat with your GP or a healthcare professional before trying any pre-workout supplement.

Want to dive deeper into the science? You can read the full review here: https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3425/12/4/112/pdf?version=1742823244