Pre workout does make you sweat more as it makes your workouts more intense. This results in your body burning more calories which increase your core body temperature, causing you to sweat.
There are also some ingredients in pre workout that increase your core temperature. Let’s take a look at these in more detail.
Which Ingredients In Pre Workout Make You Sweat More?
Thermogenics
Pre workout supplements often include a range of thermogenics, such as:
- Caffeine
- Green Tea Extract
- Pepper Extract
- CLA
- Garcinia Cambogia
- L-Carnitine
- Yohimbe
- Capsicum
Thermogenics raise your temperature by increasing fat burning, and when your body burns fat, your temperature increases. Let’s take a look at these individually.
Caffeine
Most stim-based pre workouts have a range of between 150mg to 300mg of caffeine per dose.
To give you some perspective, the average cup of coffee contains 100mg of caffeine. So, some pre workouts have 3x as much caffeine as coffee!
When you consume a lot of caffeine, the nervous system tells the body to release fight or flight hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.
This can increase your heart rate and temperature, so the body produces sweat to cool down and balance fluids.
Green Tea Extract
Green Tea Extract helps fat burning in multiple ways.
For example, the polyphenol compounds help increase thermogenesis. Also, the caffeine helps increase metabolism which results in more calories burned.
Pepper Extract
Peppers contain compounds called capsaicinoids which speed up your metabolism, causing your body to burn more fat.
The hotter the pepper, the more caspaicinoids it has.
CLA
CLA is a fatty acid mainly found in meat and dairy products. It’s a popular thermogenic thanks to its ability to target fat deposits.
Garcinia Cambogia
This tropical fruit extract is a common ingredient in fat burners and pre workout as it may promote fat burning thanks to a compound called HCA.
Along with its fat-burning properties, research suggests that Garcinia Cambogia can increase your metabolic rate, making this ingredient another possible cause of sweating more after pre workout.
Capsicum
Capsicum is the compound in chillies which gives it its “heat”. Research shows the thermogenic effect of capsicum can increase metabolism and fat burning long after exercise!
Yohimbe
Yohimbe is a type of bark extract of an African tree.
It’s often added to pre workout because it may increase dopamine, adrenaline, and noradrenaline, boosting fat metabolism and indirectly the rate of sweating.
L-Carnitine
L-Carnitine is amino acid derivative that’s naturally found in red meat. It helps shuttle fatty acids from your blood stream into the mitochondria where it can be used for energy.
Nitric Oxide Boosters
As covered earlier, one of the ways pre workout can make you sweat more is by making your workouts more intense.
Nitric oxide boosters can increase the intensity of your workouts by widening your veins, allowing more blood, oxygen, and nutrients to flow to your muscles.
2 common nitric oxide boosters found in pre workout are L-Citrulline and Beta Alanine.
L-Citrulline
L-citrulline is a non-essential amino acid that your body produces and is converted to L-arginine – a nitric oxide precursor – in your kidneys.
It may improve blood flow to your muscles, giving you more energy and faster recovery, allowing for a more intense workout.
L-citrulline is often combine with malic acid to produce citrulline malate, which is absorbed better than the amino acid form.
Beta Alanine
Beta-alanine is often included in pre workout supplements as it may reduce lactic acid build-up in your muscles, which allows you to push yourself harder and longer during exercise.
If you’ve ever experienced the tingling sensation after taking pre workout, you can thank beta-alanine for that.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Does Pre Workout Make You Sweat At Night?
The answer to this depends on a few factors.
First factor being when you actually took it.
If you took pre workout at night, then it’s very possible that it’ll make you sweat in the evening due to the reasons outlined in this article.
This also assumes you work out at night which further increases your body temperature and can cause sweating.
Does Pre Workout Make You Hot?
Some pre workouts can make you hot.
If your pre workout contains thermogenics, then it will increase your metabolism, resulting in more energy being burned which can make you hot.
Capsicum is another ingredient found in some pre workouts which can increase your body’s temperature, thus making you hot.
Does Pre Workout Make Your Sweat Smell?
Some pre workout supplements contain Betaine and Choline. When taken in large doses, these ingredients may result in your sweat smelling like fish.
This is due to a reduction of Betaine and Choline in your gut, which is medically termed trimethylaminuria.
That said, not all pre workout supplements include these ingredients, and are therefore unlikely to cause body odor.
(Body odor is usually caused by bacteria breaking down protein molecules in your sweat.)
Does C4 Pre Workout Make You Sweat More?
C4 pre workout comes in many different variants.
For example, there’s Extreme Energy, Ripped Sport, Original, and Ultimate Shred to name a few.
As we’ve seen, Ultimate Shred has a respectable amount of caffeine and a ton of thermogenics so will most likely make you sweat more.
As for the others, this depends on their ingredients and if they make your workout more intense.
Does Sweating Mean A Better Workout?
Some people assume that a sweating more during a workout means that the workout is more effective.
This isn’t always the case though.
For example, if you train in a hot climate, you’ll naturally sweat more but that doesn’t necessarily mean your muscles are working harder.
It would be wrong to measure the effectiveness of your workout in terms of how much you sweat, and you shouldn’t take pre workout with a goal of sweating more.
Is Excessive Sweating During A Workout Dangerous?
If your pre workout does make you sweat more, there’s usually no reason to be alarmed.
Sweating is a natural bodily process, so as long as you stay sufficiently hydrated throughout the day, you’re unlikely to experience any ill effects.
Conclusion
In summary:
- Pre workout can make you sweat more as it makes you train harder and increases your core body temperature.
- If your pre workout contains Betaine, then it may make your sweat smell.
- Sweating more during a workout doesn’t necessarily make it a more effective workout.
Hope this helped!
Sources
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10584049/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257466/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4815210/
I’ve been in the fitness and strength training industry for nearly a decade. In that time, I’ve gained 30 pounds of muscle, written hundreds of articles, and reviewed dozens of fitness supplements. As for my educational background, I’m a currently studying for my Active IQ Level 3 Diploma in Personal Training.
