Pre-workout supplements can be excellent boosters for your gym time. You might find that they keep you awake at night or mess up your natural circadian rhythm. If this is the case, you can flush pre-workout of our your system in both the short and long term, depending on your needs.
Tips for How to Get Pre Workout Out of Your System
There are two different types of activities to undertake to get pre workout out of your system.
For the short term, you’ll focus on flushing the compounds from your body before they are fully absorbed. For the long term, you’ll have to cut back on how much pre workout you normally take and eventually rid your body’s dependence on it entirely.
How Long Does it Normally Last?
Pre-workout supplements usually last between 1.5-2.5 hours from start to finish, although the caffeine part of the mixture tends to kick in around the 45-minute mark and go to about 4 hours. Most of the time, pre workout supplements will pass through your body and be processed in the liver and kidneys within this time frame, regardless of how much you took.
However, exorbitant amounts of supplements may remain in your body for longer. You may experience lingering symptoms like heart palpitations, sweats, and a tight chest.
Why Should You Drink Lots of Water?
If you’ve taken too much pre workout or are trying one that doesn’t agree with your system, you may need it out immediately. Unfortunately, you can’t eliminate the effects your body feels. Instead, you can force your body to experience them more quickly and try to pass the compounds from your body as fast as possible.
To do this, you need to drink lots of water. While water won’t help you pass caffeine and get rid of those energetic jitters, it may help you remove the other ingredients from your body more quickly.
Drink water until you’re passing clear urine for a while. You might find that your pre workout effects wear off in an hour instead of two or so.
How Can You Remove it Long-Term?
Sometimes, gym goers may find they are moderately physiologically addicted to the effects of pre workout supplements. This addiction is mild, much like a standard coffee addiction that many modern people experience each day when they “need” their morning cup of coffee. If this is the case for you, you’ll be pleased to know that eliminating this dependence is the same as getting rid of a caffeine addiction.
You have two options: cold turkey or progressive.
Stop Cold Turkey
You can simply stop taking pre workout supplement and accept the fact that your body will crave it for the next few weeks or months. You can still perform your regular workouts. We would recommend drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated and focused.
No matter how cranky or tired you may feel, your body will eventually get over its reliance on pre workout compounds. It will become capable of strengthening itself and going through a workout routine on its own.
This method is often difficult since it’s very uncomfortable. It’s not threatening in any way, however, to your overall health.
Progressively Cut Down
Others might find this method easier to stick with. All you have to do is cut down your pre-workout amount by half each week. If you’re making your own, simply add half the amount of ingredients as you normally do and drink that. If you buy a store supplement, only drink half of the bottle each workout.
On week two, you’ll be down to 1/4th your regular amount, and then 1/8th the week after that. This will train your body to go without the same amount of supplementary compounds, and eventually, the amount will be so small that your body won't need any supplement at all.
It is at this point that you can stop taking it entirely.
You’ll likely still feel some withdrawal effects. They won’t be as drastic as if you stop taking supplement altogether. It may be easier to discipline yourself and keep to your goal if you lower your amount of supplement slowly rather than all at once.
Conclusion
As you can see, pre workout supplement isn’t particularly hard to get out of your system, but it can be uncomfortable. For this reason, it’s always important to try small amounts of supplement first to make sure that your body agrees with the drink.
In addition, never take too much supplement. You’ll eventually gain tolerance like with caffeine and coffee and have to continue taking larger amounts to experience the same boosting effects.