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Tom Mansfield, Davis Allen Chris and Katy Donel. They all died from a coffee overdose. Aking. I almost died because of a pre-workout. Pre-workout. Even the name itself is like a promise, that of arriving at the gym pumped up, ready to smash your records. But behind this word, which has become commonplace in the fitness world, lies a much more complex reality. In fact, scientifically, they are called MIPS, which stands for multi-ingredient price workout supplements. The idea is simple: to bring together in one shaker everything that can theoretically boost your performance before even
starting your session. Pre-workout before training, and that's bound to attract attention, it makes you dream. But not all pre-workouts are the same. They can be classified into a large family. The most popular are those that focus on energy. Often boosted with caffeine or guarana, which is a plant that helps fight fatigue. Their goal is clear: to give you a boost, prevent you from feeling tired, and put you in a state of maximum alertness. Next come the so-called pump pre-workouts, which affect muscle congestion. Thanks to ingredients like citrulline or arginine, it promotes vasodilation, meaning it dilates blood vessels to allow more blood to flow into the muscles. The result is that famous
pump congestion effect that thrills all bodybuilding enthusiasts. And then there's the endurance-oriented one. Less flashy, it often relies on carbohydrates or electrolytes. Sometimes, the two are mixed together. Designed to maintain energy over time and delay the moment when the body says stop. Behind these categories lies a kind of all-of-fame of the ingredients of sport. Caffeine is obviously the undisputed king of pre-workouts, known to stimulate the central nervous system and ward off feelings of fatigue. Creatine is probably one of the most studied dietary supplements in history capable of increasing strength and power in explosive efforts. Creatine, of course, from Inch Nutrition. Description link.
Betalanine acts as a buffer against muscle acidity, allowing you to keep going a little longer before your muscles burn. Citrulline malate is the star of pump formulas that promotes the production of nitric oxide and improves blood circulation. In addition to this, there are amino acids like BCAAs which will be there to help with recovery and finally electrolytes, nitrates and sometimes even vitamins to complete the picture. I bought a small bottle of Prorkout at Basic Fit. Seriously guys, I feel weird. It's supposed to give you energy, but frankly, it just scares me, actually. I feel like I'm allergic. It
hurts, it itches. So the first question we ask ourselves is, do these pre-workouts actually work? The answer is yes and no. Some studies show real benefits, but not all ingredients are created equal Creatine and caffeine, for example, have solid, scientifically proven effects. Citrulline and bethalanin show promising results, but this is more variable depending on the individual. The same applies to BCAs, taorine or tyrosine. The simplest way is for you to test these dietary supplements on yourself for 4, 5, or 6 months and see if you have visually progressed or if your performance at the gym is
better. And based on that, you see if it works for you or not. What's this magic potion you've been taking? Can I taste it or not? Honestly, I think you can do something a little weird, but I wouldn't advise you to drink it all. So what is it, actually? Can you tell us or not? It's a booster that is actually banned in France. Oh yeah? Oh no! So why are these supplements so successful? Firstly, because they provide a real boost. Having more energy, pushing back fatigue, lasting longer under the bar, that speaks to everyone. Next, these pre-workouts will put you in a state of ultimate concentration. Many practitioners say they feel like they're in a bubble, as if the gym becomes a tunnel where only the workout matters. But of course,
besides that, there is also a big psychological and aesthetic aspect because preparing your pre-workout is a whole ritual. We open our shaker, we open our sachet. There's powder coming out there. We take our little scoop. If it's hidden at the bottom of the package, you scrape to try and find it. We have our fingers full. Once you have it, fill it up well, and put it in your shaker with water. And if he writes "one pod" on the package, we take one pod. Then, close the shaker and shake. That's a strange gesture. And we drink. Here we go. That's where we send a signal to the brain. OK, it's time to train. We're not here to mess around anymore. And that alone, to be honest, boosts motivation. By the way, let me know in the comments if you also
take pre-workout supplements and if they can actually increase performance. Science has largely demonstrated this. The mind can transform the perception of effort. If we had to choose the star ingredient among all the ingredients in pre-workout supplements, it would be caffeine. It is everywhere and everyone consumes it, or at least many people do: in your morning coffee, in cans of Red Bull, in the majority of muscle-building boosters, those who drink Coke, Monster White. And why is this caffeine so powerful? And most importantly, how far can we go before it becomes dangerous? It all starts in your brain. Normally when you get tired during the day, your body produces a molecule called adenosine. It binds to
specific receptors in the nervous system and this signal tells your body it's time to slow down. That's when you feel the fatigue setting in. Caffeine, on the other hand, acts like an imposter. It takes the place of adenosine on its receptors but without activating fatigue. Your brain therefore believes that it is not tired and as a result, you remain more focused and you push back the feeling of fatigue. That's why athletes love it. A well- calibrated dose of caffeine can improve alertness, muscle performance, and even reduce the perception of effort. You lift heavier, you hold on longer, and it feels less difficult. No wonder it has become the essential ingredient of pre-workouts, but be careful, as always with
stimulants, it's all about dosage. The FSA, the European Food Safety Authority, considers a single dose of up to 200 mg of caffeine to be safe for a healthy adult, even just before strenuous exercise. She also specifies that a total intake of 400 mg per day is still considered safe for most adults. On the American side, the FDA reaches similar conclusions. 400 mg of caffeine per day is the reasonable limit. Well, then, between what they say and the products that are sold in the US, I saw some pre-workouts, I'm not going to tell you the brand, but in a single scoop, there were 420 mg of caffeine in a single scoop, whereas they say that's the limit allowed for the whole day. I'm not even going to mention
the people who take several shots before their session. And then what happens? If you stay within the rules, no problem. But if you regularly exceed these thresholds, undesirable effects will start to appear. Palpitations, nervousness, insomnia, anxiety. And when you have too much, that's when it becomes dangerous. Furthermore, it could lead to heart palpitations and cardiac arrest. So it can prove dangerous. The lethal dose of caffeine, known as the LD50, is estimated to be around 10 g, or about 150 mg per kilogram of body weight. For an adult weighing 70 kg, this corresponds to between 10 and 14 g of caffeine. To give you an idea, that's between 75 and 100 cups of coffee drunk in one go. But with pure caffeine powder,
that changes everything. A single spoonful, if not measured correctly, can contain several grams and therefore become fatal. Several cases of accidental death linked to dosage errors have already been reported. Tom Mansfield, Davis Allen Crisp, Llan Food, Logan Stetinner and Katy Donel, all died from caffeine overdoses. With a coffee in the morning, an energy drink in the afternoon and a scoop of pre-workout before the session, you are already exceeding 400 mg of caffeine in one day without even realizing it. In small doses, it improves alertness, endurance, and performance. But in high doses, it can become a real poison. On TikTok and YouTube, we often see videos where
young people film themselves testing their pre-workout. Sometimes it's just a normal dose, but sometimes it's much more. But the problem is when it goes too far, just to get as many views as possible. We see people mixing their pre-workout scope with cans of Monster. The result is a cocktail that can contain the equivalent of 400 mg of caffeine in one go. As a reminder, this is the maximum recommended dose, but for an entire day. And then, this drink is gulped down in a few minutes, just before an intense session where the heart is already racing. In this video, this young man even writes about a heart attack. This video has several thousand views on TikTok. There's also the practice of dry cooping, which
exploded with TikTok. The idea is to swallow a spoonful of powder directly without diluting it in water. It looks hardcore, it gets views, but it's extremely risky. Firstly, because the concentrated powder can cause choking, a little like the Cinnamon Challenges of the time, or violent digestive problems, but above all because the body absorbs caffeine even faster, which increases the risk of palpitations and cardiac arrhythmia. And then there are the challenges of who takes the biggest dose and lasts the longest, with two cuts of videos that turn into an overdose competition. I have nothing against young people having fun. I was too. I made drice cooping. I mixed pre-workout with alcohol. Don't do it,
guys, don't do it. But the reason I'm telling you all this is because I want you to take care of yourself. This isn't Thibo the boomer speaking, it's Thbo the big brother. With all these challenge videos on TikTok that we see, it encourages competition and consequently leads to overdosing. And it won't do anything to you or me. So much the better. But in all this wood, there is a young man who is going to die. That's my mission. You just need to be aware of the risks. Pre-workout itself is harmless. But like all products, like all food supplements, it's the dose that makes the fish. Fish, damn it. It's the dose that makes the poison, not the fish.
Why do these abuses exist? Firstly, because the regulations are unclear, secondly, because in itself it's just caffeine and everyone consumes caffeine, but not in the same quantities. Secondly, because social media normalizes these practices. A dry scooping technique that goes viral and gets millions of views can inspire others to imitate it without realizing how dangerous it is. It's a snowball effect. The more it is seen, the more it is repeated. There is also a psychological impact. In the locker room, the one who swallows his bowl dry seems tougher, more motivated, more hardcore. Some end up doing too much just for the sake of image, so as not to look ridiculous in front of others. It's
a bit like those guys at parties who force you to drink alcohol. No guys, alcohol isn't cool. And if you don't want to drink it, no one at a party should force you. Pre-workout is the same, especially since the body gets used to caffeine. Personally, for example, when I want a little boost, I take half a bowl of Inch Nutrition pre-workout or half a coffee. That way, I get the effects, I get the placebo effect, but I don't get too much caffeine all at once. This trivialization, encouraged by social pressure and online trends, therefore leads to overconsumption.
It's 5pm, I'm filming the video at this time. It's time for my little can of Clearway in shave nutrition protein. If you haven't tasted it yet, what are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? 20g of protein, peach flavour, sugar-free, preservative-free and only 83 calories per can. I fall for one a day. You can find it in all the crossroads of France, at Auchamp, in the superstreets in the northeast of France for now, in fitness shops and on my site inch nutrition. The link is right down there. You have 10 % less than the new code 10. While caffeine is now legal and regulated, there are other substances that have marked the history of pre-workouts,
and not for the right reasons. Among them, one molecule has long been the subject of much discussion: DMAA, also known as dimethylamyamine. It was a synthetic stimulant that gave a feeling of intense energy, a euphoria similar to that of certain amphetamines, and a huge boost before training. In the 2000s, it became a huge hit in the fitness world, especially in the United States. Many popular pre-workout products of the time, such as the famous Jack 3D, contained it. I present to you the famous Jack 3D. It's an extremely powerful product. It increases muscle volume, improves pump, increases strength and improves focus. I would say that the only downside is that after the session, for some people, it causes feelings of
malaise, a bit like the flu. And for the record, I tested it. I must have been 21 years old. I was doing a 2-month internship in Texas and I had already been doing weight training for several years. I started weight training, you must have been learning to walk properly. I'm starting to become a dinosaur. I remember a pink powder and a real boost in focus mode, in tunnel mode. I went to the hall, it was war, it was the final battle of Lord Zano. I was the army of the dead and I was crossing the Urouaiill. Then once the training, or should I say the war, was over, I would go home by bike and then the after-effect would hit me, I would fall asleep, but literally, I remember, I would train around
5:30 pm, 7 pm I would be home, I would fall asleep on the bed until 8 pm, a 1 hour nap. At that time of day, there is no connection. Then I would wake up at 8pm and go prepare myself something to eat. And at the time, it didn't bother me. I wasn't asking myself any questions. Absolutely nothing This pre-workout was composed, I believe, of 100 mg of DMA per scoop and 300 mg of caffeine. So it's really a very high dose of stimulant. The first time I took it, I took a scoop and I had a truly incredible session. Users spoke of unparalleled focus, of sessions where they felt like they became invincible. Health authorities quickly began to record serious incidents. Severe hypertension,
heart attack, stroke. Some cases have proven fatal. In 2013, the US FDA banned the sale of supplements containing DMA. Considering that it represented a serious danger to health. That was a close call. But the problem is that once such a powerful ingredient disappears, the industry often seeks to replace it. Other similar stimulants have appeared, such as DMBA or octodrine, sometimes integrated into substances without the consumer really knowing. After that, rest assured, I'm talking about the American market because in France, we are so controlled, and thankfully so. French and European regulations are doing their job very well. That's why on my website Inshape Nutrition, we really have top quality products.
Beyond DMA and its prohibited cousins, we must also talk about the possible addiction to legal stimulants like caffeine. Because yes, even a safe substance can create an addiction. Very often, pre-workouts can condition the body and mind to no longer train without them. There was a time when I could n't train without a pre-workout. When I went to train without taking any, I felt like my session was pointless, that it wasn't productive. So, not at all. Now what I do is I do one month, one month, one month with, one month without, one month with, two months without, no pre-workout, just coffee. That way, my body doesn't get used to caffeine. And when you stop abruptly, that's when withdrawal symptoms
appear. Headache, intense fatigue, irritability, decreased motivation. It's a vicious circle. We start with a moderate dose, then we increase it because we get used to it. So, before you shake your pre-workout shaker, always ask yourself this question: do I really need it to have a good workout? And sometimes yes, but sometimes no. It's just a habit. So, I want to reassure you, pre-workout isn't the absolute worst thing either. We are very, very far from the dangers of anabolic steroids. Yes, pre-workouts can help with more energy, more focus, more endurance, but only if you know what you're doing because behind the boost, there is also a very real risk and you should always be aware of the
dietary supplements you take and choose good brands. I'm not going to force you to only take Inchf nutrition, you do what you want, but at least on this point, in terms of regulations, we're on the right track. And above all, do not fall into the traps of excesses encouraged by social media. And if you, the person watching this video, want a real boost without risk, there are alternatives that exist. A well- measured coffee, good hydration, a suitable diet and above all, quality sleep. Ultimately, sleep remains the best pre-workout. There are also homemade recipes that you can make yourself using water, honey, ginger, salt and lemon.
Take care of yourself. Love and protein.
