What Does Vitamin C Do In Pre Workout?

It’s highly likely that you know how important Vitamin C is for your immune system. But, as it starts finding its way into multiple fitness supplements, including pre workout, you may start to wonder what its role is in this context.

That’s what we’ll be looking at here. Below, you’ll find all of the information you need on what Vitamin C actually does when incorporated into pre workout supplements, along with a ton of other useful information.

What Is Vitamin C?

Vitamin C, otherwise known as ascorbic acid, is a nutrient that your body needs in order to build muscle, cartilage, and collagen, as well as forming blood vessels.

It is also an essential nutrient needed to aid the body in healing and to protect your immune system from free radicals. By doing this, it helps to prevent cancer and heart disease, and it also gives your body the ability to absorb and store iron.

What Are The Benefits Of Vitamin C In Pre Workout Supplements?

As you can see, Vitamin C is a pretty powerful nutrient and something that our bodies simply cannot survive without. But does it have any real benefit when added to pre workout supplements?

Well, compared to some other vitamins and minerals, it doesn’t bring that much in terms of the extra power you’d look for in a pre workout. However, it does have a couple of benefits, including:

Improved Recovery Time

Whenever you exercise, you damage cells within your muscles through reactive oxygen species (ROS), a reactive chemical formed from diatomic oxygen, and it’s this that leads to muscle growth as the tissue repairs itself. It is also responsible for the pain you feel from delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

Vitamin C could help to speed up recovery time here as it has amazing antioxidant properties that counteract the effects of ROS, reducing DOMS pain and allowing you to keep training consistently.

Improved Endurance

While Vitamin C is not solely capable of boosting your energy levels, it may work well with other ingredients contained within a pre workout supplement that improve your overall health. As a result, your energy levels could be naturally boosted, and you’ll have the improved endurance needed to get to the next level of your training.

Improved Heart Rate

As Vitamin C is involved in the body’s production of catecholamine hormones, which are known to positively affect heart rate, a pre workout that contains Vitamin C could help you maintain a steady, elevated heart rate for a longer period of time. This is ideal for marathon and long-distance endurance training.

What Is The Recommended Dosage Of Vitamin C?

Unlike many other vitamins and supplements, there isn’t a strict guideline when it comes to the amount of Vitamin C it’s safe to take per day. However, exceeding 2 grams could lead to side effects, including nausea and diarrhea.

When it comes to Vitamin C contained within pre workout, it is best to follow the dosage outlined on the packaging. You’ll also need to be aware of the amount of Vitamin C you’ve taken as an additional supplement to avoid overdosing, but the risk here is quite small as most pre workout supplements that contain Vitamin C only provide around 0.5g of your recommended daily allowance (RDA).

How Should You Take Vitamin C?

The easiest way of getting Vitamin C into your system is by taking it in pill form. It doesn’t need to be taken with food, but like most other supplements, it will absorb faster if you do.

You can also get Vitamin C from multiple food sources, including orange juice, carrots, and blackcurrants. However, the amount available in these will be much lower than in supplements.

When Should You Take Vitamin C?

You can take Vitamin C at any time of the day, as it has no effect on the circadian rhythm and won’t affect the quality of your sleep. However, it’s best to take it up to an hour before you start training if you’re relying on the Vitamin C contained within your pre workout, as this will ensure you feel the benefits of the other ingredients in the mix.

Where Can I Buy Pre Workout Supplements With Vitamin C In?

There are loads of pre workout supplements that contain Vitamin C, including Faction Labs Disorder and G Fuel Energy Formula. You can buy these, and other pre workout supplements, from Power Supps.

What Are The Potential Side Effects Of Vitamin C Supplementation?

There are no side effects of Vitamin C supplementation when taken in the correct doses. Exceeding 2g of Vitamin C per day could result in nausea and diarrhea, but these soon pass and require no treatment other than hydration and monitoring.

Final Thoughts On Vitamin C In Pre Workout Supplements

While there’s nothing wrong with adding Vitamin C into pre workout supplements, it isn’t entirely necessary to do. It is capable of improving recovery time, endurance, and heart rate, but it is mostly best used as an additional supplement where it can get to work, keeping the body healthy and disease-free.