Why Does Pre-Workout Make You Itch?

Getting ready for your workout is almost as important as hitting those muscle isolation exercises the right way, and most fitness enthusiasts use various pre-workout supplements to achieve that.

However, we’ve heard a fair share of inquiries from worried gymgoers who often raise the same question — why does pre-workout make you itch? Don’t worry — it’s a common consequence of going for pre-workout supplements, and it doesn’t have any health implications.

We’ll explain exactly why your skin might feel extra sensitive and itchy right after you have your drink and discuss how to prevent this from happening.

Pre-Workout Drinks and Beta-Alanine

Pre-workout supplements are often used by fitness enthusiasts to override that feeling of exhaustion at the peak point of the workout. 

You’ve probably used them yourself for this reason alone, or maybe to enhance your peak performance and get in perfect shape. Pre-workout drinks can even help you build lean muscle mass or give you a power boost so you can go a few reps longer when it matters the most. 

Why is this all important? Well, we can get to the bottom of things by explaining the composition of the supplement itself. There’s one common denominator that helps you achieve all these goals — beta-alanine.

It’s an amino acid that gets burned by your body and creates a different compound called carnosine. That one truly elevates your workout routine by enhancing performance and reducing exhaustion voids at the peak of your reps, and there’s usually nothing that makes it bad for your health.

However, if you have a medical condition or if you go overboard with your dose, it can affect your body in other ways. In fact, it can make your skin itchy, and we’re here to help you figure out why.

So, Why the Itch?

If you keep thinking, “Pre-workout makes me itchy”, chances are that beta-alanine from your drink is affecting your body in a particular way. We don’t want to get all technical, but the exact term for the sensation would be “paresthesia,” and it can also trigger a whole scale of feelings all over your skin:

• Tingling
• Increased sensitivity
• Numbness
• Itching
• Skin-crawling

As you can see, the itch can be just one of the symptoms, but in the case of all those other sensations, you can also blame the amino acid. So, the big question of “Why does pre-workout make you itchy?” can be answered in two words —beta-alanine. 

So, now you know the truth behind it, but it won’t make you feel any better unless you figure out the solution. Don’t worry —we’ve got you covered with that as well. But first, let’s answer another common dilemma —can beta-alanine and the pre-workout itchy feeling endanger your health?

Is Pre-Workout Itch a Bad Sign For Your Health?

In short, the answer is no —skin itch won’t affect your health, but it could affect your workout session. We’ve heard lots of gymgoers complain that the itch is taking too much of their focus away from the dumbbells and their routine.

Even so, the itch at least means that your drink is working and that beta-alanine has reached your system. The thing about the itch is that it’s a response to the instant release of the supplement, so if you can find a different formula with a sustained and slower release, chances are that the itch will go away or at least be reduced in intensity.

So, does beta-alanine make you itch? It most definitely does. But does it also help your workout? Again, it’s probably a positive answer, and these are some of the benefits:

• Increases your focus and durability
• Allows you to stay at the peak of your performance for extended periods
• Prevents performance void and fatigue
• Ensures faster muscle recovery
• Positively affects your immune and nervous system

Again, the compound has all these positive effects if you’re completely healthy. If you’re having any sort of a cardiac issue that would require a careful approach to workouts, maybe you should reconsider using it as a supplement.

The best way to approach it is by tracking your performance, weight, and cardiac rhythm with a professional-grade tool. That’s where the Eros Smart Body Fat Scale by INEVIFIT can help. With all of its metrics, like body mass index, metabolic rate tracking, and visceral fat tracking, you can be sure that your health is at its peak and that you’re free to use pre-workout drinks.

Making the Itch Go Away

You won’t be able to just use a lotion to make the itch go away, but there are various other options you can consider.

Overall, you can either use a lower-intensity supplement option or properly divide your dose into several smaller intakes during the day. You’d still achieve the same effect, though using separate small doses reduces the chance of the itch showing up so quickly.

Perhaps it’s smart to shop around before you purchase your next pre-workout mix, so make sure to browse the options and find a perfect formula with a lower beta-alanine percentage.

 

EROS Smart Scale

Conclusion

So, there you have it! We’ve dealt with the tricky matter of what makes pre-workout itchy, and there’s nothing stopping you from working out full steam ahead now. If you’re still going to use your pre-workout drink, just make sure to double-check the dosage of beta-alanine in the formula.

It’s also useful to keep tracking your performance with a tool like the Eros Smart Body Fat Scale because, that way, you’ll get feedback on your workouts, and at the same time, track the way your supplements are affecting your body and health.