Why Does Pre-Workout Make Me Itch?

It's a common side-effect for men and women to have skin tingles or an itchy skin feeling after taking pre-workout. Pre-workout typically contains caffeine and beta-alanine combined; these ingredients can cause that side effect. Is it dangerous? No, but it can be uncomfortable. Read more on why beta-alanine is an important amino acid for your training and overall health.

 Men and women shouldn't take the same supplements and medicines due to overall body differences. Still, most products on the market are made for men and repackaged for women, which makes the side effects for women much greater. With typical energy drinks or pre-workouts, women suffer from anxiety, jitters, and overall skin itchiness.

Why does traditional pre-workout do that, and is there a way to stop it?

Step one to no itching is to switch to PRTCL. We re-dosed the beta-alanine and caffeine to be lighter for women, so while you might get that feeling when you're a little dehydrated, you shouldn't otherwise. You should know that the skin tingles aren't *bad* for you, but they are uncomfortable.

Beta-alanine is an amino acid that sparks a reaction in specific nerve endings that give the feeling of itchy or skin tingling. While it is natural, it is exacerbated by caffeine, so PRTCL reformulated and re-dosed both of these ingredients in our STAMINA pre-workout.

 So, Beta-Alanine is natural?

Yes, it's a non-essential amino acid produced naturally in the body, so it's perfectly safe.

Why do we take it in pre-workout if it's produced naturally?

Our body produces enough beta-alanine to create the necessary synapses but not enough to make the extra synapses we want. By ingesting more beta-alanine, we can use this amino acid to produce more synapses within our muscles that allow us to workout harder and our muscles to fatigue less quickly.

Beta-alanine is essential in the production of Carnosine. According to WebMD, "Carnosine is important for many normal body functions. There's interest in using it to prevent aging because it seems to block certain chemicals that might play a role in the aging process. Carnosine levels in the body might also go down with age." If carnosine levels are dropping with age, it is likely beneficial to supplement and assist your body in its creation.

Beta-Alanine also benefits our workouts by allowing those muscle synapses to happen more often. If we can get our body to fire one more time, we can get it one more rep, run a little farther, or try a little harder, increasing our results. This means we can gain muscle faster, lose weight quicker, and overall see changes faster, which is why pre-workout is for more than just energy; and it helps us get to where we want to be without sacrificing our nutrition.

If you're looking to hit your goals without dealing with pesky side effects, we suggest our STAMINA energy + focus pre-workout powder. Give it a try and tag us on Instagram when you do!

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