It’s amazing what people will spend money on in an effort to look good. The new big thing in the fitness market is pre-workout supplements.
They’re products you take before your gym workout, which claim to make you go harder, faster and stronger. They’re not cheap so the manufacturers, distributors, retailers are making a truckload.
If you’re taking them or thinking of trying them you should think again.
Sports nutrition companies are among the fastest-growing in the country, with sales growth of hundreds of percent.
Ross Bymolt is a personal trainer with his own studio in Auckland.
He’s a new convert to pre-workouts, strictly for his own use though; he doesn’t recommend them to clients.
"I didn’t like getting towards the end of a session and [feeling] like I was about to fall over and had no control of my body," he says.
"After a strength session often I’d lie on the mat in the stretching process and just feel the world spinning and not right in the head. My brother-in-law introduced me to Superpump Max and I could definitely feel increased performance."
So exactly what ingredients are in these products to make them such a hit and give people such a high?
There are endless products to choose from and a fast-growing number of outlets that sell them.
Three products were bought easily from shops legitimately going about their business.
While we wait for the products to be analysed we wanted to see for ourselves what they do to you. Do they really make you feel like you can work out harder, stronger, longer? Given the warning they may contain banned substances, Paula Penfold decided to be the guinea pig.
Trainer Matt Norris used to take pre-workouts but stopped, fearing he was becoming too reliant on them.
On Ms Penfold, her heart rate skyrocketed to 190 bpm while the scientists at ESR came back with the results of testing. All three products 3rd Degree purchased contained illegal substances.
Detonate and Craze include a class C controlled drug – an analogue amphetamine – and Speed X Hardcore has DMAA, a banned party pill ingredient. All three of products were seized and destroyed.
Xtreme Nutrition, the retailer, was informed of the alarming results.
"Amphetamine would definitely surprise me. DMAA, yeah, probably, it has been banned recently [in New Zealand] and you might find some still on the shelf, but it’s not a substance as dangerous as amphetamines," says Xtreme Nutrition's owner Moe El Moussawi, who vows to stop selling the products.
"I’m not going to be responsible about anyone’s health and $60 or $70 is not going to make me rich. So I would rather make sure that you are healthy and you’re happy with my service," he says.
There’s a bit of rethinking going on in other countries after serious consequences from taking pre-workout supplements.
During last year’s London Marathon a 30-year-old apparently fit runner, Claire Squires, collapsed and died. The coroner blamed her death on heart failure caused by extreme exertion combined with DMAA, which she’d consumed in the supplement Jacked.
Other fatalities have been linked to DMAA, including those of several US soldiers.
So there's an extreme risk to your health but there’s another thing – you could get busted at work.
We’ve learned of at least 20 cases in the past year of people testing positive for illegal substances who thought they were just taking a supplement, which is exactly what happened to cricketer Jesse Ryder, who was using Detonate.
Maia Jackman is a former soccer international who now works for Drug Free Sport New Zealand educating athletes about the dangers they face, including from seemingly harmless supplements.
"We say to athletes anything that says 'overwhelming power', this is what this one says, 'overwhelming power', 'continuous strength', 'massive pump', 'extreme energy', anything like that, we say to our athletes maybe stay away from because there could be something in there that’s not listed," she says.
"That language could [suggest] a stimulant that’s sitting in here that we don’t know about."
The irony is that people who take pre-workouts are doing it to be healthy, when they could be damaging their health with illegal drugs.
So whose problem is it?
Some products are overseen by food safety authorities, others by Medsafe. When illegal substances are found, it’s the responsibility of police too. But is anyone testing these products day-to-day?
One Government spokesperson told 3rd Degree “it’s a bit of a mess”, which is frustrating even those involved in the business, who want someone to take responsibility.
Credits:
They’re products you take before your gym workout, which claim to make you go harder, faster and stronger. They’re not cheap so the manufacturers, distributors, retailers are making a truckload.
If you’re taking them or thinking of trying them you should think again.
Sports nutrition companies are among the fastest-growing in the country, with sales growth of hundreds of percent.
Ross Bymolt is a personal trainer with his own studio in Auckland.
He’s a new convert to pre-workouts, strictly for his own use though; he doesn’t recommend them to clients.
"I didn’t like getting towards the end of a session and [feeling] like I was about to fall over and had no control of my body," he says.
"After a strength session often I’d lie on the mat in the stretching process and just feel the world spinning and not right in the head. My brother-in-law introduced me to Superpump Max and I could definitely feel increased performance."
So exactly what ingredients are in these products to make them such a hit and give people such a high?
There are endless products to choose from and a fast-growing number of outlets that sell them.
Three products were bought easily from shops legitimately going about their business.
While we wait for the products to be analysed we wanted to see for ourselves what they do to you. Do they really make you feel like you can work out harder, stronger, longer? Given the warning they may contain banned substances, Paula Penfold decided to be the guinea pig.
Trainer Matt Norris used to take pre-workouts but stopped, fearing he was becoming too reliant on them.
On Ms Penfold, her heart rate skyrocketed to 190 bpm while the scientists at ESR came back with the results of testing. All three products 3rd Degree purchased contained illegal substances.
Detonate and Craze include a class C controlled drug – an analogue amphetamine – and Speed X Hardcore has DMAA, a banned party pill ingredient. All three of products were seized and destroyed.
Xtreme Nutrition, the retailer, was informed of the alarming results.
"Amphetamine would definitely surprise me. DMAA, yeah, probably, it has been banned recently [in New Zealand] and you might find some still on the shelf, but it’s not a substance as dangerous as amphetamines," says Xtreme Nutrition's owner Moe El Moussawi, who vows to stop selling the products.
"I’m not going to be responsible about anyone’s health and $60 or $70 is not going to make me rich. So I would rather make sure that you are healthy and you’re happy with my service," he says.
There’s a bit of rethinking going on in other countries after serious consequences from taking pre-workout supplements.
During last year’s London Marathon a 30-year-old apparently fit runner, Claire Squires, collapsed and died. The coroner blamed her death on heart failure caused by extreme exertion combined with DMAA, which she’d consumed in the supplement Jacked.
Other fatalities have been linked to DMAA, including those of several US soldiers.
So there's an extreme risk to your health but there’s another thing – you could get busted at work.
We’ve learned of at least 20 cases in the past year of people testing positive for illegal substances who thought they were just taking a supplement, which is exactly what happened to cricketer Jesse Ryder, who was using Detonate.
Maia Jackman is a former soccer international who now works for Drug Free Sport New Zealand educating athletes about the dangers they face, including from seemingly harmless supplements.
"We say to athletes anything that says 'overwhelming power', this is what this one says, 'overwhelming power', 'continuous strength', 'massive pump', 'extreme energy', anything like that, we say to our athletes maybe stay away from because there could be something in there that’s not listed," she says.
"That language could [suggest] a stimulant that’s sitting in here that we don’t know about."
The irony is that people who take pre-workouts are doing it to be healthy, when they could be damaging their health with illegal drugs.
So whose problem is it?
Some products are overseen by food safety authorities, others by Medsafe. When illegal substances are found, it’s the responsibility of police too. But is anyone testing these products day-to-day?
One Government spokesperson told 3rd Degree “it’s a bit of a mess”, which is frustrating even those involved in the business, who want someone to take responsibility.
Credits:
- Reporter: Paula Penfold
- Producer: Eugene Bingham
- Camera: George Murahidy
- Editor: Charlie Wilson
there is a video clip at the link below
Read more: Exercise addicts: What's really in pre-workout supplements? - Story - 3rd Degree - TV Shows - 3 News
Read more: Exercise addicts: What's really in pre-workout supplements? - Story - 3rd Degree - TV Shows - 3 News
