Or ask yourself whether you even need supplements.
During your first year of lifting weights, you can teach your mind and body to lift weights without an artificial boost. There might be an herb that can give you the boost you need.
On second thought, is pre workout still popular?
If I could go back and take fewer pre workout stimulants, I would. Either limit my use or find herbal options.
The reason I say that now, is because I can say with certainty that I would’ve gotten to the same point I’m at today, regardless of how much caffeine I took along the way.
In the moment, it seemed like the pre was helping me a lot — maybe it did. But if I went back and did it all over again with no stimulants, I would’ve accomplished the same fitness goals either way.
This highlights the point about how we should view supplements. They do not get you to your goal, but they can enhance and add value to the process.
So this really becomes a question of whether you need anything at all.
The reason I took pre workout from the start was because I was already addicted to caffeine. If you’re not, then I don’t know if you even want to start taking stims to begin with.
Think about it like this: you’re going to reach your genetic potential, eventually.
I would guess for most guys, after about 5-10 years of being consistent with every habit.
At that point, it would not matter how much pre workout you took to get there.
The question is, did you care enough about your health in the process?
References
[1] https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/best-preworkout-for-pump#:~:text=Pump%2Dfocused%20pre%2Dworkout%20supplements,%2C%20and%202.5%20grams%2C%20respectively.