If your pre-workout is your best gym buddy, you know how disappointing it is when your usual scoopful stops working its magic. After a while, what once powered you through leg day with superhero-level vigor starts to fall flat—and before you know it, you’re trudging through your sets. Yep, you’ve officially developed a tolerance to the stimulants in your favorite performance supplements. The struggle is real, but you’re not doomed to lackluster lifts forever. Here’s why your go-to pre-workout may become less effective over time, plus how you can reset your sensitivity and get back to feeling unstoppable in the gym.
- ABOUT OUR EXPERTS: Chris Mohr, Ph.D., R.D., is a registered dietitian and fitness and nutrition advisor at Garage Gym Reviews. Brittany Michels, M.S., R.D.N., L.D.N., C.P.T., is a certified personal trainer and registered dietitian with The Vitamin Shoppe.
The Science Behind Stimulant-Containing Performance Products
Before you get to work on knocking your pre-workout tolerance down a peg, you should probably understand exactly how stimulating supplements jack you up in the first place. “Most stimulant-based pre-workouts work by increasing the stress hormone adrenaline and blocking adenosine, the chemical that signals fatigue and makes you feel tired,” explains registered dietitian Chris Mohr, Ph.D., R.D., fitness and nutrition advisor at Garage Gym Reviews. “This raises alertness, perceived energy, and pain tolerance, which can make training feel easier or more intense.”
Read More: 8 Natural Ways To Beat Fatigue
Caffeine is definitely the most well-known stimulant out there, but it’s not the only one. Many performance supplements—especially those marketed as being more hardcore—might also include ingredients such as theobromine and yohimbe, which work the same way. “They block fatigue signals, increase neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine, and enhance alertness, focus, and perceived energy,” explains Brittany Michels, M.S., R.D.N., L.D.N., C.P.T., a certified personal trainer and registered dietitian with The Vitamin Shoppe.
The key takeaway here: Stimulants don’t create energy. Instead, they simply mask fatigue, which is why the whole tolerance dilemma happens. Let’s get into that.
Building Up a Tolerance
Remember how stimulants help you keep pushing by blocking adenosine, the neurotransmitter that says, “hey, you’re tired”? Well, the problem is that “your brain adapts by increasing adenosine receptors, effectively dampening the stimulant response,” says Mohr. As a result, the usual dose of your usual product has less of an effect.
The more often you use caffeine or stimulant-based pre-workouts, the quicker this adaptation process occurs—and the quicker you stop feeling much of a boost from your supplement, Mohr says. In fact, he says that if you down a performance supplement several times per week, building a tolerance is inevitable.
That’s where things get a little hairy. The less oomph your usual scoop of pre-workout offers, the more likely you are to take more and more to feel the buzz or jolt you’re after, Michels says.
Ironically, the more coffee, energy drinks, or fat burners you try to throw at the situation, the faster your tolerance increases, Mohr notes. Suddenly, you might be taking two or three times your original dose—and the higher you go, the greater the risk of experiencing major energy crashes, jitters, and trouble sleeping, he says.
Also important to know: “You’re especially likely to develop stimulant tolerance if you rely on caffeine to push through fatigue instead of prioritizing recovery, Michels explains. “High-intensity or heavy training can create ongoing fatigue, and when gym-goers use caffeine or pre-workout stimulants to override it, they may gradually need higher doses just to feel alert and focused during their workouts. At this point, a performance enhancer can become a crutch, signaling that more recovery—not more stimulants—is needed.”
How To Deal With A Pre-Workout Tolerance
When stimulants don’t feel so, well, stimulating, anymore, these expert-approved tips can help you reset your sensitivity without experiencing side effects.
1. Avoid Going Cold Turkey
If you’ve been hammering pre-workout for months on end, scale back slowly instead of cutting yourself off overnight, suggests Mohr. “Gradually reducing stimulant intake over one to two weeks helps avoid fatigue, headaches, and irritability,” he says.
For example, “If someone is taking two scoops, reduce by about half a scoop at a time and give the body a week or so to adjust, ” he says. “Drop from two scoops to 1.5 for about four to seven workouts, then move down to one scoop for another four to seven.” From there, you might go completely stim-free or opt to use half a scoop on your hardest training days.
“Most people find that within one to two weeks of tapering, energy levels feel more stable and lower doses start to feel effective again,” Mohr says.
2. Find Stim-Free Support
Of course, not all workout-boosting supplements are loaded with stimulants (or contain any at all). For example, “creatine supports strength and power output over time, beta-alanine may improve high-intensity endurance, and citrulline malate may help improve blood flow and reduce fatigue,” Mohr says. Meanwhile, electrolytes can also support energy, endurance, and focus without overstimulating the central nervous system, adds Michels.
These stim-free supplements can certainly come in handy when you’re backing off your usual pre-workout, Mohr suggests. So, if you haven’t really given them much real estate in your sports nutrition stack, now is definitely the time to do so. (They can also help improve your workouts in tandem with a stimulant, helping you train at your best with less of a reliance on caffeine to give you that boost.)
3. Dial in your lifestyle
Foundational lifestyle elements like nutrition and sleep are vital for a healthy exercise routine—and they’re especially important if you’re trying to reduce your reliance on stimulants. “Recovery is critical,” says Michels. “Proper sleep, protein intake, and hydration enhance performance.”
One specific strategy to use here: Consume enough carbohydrates before training! Ensuring you’re stocked on the fuel your muscles need for hard work will give you more energy than any supplement alone can offer, Mohr says.
Once You’ve Got Your Tolerance In Check…
Now that you’re hopefully feeling refreshed and a whole lot less dependent on stimulants to get through workouts (or at least not downing multiple servings of pre-workout at once), the following tactics can help stay sensitive to these workout boosters for the long haul.
1. Cycle Your Stimulants
One popular approach worth trying: strategically cycle your stimulants. “Many athletes find that taking regular ‘off weeks’ or cycling every six to eight weeks helps maintain sensitivity without compromising performance,” says Michels. “Cycling off stimulants completely for two to four weeks can help reset sensitivity, especially if tolerance is high,” adds Mohr. That means that at least every two months, you go at least two weeks sans stimulants.
“The end goal is not to have to eliminate pre-workout forever, but to use it more strategically so it stays effective and supports your performance without harming your health, recovery, or sleep,” Mohr says.
Read More: ‘This Zero-Caffeine Supplement Took My Energy To The Next Level’
Just be mindful of your dosing when you come off a stim-free cycle. “When returning to stimulants, start with a lower dose to rebuild sensitivity rather than jumping back to previous amounts,” suggests Michels. Your move: Start up with half (or even less) of your usual prior effective dose for your first few workouts. “If someone had been exceeding label recommendations, the goal would be to return to or stay below the labeled dosing, not to go back to the higher intake,” she says.
2. Save your pre-workout for when you really need it
It’s also wise to save caffeine or pre-workout for harder training days instead of using it for every session, suggests Mohr. “Using caffeine more sparingly can make it more effective, as your body isn’t building up a tolerance to the dose,” he says. So, instead of chugging something stimulating five or six days a week, you might add it to your shaker bottle two or three times.
“The goal is not perfection, but trying to reduce overall stimulant intake in a way that still supports your training,” Mohr says.
3. Mind your other caffeine consumption
Another way to get the most out of your pre-workout and avoid building up a major tolerance? “Avoid using caffeine multiple times per day outside of training sessions and reserve it for workouts,” suggests Michels. Yep, if that workout boost is really your top priority, going without your morning (or afternoon) coffee might be worthwhile!
Final Thoughts
Hitting a plateau in the gym is common, especially when it comes to stimulant-containing performance products like caffeine and pre-workout. Although annoying, it is completely normal, and the good news is that there is hope. Whether you take a break entirely, cycle strategically, or try other supplements, there are a variety of ways you can get out of that slump and get back to the gym, possibly feeling and performing better than ever.