Pushup Rocket
It’s easy to find enough protein to make up for your post-workout shake when your supplements aren’t around, but what about your pre-workout supplement?

As usual, nature’s got your back. Due to the similarities between blood-pressure medication and pre-workout supplements, many of the natural ingredients proven to relax blood vessels and lower blood pressure can also be used to help get you pumped up before and during workouts. And, as an added bonus, they’ll help reduce your risk for stroke, heart attack, aneurisms, and kidney problems without the myriad side effects that most blood-pressure medications come with.

Watermelon seed extract, for
 example, quickly expands the 
blood vessels to bring down
systolic blood pressure. Aged
garlic extract has been observed 
to produce a similar effect, as has 
Cytisus laburnum, a homeopathic
remedy prepared from parts of the
 wild laburnum plant. Organic wine
 vinegar inhibits the renin-angio-
tensin system, which is responsible
for regulating the body’s fluid and blood-pressure balance, and limits the secretion of blood vessel-constricting angiotensin. Collagen peptides from sea bream and bonito fish scales have a similar effect and are commonly used in supplements.

Improving the health of your circulatory system with ingredients like these is advised—even if you have a pre-workout supplement. Maintaining a diet that employs mostly low-glycemic carbs is another good way to support normal blood pressure.