6 Proven Performance Enhancers That Actually Work

You want an edge.

An advantage.

Something that will get you better results.

More strength. More muscle definition. Better endurance. Improved energy.

The algorithm eggheads at Meta know you're on the hunt for a leg up, so your feed is probably riddled with ads for:

• Greens powders

• Gummies

• Red lights

• Saunas

• Cold plunge tubs

• Massage guns

• Supplement stacks

Lean in, because this is important, and it could save you hundreds of your hard-earned dollars.

If you're reading this, you probably don't need any of that stuff to improve your workout performance and build the best body you're capable of building.

That's a relief, right?

There are six proven performance enhancers that actually work, and you've probably already got access to most of them.

1. Sleep: The Most Underrated Performance Enhancer

Before you try anything else, make sure you're getting enough sleep.

For most adults, that means roughly 7–8 hours of sleep per night on a regular basis.

Using supplements and fancy recovery techniques when you're only getting five or six hours of sleep is like charging your phone with a cord you bought on TEMU.

It might technically work, but you're making things unnecessarily difficult.

Sleep plays an important role in recovery, physical performance, muscle growth, and overall health. It's one of the simplest ways to support better workouts without buying another thing.

Sleep is free performance.

I know it's not always as simple as telling you to get eight hours.

Life happens.

But if you're watching TV in the bedroom, scrolling through your phone instead of sleeping, or routinely staying up later than you need to, that's a pretty good place to start.

Before you spend $100 on a recovery gadget, ask yourself if you're giving your body enough time to recover in the first place.

2. Eat Enough Calories, Carbohydrates, and Protein

You'd be surprised how many people come to us for help, and we quickly realize they aren't eating enough calories, carbohydrates, or protein.

If you're trying to perform well in the gym, fuel your active life, build muscle, and develop a physique you're proud of, eating like a bird isn't the answer.

Neither is being afraid of carbohydrates.

Your body needs energy to train hard. Protein provides the amino acids your body needs to repair and build muscle. Carbohydrates are an important source of fuel for exercise.

When you're properly fueled, you have the energy to actually push yourself during your workouts.

And that training stimulus is what helps build the strength and physique you're after.

You cannot starve your way to a better body.

If you're constantly exhausted, your workouts feel terrible, you're hungry all the time, and you're trying to build muscle while eating as little as possible, the solution probably isn't another supplement.

You may simply need to eat more.

Want to know how many calories, protein, carbs, and fat we recommend for you and your goals? Click the button below.

3. Hydration: Drink Enough Water

If you're sluggish, you might be dehydrated.

If your digestion stinks, you might be dehydrated.

If you're bonking during your workouts, you might be dehydrated.

I could go on, but you get the point.

Water is essential for virtually every system in your body, and dehydration can negatively affect how you feel and perform.

The good news?

You don't need to make hydration complicated.

You don't necessarily need a $50 worth of overpriced salt powder.

For most people, drinking enough plain water is a great place to start.

We recommend starting the day with roughly 16–20 ounces of water and then drinking consistently throughout the day.

A common starting point is around half your body weight in ounces of water per day, then adjusting based on things like your activity level, climate, sweat rate, and individual needs.

And yes, your urine color can give you a rough idea of your hydration status. Light yellow is generally a good sign.

If you're training in a hot climate, sweating heavily, or exercising for long periods, your fluid and electrolyte needs can be higher.

But don't confuse complicated with effective.

Hydration doesn't need to be complicated to work.

4. Creatine: The Supplement That Actually Works

Yes, an actual supplement made the list!

Creatine is one of the most thoroughly researched sports supplements available, and there's a good reason it's so popular.

Your body already produces creatine naturally, and you get some from foods such as meat and fish.

Supplementing with creatine increases your muscle's available creatine stores, which can help you produce energy during high-intensity exercise.

In practical terms, creatine can help you squeeze a little bit more out of your workouts.

Maybe you get another rep.

Maybe you can maintain performance across your sets a little better.

Those little improvements can add up over months and years of consistent training.

The result?

More strength, more muscle, and better training performance.

There may also be cognitive benefits associated with creatine supplementation, which is a pretty interesting bonus.

I keep it cheap and simple:

5 grams of creatine monohydrate every day.

I usually mix it into my smoothie or a shaker bottle with flavored water.

You don't need an expensive proprietary creatine blend or a complicated loading protocol.

Just take it consistently.

I've covered more about creatine, including when to take it and how much to take, in [this short video].

And if you're looking for the products we use and recommend, you can find them in our [Digital Barbell Amazon Shop].

5. Caffeine: Good Old-Fashioned Performance Enhancement

That's right.

Good ol' caffeine.

In a sea of supplements that don't actually do much, caffeine is a well-established performance enhancer.

It can increase alertness, reduce your perception of effort, and improve certain aspects of exercise performance.

And unlike some of the ingredients you'll find buried in a 47-ingredient pre-workout formula, caffeine is something you can actually understand.

Of course, everyone has a different sensitivity to caffeine.

And more isn't necessarily better.

Too much caffeine can interfere with sleep, increase anxiety or jitters, and create a nasty cycle where you're using caffeine to compensate for poor sleep caused by caffeine.

That's not exactly the performance-enhancing strategy we're going for.

If you use caffeine before training, be smart about how much you're taking and how late in the day you're consuming it.

I wrote more about caffeine and pre-workout in [this article about how much caffeine is appropriate before exercise].

6. Effort and Mindset: The Performance Enhancer You Can't Buy

I'm lumping these two together because they're impossible to separate.

Want a simple performance and results booster?

Start believing you're capable of doing hard things, and then try harder.

No pill for that, right?

For years, I was hamstrung by fear.

I was stuck, 40 pounds overweight, and blaming my genetics.

At the root of my lack of results was a false belief that I wasn't good enough, deserving enough, or capable enough.

And that belief influenced what I did.

If you believe you can't push yourself physically, you're going to look for ways to make your workouts easier.

If you believe you can't eat healthy in the face of constant temptation, you're going to find evidence that you're right.

Unfortunately, the reverse is also true.

When you start believing that you're capable of doing hard things, you're more likely to take the actions necessary to prove yourself right.

That doesn't mean you need to become some sort of motivational speaker who screams at himself in the mirror every morning.

It means you need to stop automatically assuming that hard means impossible.

Bring the effort.

Make fewer excuses.

Stop cutting yourself so much slack.

Stop saying, "It could have been worse."

Stop faking perfectionism so you have an escape clause when things get tough.

Do the work.

Then do it again.

And when you discover that you actually can do the hard thing, you start building something much more valuable than a six-pack.

You start building confidence in yourself.

Can you tell I'm more passionate about this one than the others?

It's because I know how important it is.

The Best Performance Enhancers Are the Ones You Use Consistently

Here's the part that gets overlooked.

The effects of these six performance enhancers are maximized by consistent use over time.

Don't take your first dose of creatine and run off to take your "after" photos.

Don't sleep eight hours one night and expect to feel like Superman.

Don't drink a bunch of water before your workout and call yourself hydrated.

Don't have one great workout and expect to look dramatically different tomorrow.

Fitness doesn't work that way.

The boring stuff works because you can do it over and over again.

Sleep. Eat enough. Drink water. Take creatine if you want the benefits. Use caffeine intelligently. Bring some effort.

Then repeat.

You don't need to constantly search for the next performance enhancer, recovery hack, supplement, or biohacking gadget.

You need to get really good at doing the things that work.

And keep doing them.

That's where the magic happens.

Want to work 1:1 with me to achieve your best health and body? Click the button below, and I’ll be in touch.

Jonathan