This is a guest post from coffeegram.com about how coffee can help boost performance while working out. By the way, in case you’re wondering – guest posts are completely free, this isn’t a commercial blog, I don’t take any payment for posts etc., if you’re in the coffee industry and you have something to say that you think coffeeblog readers will be interested in, then feel free to send it in.
Coffee is warm, energising and we all love a good cup of joey, but did you know it is actually also really good for you? The research and discoveries of the positive impact coffee can have on your health is nothing short of amazing. One aspect of how coffee will make you healthier is its aim in helping you to perform an effective workout.
One of the main functions of coffee is that it increases alertness. This is great to improve performance while performing physical activity and allow you to exercise vigorously with less pain and fatigue. Here’s how:
Coffee burns fat
What’s that? Coffee helps you burn more fat? Yep, and it may just be one of the greatest benefits of a cup of coffee. When a cup is drunk before exercise, it can cause fat cells to be used as opposed to the opposite fuel source glycogen. So if muscles are using fat for fuel instead, you can say goodbye to that layer over your belly and reveal those abs.
The high amount of caffeine in coffee also increases your metabolism, which makes you burn much more calories throughout the day. An increased metabolism helps you to be able to consume more calories and still be in a deficit. It doesn’t mean you can go and pig out because you are drinking coffee, but if you do have a cheat meal once a week and drink your coffee throughout the week, it’s not going to have so much of a negative effect on your results due to high metabolism and fat burning mechanism.
Increased performance
For caffeine and exercise, a coffee before a workout has great effects on your performance. Caffeine is a stimulant that has an effect on the central nervous system, the mind, and the heart; all of these play a vital part in helping your mind and body push harder during a workout.
It also increases the release of feel-good hormones like dopamine; these enhance your mood so drinking coffee just before a workout is going to help you to actually enjoy getting sweaty. If you’re enjoying your workout, you are more likely to push hard and power through those last few reps.
Helps muscle preservation
According to research, coffee can help to release the human growth hormone. This is a vital hormone to the growth and maintenance of your muscle. The loss of muscle can cause ageing effects as well as a decrease in tone in the body and slower fat burning abilities. Therefore, by maintaining muscles, you are going to be helping offset age-related muscle atrophy and maintain more youthful muscle tissue.
When to drink coffee
If you work out in the morning, then perfect, drink your coffee around 30 mins before a workout for the best results. Caffeine is absorbed into the system within 15 to 45 minutes and hits its stimulatory effects peak between 30 and 75 minutes, but is often absorbed to the faster end of the scale on an empty stomach.
If you work out in the afternoon or evening, you might want to be careful with your coffee boosting system. Caffeine can stay in your system for up to 6 hours after it is drunk, but it affects everyone differently. So try with just half a cup before an afternoon workout at first and see how you get on, it all depends on your tolerance, body weight, and age.
What kind of coffee
Different kinds of coffee contain different levels of caffeine. A Dark roasted coffee tends to contain less caffeine and light roasted coffee has more. So try yourself on a dark roasted coffee to begin with and see how you get on, if you feel you can go for more, move onto a single origin light roasted and if you’re still sleeping soundly at night, take a step up to the light roasted coffee for a supercharged workout!
For great quality coffee have a look at my own coffee from The Coffeeworks. You get 25% off your first order and free delivery if you order two or more bags of coffee:
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