Coffee is one of America’s favorite drinks, and something a lot of people can’t start their days without. However, it’s become increasingly popular among a different crowd these days: fitness buffs.
Many have known the benefits of coffee for workouts for years, but coffee and coffee derived fitness products are exploding. Coffee can help your workouts in tons of different ways, and often not in the way you would imagine. Let’s take a look at a few reasons why drinking coffee should be a part of your workout routine.
The effects of coffee on fat loss are nothing short of amazing. One of the great things about coffee is that it can change how your body uses energy. If you drink a cup of coffee before your workouts, your body will be more likely to use fat as a source of energy than your valuable glycogen reserves.
Glycogen is derived from sugar and is stored in muscle cells for energy. Usually, this is what the body uses during workouts. This means that these reserves will not only have to be replenished by ingesting more glucose at the end of the workout but can lead to greater fatigue once they are depleted during your workout.
Another benefit of coffee for weight loss is its effect on your metabolism. A lot of people don’t know what your metabolism is and use a slow one as an excuse, but there are ways that you can boost it naturally. And one of these ways is by consuming coffee.
Coffee pushes your cardiovascular system to work a bit harder, which translates to more energy being burned. And these effects are only amplified by workouts. Coffee also has great appetite suppressing properties, making it easier to stick to your diet.
It has been proven time and time again that caffeine has a positive effect on athletic performance. As a matter of fact, a Sports Medicine report qualified caffeine as a “powerful ergogenic aid” and said that athletes could train harder and longer after ingesting caffeine.
Another study found that runners who were asked to ingest 1500 mg of caffeine before a 1.5K run were able to finish 4.2 seconds faster than the control group.
However, if you don’t have the time to make coffee every morning, or it’s not one of your habits, we strongly suggest you invest in a good pod machine and check out these Nespresso machine friendly pods. There’s a wide variety of flavored coffees, too, as well as classics like Arabica and Espresso if that’s more your thing.
Another great benefit of coffee for athletes is how much it can improve focus. Not only can coffee give you that extra push, but it can also give you more mental clarity as well. This will allow you to keep your workouts effective and productive.
If you’re often feeling muscle cramps during and after workouts or you’re so sore that you can’t do anything for a few days, then we strongly suggest you add coffee to your diet.
Research from the University of Illinois found that people who drank coffee before their workouts felt significantly less pain than those who didn’t. This will allow you to train for even longer periods and experience more benefits. This also is a great option if you need more endurance for morning jogs.
These are only some of the benefits of drinking coffee before workouts. If you’re serious about your routine and want to get more from your workouts, we suggest you add coffee to your pre-workout mix.
