Coffee before or after training is a must for athletes who love to enhance their performance and get the most out of their workout routine.
There are many advantages of drinking coffee before training:
- improves breathing;
- accelerates the metabolism;
- increases stress resistance;
- reduces the sensation of fatigue.
Although it might seem like a strange association, numerous studies have shown that caffeine is useful in athletics. For instance, research in the Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism found that more than 50% of athletes said their performance improved after consuming coffee.
But what benefit does caffeine provide at the gym? How much coffee should I have prior to exercising? When should I consume coffee before working out?
In this post, we will discuss how to best combine the consumption of espresso with exercising and provide answers to the most frequently asked questions.
Caffeine’s effects on our body
Why does coffee affect exercise performance?
Caffeine, a natural energizer that influences performance quality, is what determines how coffee behaves. The relationship between coffee and training is currently not fully understood by science, but it appears that everything depends on the release of noradrenaline and adrenaline. In reality, both the brain and peripheral nerve systems are stimulated by these hormones.
Its effectiveness is expressed about half an hour after taking it, leading to an improvement in performance.
Caffeine impacts several of the body’s essential processes, including metabolism, immunity, respiration, blood pressure, urinary tract, and gut, therefore its effects go beyond brief excitation.
Do you know that caffeine can make a weight loss diet more effective?
Due to the anorexic effects of espresso, the feeling of hunger diminishes after consumption. Many people advise drinking coffee to lose weight because caffeine encourages a rise in body temperature, which in turn speeds up the metabolism.
Coffee consumption influences blood pressure, which speeds up the heartbeat. It is a potent vasodilator and is not advised for those who have palpitations or high blood pressure. However, these characteristics encourage bronchial dilatation, which enhances breathing quality.
An increase in diuresis is brought on by the increased blood flow, which also affects the kidneys.
It is a beverage that people with constipation and slow bowels prefer because it stimulates intestinal motility, which helps with stool removal.
It is regarded as an ally in the prevention of prostate cancer because of its potent antioxidant effect, which reduces inflammation and guards against cell damage. Additionally, other research indicate that drinking coffee does not negatively impact liver function, rather, it appears that doing so lowers the likelihood of developing liver disease.
Drinking coffee before or after training?
Given that the combination of coffee and exercise can have a number of positive effects if you do not have cardiovascular issues, it is important to know when to take your caffeine dose.
Numerous studies, actually, demonstrate that coffee offers a number of advantages as long as you do not consume more than the recommended amount, which is no more than three cups per day.
Coffee boosts athletic performance by accelerating metabolism before exercise. Caffeine intake at least 30 minutes before to the training session helps athletes feel less the weight of the workouts and allows them to exert more effort. According to some research, prolonged, intensive exercise that lasts more than 20 minutes will have the most impact.
This does not rule out the health benefits of coffee after exercise because caffeine helps athletes recover from physical activity by promoting muscle oxygenation. In any event, drinking coffee need to be seen as a supplemental activity that goes hand in hand with replenishing fluids and carbohydrates.
Coffee and workout: potential negative effects
If you’re considering drinking coffee before working out, you should also consider any potential drawbacks. One of the side effects of coffee that can interfere with your workout is tachycardia, but it can also make you feel more anxious, upset your stomach, have trouble sleeping, and make you tremble.
Furthermore, in order to avoid wasting the time, keep in mind that coffee stimulates intestinal peristalsis and diuresis, so you may need to use the toilet while working out or jogging.
Professional athletes, who are subject to severe doping controls, require their own discussion. An athlete may be disqualified for using too much caffeine because it is one of the chemicals that is considered doping.
The amount of caffeine in the urine in this situation cannot be more than 12–15 micrograms per millilitre, or roughly six–eight cups of espresso or two–three cups of coffee made with a typical Moka.
The three hours before the competition require the most attention and cannot be exceeded by the use of drugs, alcohol, or caffeine-containing beverages.
Alternatives to coffee before working out
Coffee can have a substantial impact on workouts, but the intake of caffeine can also come from energy drinks, pills, and tonics. There are many caffeine-based medications as well, and it is always important to regulate the dosage.
Although caffeine owes its name to coffee, it can also be found in a wide variety of other foods and beverages, including:
- tea;
- cocoa;
- ginseng;
- cola;
- guarana.
Therefore, the caffeine intake can also be obtained from these substances or from the products that contain them.
Summary
So, is it better to drink coffee before or after working out? Unless you have certain pathologies or do not exceed the amounts, caffeine ingestion before or after exercise can improve performance, facilitate breathing, and aid in the cool-down phase.
Considering that the amounts can be reached not just by consuming coffee, but also by adding up all caffeine-containing substances consumed, it is crucial for professional sportsmen to stay within the regulatory caffeine limit.
The effects during workouts are essentially the same for the different caffeine-based products that are available on the market. But the taste is what differs. If you want to mix training and coffee, choose a high-quality beverage because no flavour can match to that left by the smells and aromatic notes of coffee. Discover Pontevecchio lever coffee machines for the best extract; they are the only ones that can guarantee an exceptional performance.