Drinking Coffee Before a Workout: Is It Recommended?

Coffee could be a liquid form of magic, but its effects wear off after a while. For the greatest benefit, time your coffee consumption before working out.

Whether it is a lengthy marathon or a 20-minute high-intensity interval training session, the Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association advises drinking coffee 30 minutes to an hour before exercising, which is long enough for the coffee to start working.

The performance-enhancing benefits can last up to four hours.

Five benefits of drinking coffee before working out include:

1. Minimizes anaerobic fatigue:
   • According to a 2018 study, consuming coffee before exercising may help you exercise for a more extended period, specifically in anaerobic exercises, such as high-intensity interval training, jump squats, or sprinting, without getting exhausted.
   • In this study, one group of participants underwent a specific cycling test with caffeine and the other group received a placebo. Researchers reported significant benefits with caffeine. Therefore, if you are doing laps of swimming or taking on a box jump challenge, some coffee might help you last a bit longer.
2. Increases your strength:
   • Before lifting weights or shooting hoops, you might wish to have a cup of espresso. According to a 2018 review, caffeine consumption can support your upper body and muscle power, as well as help achieve your maximum muscle strength.
   • Researchers suggest that coffee increased athletes' vertical leap height and boosted powerlifters. However, the authors cautioned that further research is required to fully understand how caffeine affects women athletes because most of these studies were conducted on men.
3. Enhances your speed:
   • Olympic runners, swimmers, and cyclists may only require a one percent increase in average speed to change their medal ranking. Caffeine may change that podium position.
   • According to a 2017 study of various research, caffeine increases speed in workouts that last 45 seconds to 8 minutes. However, you do not have to be an Olympian to profit from them. Caffeine could be helpful if you want to surpass your record.
   • Thus, you might choose to add a small latte to your regimen if you want to finish your strength training workouts faster than usual.
4. May decrease the intensity of your pain:
   • According to a review published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews in December 2016, caffeine reduces your pain perception while exercising. As a result, you might be able to train harder. Other unintended advantages could result from this reduced perception of pain when exercising.
   • Although some studies link caffeine consumption to an increase in fat oxidation during exercise, this association may not be a direct result. Rather, the body will need more energy breakdown to maintain the increased workload when there is less perceived pain and exertion.
   • An earlier study published in the Journal of Pain in March 2007 reported that it might help minimize the pain you experience during your post-workout recovery.
5. Improves concentration:
   • Caffeine is a natural stimulant that can improve mental performance and positively influence the parts of the brain responsible for memory and focus. When thinking is clear, exercises are more fruitful and efficient.
   • According to research on older people, caffeine may enhance mental function and slow the rate of age-related mental deterioration.
   • Other studies investigated how caffeine use affected the prefrontal lobe of the brain. Concentration, planning, and attention span are specialized functions of this part of the brain. The findings reported that caffeine enhanced this aspect of brain activity.
   • Another study examined how caffeine affected athletes' cognitive abilities. Athletes who consumed caffeine before engaging in rigorous physical training displayed enhanced focus and capacity to maintain intense levels of exertion. Athletes who slept insufficiently were included in these results.