Hey hey! How are you Warrior? Caffeine has been around for ages and it is actually one of the most studied ergogenic aids (scholar speak for performance enhancers). It shows up in many a supplement and I get questions about it pretty regularly. Today, I’m going to tell you why I don’t consume it.
Truthfully, the title of this post is a bit click-baity. I wish I had some obscure literature link that I could throw in here saying how nobody should use it. I don’t. One might exist, but to the best of my knowledge, caffeine is okay in moderate amounts as long as it’s well tolerated by the individual consuming it.
Which brings me to my point: I don’t tolerate it well. At all. Fun story time: My husband and I were lucky enough to go to Italy for our fifth anniversary. We were traveling from Rome to Florence early in the morning and I figured well, literally when in Rome… So I had some sort of delicious pastry and a cappuccino for breakfast while we waited on our train. I will note at this point that I drank about half the cappuccino.
When we got to Florence, the first thing we did was tour the Duomo including a climb to the top of the bell tower (463 steps inside a 15th century structure at a 75 degree incline, in case you were wondering). After that we walked all over the central part of the city. And I didn’t sleep that night. In fact, I got out of bed ready to cross the Ponte Vecchio and head to Piazzale Michelangelo (on the complete opposite side of the city from where we stayed and another steep climb).
It took me a full 36 hours to recover from half a cup of cappuccino. And I can guarantee that had we not engaged in as much walking/climbing I would have felt it. Jitters, shakes, heart palpitations, muscle cramps, racing thoughts, the whole gamut. And a raging headache when it wore off. If there is a side effect for caffeine, I will experience it.
So, here’s the tea on caffeine for exercise. See what I did there? Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant. If you are looking for a bit of a boost for a workout, then consuming a small amount of caffeine about an hour prior to exercise can be beneficial.
Caffeine is the ingredient in all those pre-workout shakes that nets you that ready-to-GO feeling (search it on Instagram or TikTok if you don’t believe me). If strength training is the name of your workout game, caffeine can help you stay focused and even help increase power output (usually seen by being able to lift more weight or reps). If cardio is on your plan, caffeine can increase fat utilization as a fuel and dampen the perceived effort.
So, if you are blessed with a caffeine tolerance go ahead and consider it as part of your pre workout regimen. I’ll be on the bench next to you with my lemon cucumber water.
Until next time, be well friends!
