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 By: Curtis Schultz
First thing I do when I get up out of bed is put on a pot of coffee. I sit down with my freshly brewed coffee before my day even starts. Coffee is like my body oil. If I don't have a cup of coffee first thing in the morning to get my blood flowing I'm not doing anything the rest of the day. When I am coaching football drinking coffee take's on a whole new realm. On average, during football season, I put away two pots of coffee a day. Wow, Hugh? Enough caffeine to make some of you go spaz! Well, when you put in the amount of hours we do as football coaches, you need something to help keep your eyes open. I am a self-made coffee connoisseur. I love coffee. I drink it in the morning, afternoon and sometimes at night to relax. Yes, I said to relax. I am a long time member of Gevalia Coffees, and anything else that's exotic and different and now I found Java Fit coffees. Of course, most everyone loves Starbucks that's why Starbucks is a thriving Franchise and business and not a bad thing to get some stock in.
Why coffee before training? Caffeine, of course. What is caffeine? Well, caffeine is part of the naturally occurring group of stimulants found in leaves, nuts and seeds of a number of plants. You can also get a jolt of caffeine from tea, chocolate, most soft drinks and some sports drinks. But, most prefer coffee before training.
I know several people that, before training they always have a cup or two of coffee. Team Captain of the Metal Militia and two-time medal winner at the Arnold WPO Bench Press Championships Bill Crawford loves a cup before benching some serious iron. So, why is there so much controversy over coffee before training or exercise? The Australian Institute of Sport Team found that caffeine triggers the muscles to start using fat as an energy source rather than carbohydrate sugars. Caffeine has been used by many endurance athletes as a way of getting extra energy out of their body's reserves during an event. A single cup of coffee may be enough to trigger these beneficial effects. There are more findings that caffeine is OK to take prior to training and that it is very beneficial and could be considered an ergogenic aid in training. That might be why caffeine is a banned substance on the IOC (that's International Olympic committee) list. Yes, that's right; you can't even have a Snickers bar before the race!
I have read articles that say, "Coffee before a workout is good for you," and vice versa. A recent review published by the International Coffee Organization states that caffeine at levels found in one cup of coffee which is usually around 150 grams of caffeine may be able to both reduce the sensation of fatigue as well as enhance exercise performance. The most recent review (Doherty and Smith 2004) looked at 39 published studies. Of these, involved endurance exercise, some used short duration and high-intensity exercise and the other remaining used a graded exercise test. Including all the data, caffeine improved performance by 12.4%, relative to the placebo trials. This was shown to greatest effect in those who undertook exercise for a longer duration at any one time.
In many of these studies, where performance was improved by the ingestion of caffeine or drinking coffee, there was also the additional benefit of an associated reduction in the sensation of fatigue. There were also a number of studies involved in the review that show the beneficial effects of drinking coffee and/or ingesting caffeine before high intensity exercise. These include improved performance on a long distance run and demonstrated that anaerobic power in a cycling test was improved by the ingestion of the equivalent of two cups (250mg) of caffeinated coffee. Cycling was also the sport studied more recently when caffeine (5mg/kg) was shown to improve performance in a high intensity cycling test. The beneficial effect has also been demonstrated in swimming trials. They showed that in a swimming test (2x100m), there was improved performance after Ingestion of 250 mg of caffeine.
Then some Aussi researchers found that even a small quantity of caffeine allowed athletes to exercise almost a third longer. The researchers tested its effects on cyclists, who were allowed to sip on flat cola or coffee as they peddled. But, there are some new findings from Swiss researchers that the equivalent of two cups of coffee in healthy participants reduced blood flow to the heart after exercise. Their results were published recently in the Jan. 17 2006 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The study also found that the effect was stronger when the participants were in a chamber simulating high altitude, according to that issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. You individuals training in the Rockies better be careful! If caffeine is so bad for you (and coffee has caffeine), then why do all those fat burning thermogenic supplements have caffeine in them? Well, they can't have ephedrine so they are stacked with caffeine. So, I can't have a cup of coffee but I can have some Stacker 2? It's a conspiracy again. A conspiracy not to drink coffee. Whatever some new study may try and reveal - I will always have a cup of coffee before training, after or whenever I please. The coffee Nazi's can't stop me from having my cup of Java.
Here's something new - Ok, we are always taking supplements to get our extra needed nutrients right? Well, how would you like to instead brew your normal pot of coffee in the mornings and then end up drinking a coffee that is "chock full of nutrients?" Java Fit from the Javalution Coffee (www.javalution.com) company is the first coffee to deliver the benefits of nutrients in a cup of coffee. That's right coffee that offers weight-loss supplements, vitamins, and even doses of calcium, which is great for you ladies in training. JavaFit coffee can assist you in weight management and boost your energy, but also some of their other products can help in optimum fitness. For instance, JavaFit Lean with Calcium helps you reach your recommended daily needs for calcium. JavaFit Complete and JavaFit Heart contain vitamins needed for normal health. In their book Javalution Fitness and Weight Loss Through Functional Coffee, by Dr. Jose Antonio and Figure Pro Carla Sanchez, several pilot studies are reviewed on the effects of these unique coffees.
Still not convinced coffee isn't bad for you. According to one study's conclusions, coffee has significant antioxidant activity. So, there is another good reason to have a cup of coffee, coffee is a rich source of antioxidants. When I first tried JavaFit coffee I only had to have one cup of the JavaFit Burn Extreme: Diet Plus. It is very potent stuff. I only need one cup before training.
If you want the real story on coffee, weigh the pros and cons (the cons are non-existent). A few years ago it was bad for you to eat eggs, and have red meat. Some say it's good to have a glass of red wine because of the antioxidant's it has, soon someone will find something wrong with that. People... you all must understand that the government is trying to take away our protein powders and vitamins - a cup of coffee before a workout might be all you can have before the "Supplement Nazis" come knocking at your door. Unless the media say's that someone died from too much coffee before exercise then the government will make caffeine and coffee a class C felony! ...so "Bottoms Up!"For those of you who would like a cup of coffee here are some places to get your fix: References:
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