If you’ve always thought of coffee as nothing more than a quick pick-me-up during the day, it’s time for a change in perspective. Your go-to caffeine fix can actually double as a super-effective sports drink that boosts athletic performance, eases muscle pain, and offers a lengthy list of additional health benefits. So let’s dive in and explore the key reasons why coffee is the sports drink of champions.
A Boost for Your Workout
Caffeine, coffee’s star ingredient, has long been known to enhance muscle performance. The earliest recorded use of coffee involved the Galla tribe in Ethiopia approximately a thousand years ago, who mixed ground coffee with animal fat to create coffee energy bars for a quick energy boost.
Fast forward to today, and scientists are still finding ways coffee can benefit athletes. In a study from physiologists affiliated with the Canadian Operation Medicine Section, Defence R&D in Toronto, 21 subjects were given coffee and their aerobic performance was measured during exercise. The result? Coffee improved everyone’s performance time, and best of all, only two cups were needed to achieve peak effect.
Relief from Post-Workout Pain
Not only can coffee help you maintain your stamina during a workout, but it can also alleviate muscle pain afterward. Researchers at the University of Georgia found that drinking a cup of coffee an hour before a workout session significantly limited the pain experienced during and after the session.
Expert Tips for Reaping Coffee’s Athletic Benefits
Anthony Colpo, author of The Fat Loss Bible, offers several valuable tips for maximizing coffee’s exercise-boosting potential:
- To maximize the effect of coffee on your workout, drink a cup about 60 minutes before you start exercising.
- To get the most benefit from drinking coffee for a competition, avoid it for about a week beforehand to enhance its ergogenic effect.
- While caffeine has been proven to improve endurance, it seems to have less of an impact on team sports or power-type activities, such as weightlifting.
- Always test out how your body reacts to caffeine during practice instead of experimenting on the day of a race.
Coffee: A Nutrition Powerhouse
Besides supercharging your workout, drinking coffee offers numerous health benefits. For example, coffee is rich in antioxidants, which have been linked to a reduced risk of various types of cancer. Additionally, while both exercise and caffeine consumption have been shown to lower the risk of skin cancer, the combination of the two seems to be even more effective.
All it takes is a look at the current market for sport drinks to notice plenty of options. But, while these can be beneficial, it’s important not to overlook a reliable old favorite. Coffee, dating back to its Ethiopian roots, remains an exceptional choice for athletes, fueling workouts and promoting good health without the need for artificial ingredients. Give your routine a boost with a cup of your favorite brew, and start reaping the benefits of coffee, the original sports drink.
