Be Careful With Coffee + Working Out

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This topic doesn’t only include coffee. You need to be careful with any source of caffeine when combined with working out/lifting to get more out of your workout. From personal experience, I know for a fact that caffeine gives you a boost with your lifts and overall performance.

You’ll find that thousands of other lifters would agree with me. There are even thousands of lifters out there using caffeine to their advantage without even knowing it through the use of a pre-workout supplement. This is because a ton of the most popular pre-workout supplements include caffeine in the mix.

On this page:

  • Why caffeine boosts physical performance as far as weight lifting goes
  • Why to proceed with some caution
  • How to go about using
  • Popular ways guys go about using caffeine to improve lifts

It’s Easy To Go Too Hard When Using Caffeine As An Aid

Apparently, caffeine is a selective diuretic (agent that increases loss of fluids). This ties in perfectly with the point of this article because it’s all in the amount of caffeine you use in order to get better gains. That article by MedicineNet.com basically tells us that, yes, caffeine is a diuretic but only noticeably so at 360 mg (according to cited studies).

If you use pre-workout supplements this most likely won’t ever be a problem. Or at the very least, there will be less of a chance of caffeine causing harm or over straining your body. Even so, you should always be informed as to what you’re ingesting for your lifts. Don’t ever dive into supplementation without first knowing the fundamentals of lifting.

The caution being presented here is for those of us who like to do things our own way, never mind the consequences. Maybe you know anything and everything concerning bodybuilding, nutrition, supplementation, and are perfectly in tune with your own body. I am not one of these guys, but we are referring to the kings of bodybuilding here.

Basically, there are some of us guys who tend to throw ourselves into situations without first thinking it through. Downing a Monster energy drink after having had coffee earlier on in the day and then jumping into an intense lifting session would be this kind of situation I am referring to.

You’d feel pretty jacked up and ready to do anything, am I right? Of course you would, you just dosed yourself with good ol’ coffee (caffeine) along with the leader of this generation (caffeine + energy blend). Going into a lifting session with a pot of coffee in you is stupid, but this really kicks being a complete idiot into high gear. I should know, I’ve done both.

Just Take It Easy

There’s a reason why people buy caffeine pills. There’s a reason why the pre-workout supplements with caffeine sell so well. Caffeine has the potential to mix very well with certain forms of physical activity, and to ultimately enhance physical performance.

Again, if we take a look at science it is confirmed that caffeine helps. It isn’t necessary as far as knowing that caffeine can enhance physical performance, but this particular journal notes that the greatest benefits of caffeine come from its ability to increase time before exhaustion (aka endurance/what you can achieve with a single workout session). It also enhances physical performance and endurance when the activity is kept at a sub-threshold level (below max intensity).

If you’re a dude that lifts then use this to your advantage. Or anyone for that matter. Even if you aren’t after gaining lean muscle mass you can still use this caffeinated knowledge to your advantage if you do any kind of workout. There’s still a glaring issue here though. What is the exact amount of caffeine you should use for your lifts and what is the best way to ingest your caffeine?

How Should I Get My Caffeine Kick?

You’ll find some of the most popular products lifters/bodybuilders/workout addicts use to get their caffeine buzz going at the bottom of this page. All of the technical information I talked about above concerning the risks of too much caffeine and caffeine’s ability to increase physical performance is just that, pure science.

You don’t want to go into a workout so jacked up on caffeine that you feel as though you’ve taken some amphetamine. Hell yeah, you’re going to get some real nice lifts in. But at the end of it you’ll be left feeling like a dead fish. You’ll also be severely dehydrated and will have over strained your body to the max.

So, the key is to be familiar with how caffeine affects you as an individual. Know your tolerance and know what it does to you. It’s simply a matter of balance because while you don’t want to dose yourself with too much caffeine you also don’t want to be scaling out some caffeine powder from China in order to ingest the scientific caffeine dosage proven to be exact. The latter is a ridiculous example but hopefully you see what I’m getting at.

For some, a single cup of coffee pre-workout might do the trick perfectly without any negatives. For others, a cup of coffee might cause too much dehydration and over strain on the muscles/body to be healthy (along with upset stomach, nausea, etc.). I’ll say it again, this is why your first priority should be to test how your body reacts to different dosages of caffeine. If you’re the type of guy who simply drinks a cup of joe before a workout, it gives you a boost, and you’re left with a healthy workout, then you’re set.

Popular Caffeine/Pre-Workout Products For Boosting Lifts

A very tricky and simple subject all the same. The pure simplicity here is the fact there are grade A caffeine pills available online, backed by consumer reviews, and at a dirt cheap price. These pills give you a guaranteed dosage of caffeine (200 mg in most cases) and a guaranteed result if you already react well to caffeinated substances. See for yourself over at Amazon.com (free shipping, no taxes, proven service, etc.)

Even if you aren’t looking to purchase caffeine in a a convenient form, it’s entertaining in itself to see the kinds of results people report from these caffeine pills. They’re all pretty much positive and glowingly so. You have to wonder, were these people under the influence of the drive caffeine tends to produce while writing the reviews?

We know caffeine pills do the job perfectly, at least in terms of giving you the caffeine you want. But there are other ways of going about getting more pump going before your workouts and these would be pre-workout supplements. If you’re interested in buying pre-workout supplements then I suggest you really look into what other consumers are saying.

The area of pre-workout supplements is the part that’s tricky. In most cases, the popular supplements will contain caffeine as one piece of the puzzle. This means that it isn’t only caffeine that’s giving your body a kick. Below are 2 of the most popular pre-workout supplements and links to real consumer reviews. Why bother with reviews? Because you’re always going to find out about the very ups and the very downs of consuming a weight lifting supplement.

Keep in mind that these are referenced according to what the company names it.

Remember, whether it be caffeine pills or pre-workout supplements you may be ingesting for the purpose of gaining lean muscle mass (or any ingestion at all) then remember to always proceed with caution. The best course of action would be to consult your doctor before starting a supplement regime.