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Caffeine is an amazing stimulant. From getting most of the population out of bed in the morning, to helping some of the world’s top athletes get through their training sessions, caffeine is the stimulant of choice for the modern world. 

A single cup of coffee (this depends on if you’re a coffee monster or not) before a training session can be enough to get the system firing and prepare you for physical exertion. Studies have shown that caffeine itself can help dull the effects of perceived exertion, meaning that parts of your session won’t feel quite as tough as they would do without caffeine. For anyone who has ever done 5 sets of 5 Snatch Pulls at 110% at the end of a session, you know how essential that cup of coffee really is, because that shit hurts!

Whilst caffeine can appear to have been sent down from Zeus himself, there are some particularly important points that I need to address. Firstly, how does caffeine work? Throughout the day your body releases a chemical called “Adenosine”. Also known as the tiredness chemical, Adenosine latches on to it’s receptors in the brain and makes you sleepy. The mighty caffeine blocks the path to these receptors, resulting in you staying alert for longer. 

Now this is great in the morning or early afternoon, but what about at night? Due to caffeine’s half life, caffeine can severely ruin your sleep quality if consumed up to 8 hours before you go to bed. Poor sleep quality equals poor recovery. No recovery, no growth, no gains. Yes there is an argument that some people can metabolise caffeine at faster rate than others, and that certain people appear to be a able to fall asleep straight after a cup of coffee, but how well are they actually sleeping? They are simply burnt out and in a coma. 

For those people who train of an evening, this poses a bit of a problem. Drink coffee before your 6pm session and risk ruining your sleep, or have a half awake session because your shattered from a full day’s work. My advice to you would be to avoid caffeine and choose proper recovery that night. Fortunately, caffeine is not the only pre workout option. If you’re training of an evening, look into consuming some simple carbohydrates and a little something called Beta Alanine. Ever had that feeling that your face is going to fall off after taking a luminous preworkout drink, Beta Alanine is responsible for that. It simply dilates your blood vessels before training, but doesn’t ruin your sleep quality. My go to place for Beta Alanine is MyProtein, here is the link to their 100% powder. 

If you are a morning training and an insanely strong coffee is your thing, check out Black Insomnia Coffee. 

Love your coffee, but respect your recovery. 

If you enjoyed this post, check out my next post “Training During Pregnancy“.