Caffeine; Good or Bad?

A lot of people ask about caffeine with workouts and also just in general. When you think of caffeine or anything that you put in your body, you should always ask yourself, "why am I eating or drinking this? What will this do to me or for me?" This is the first step to conscious eating which leads to better health and fitness and overall results.

So, back to the question. Is caffeine good or bad? It can be both. When used in moderation for pre-workout it can be a very useful tool. It can get your mind set ready for your workout and increase overall performance. It increases adrenalin which gets you pumped up or psyched up for your workout. You have greater energy and a more aggressive nature to work harder.

When using caffeine or any performance enhancer, keep in mind that more is not always better. Know your limits. There are several things to take into consideration.

First, how much caffeine have you already had? Morning coffee, monster, 5 hour energy, etc. Even after the effects of caffeine have worn off, it is still in your system. So when your using caffeine as a pre-workout enhancer, remember that you could be overloading your system.

Next, take into consideration how much sleep you have had. If you are sleep deprived you may need more caffeine to get that up feeling and once again you may be overloading your system. On the flip side here, if you generally don't get enough sleep and for this particular day you do, you may need less caffeine. So think before you drink. Read labels and be conscious of what you are putting in your body.

Last, remember to drink plenty of water. Caffeine is a natural diuretic. This can do a couple of things. For one, it can make you feel sluggish, like the caffeine is not working. So then you take more and make the problem worse. Now you are overloading your system and being less effective. Remember that if you use a tool, you want to use it to its maximum effect and don't abuse it. Paying attention to your body and what you are putting in it will make you more effective with less caffeine. You want this. I use caffeine myself, but I use the least amount possible to be effective. Second, being a diuretic, caffeine can make you dehydrated and will decrease the effectiveness of your workout, decrease results, lessen performance, and greatly increase the risk of injury. So drink plenty of water. If you use caffeine and it makes you feel more tired, try drinking 32 oz. of water and see how you feel.

So you have heard me repeat about having too much caffeine in your system. What happens is it becomes a cycle. You don't get enough sleep so you drink some caffeine, then you use it for a pre-workout. You are so tired that you don't feel the caffeine and going to sleep is not a problem. So it seems. Remember that the caffeine is still in your system and caffeine taxes the adrenal gland. Since caffeine stimulates adrenalin, it will use it up faster than the body can replace it. This causes us to feel more tired, not sleep as deep, and wake up feeling like we need something to help us wake up even though we slept plenty. If you fall into this category, skip the caffeine on the days you don't need it. Like on a day that you don't work. Don't have caffeine in the morning and take a nap if you need to. This will help the adrenal gland to function better come Monday and give you better results, more alert, better brain function, and better performance in you exercise.

There is a lot to cover here so if you have any questions just DM (facebook@betterbodies), call (318-3488) or email Justin at justin@betterbodiestucson.com