Forget Tony Hawk - when it comes to grinding, make sure it's coffee beans.
These little brown wonders are packed with caffeine - which provides many benefits for your resistance training AND cardiovascular training, not to mention your body composition.
But let's start with one of my favourite things - myth busting.
COFFEE AND DEHYDRATION
Caffeine was once thought upon as a dehydrating substance.
But fresh data (1) is challenging this, with the research finding no difference in hydration between people who drink 4 x 200mL of coffee per day, or the same amount in water.
BENEFITS OF COFFEE
Caffeine is extremely beneficial when it comes to staying in shape, because of the studies that reveal its effects on thermogenesis [1] - (creating heat - which in turn burns calories) and fat loss [2].
Caffeine has also been found to enhance endurance performance.
It's believed that the ingested caffeine allows for an increase in fat oxidation, meaning muscle glycogen is spared for longer, meaning the athlete can perform for LONGER (3).
BENEFITS OF COFFEE - FELL GOOD
Caffeine can also significantly enhance our mood. Caffeine increases the concentration of dopamine in our brain, a hormone-like substance that effects our state of mind, AND reduces our perception of pain (4), which is great for those intense workouts!
But most importantly - caffeine creates a sense of well-being upon ingestion.
BENEFITS OF COFFEE - TRAIN FOR LONGER
Caffeine also delays fatigue during exercise, by blocking particular receptors in the brain. Squeeze out a few more reps, or sprint for that BIT longer with some quality caffeine under your belt (5).
HOW MUCH COFFEE IS OK?
Shoot for 3-6mg of caffeine per KILOGRAM of bodyweight, 30-60 mins BEFORE training.
This has been found to beneficial for both males and females taking part in upper body training (6,7).
DANGERS OF TOO MUCH COFFEE
Too much caffeine can cause an elevation in blood pressure and heart rate (8), and cause diarrhoea (9).
A regular cup of coffee contains around 100mg of caffeine, so begin with this amount FIRST, before experimenting with the 3-6mg/kg of bodyweight.
Have 3-4 cups a day MAX.
COFFEE FOR FAT LOSS AND MUSCLE GROWTH - KEEP IT CONSISTENT
If you are not a frequent sipper, caffeine can cause rises in the stress hormone cortisol, which can cause weight gain and muscle loss.
A 2005 study tells us that men and women who stay away from caffeine (for 5 days in this case) then begin taking it again, experience rises in cortisol levels (10).
BENEFITS OF CAFFEINE - PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Whether you like your caffeine in a cup of coffee, or in a tablet form, make sure this cheap little helper forms part of your daily supplementation program for best results.
Oh, and feel free to let Tony Hawk know where the grinding is really at.
Stay Fit, Stay Flexed!
REFERENCES
(1) Killer SC, Blannin AK, Jeukendrup AE (2014) No Evidence of Dehydration with Moderate Daily Coffee Intake: A Counterbalanced Cross-Over Study in a Free-Living Population. PLoS ONE 9(1): e84154. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084154
(1a) Astrup A, Toubro S, Christensen NJ, Quaade F. Pharmacology of thermogenic drugs. Am J Clin Nutr 1992:246S-248S.
(2) Acheson KJ, Gremaud G, Meirim I, et al. Metabolic effects of caffeine in humans: lipid oxidation or futile cycling? Am J Clin Nut 1980:989-997.
(3) Costill DL et al. Influence of caffeine and carbohydrate feedings on endurance performance. Med Sci Sports 1979 Spring;11(1):6-11.
(4) Grossman A, Sutton JR: Endorphins: What are they? How are they measured? What is their role in exercise? Med Sci Sports Exerc 1985, 17:74-81.
(5) Ivy JL, Costill DL, Fink WJ, Lower RW: Influece of caffeine and carbohydrate feedings on endurance performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1979, 11:6-11.
(6) Woolf K, Bidwell WK, Carslon AG: The effect of caffeine as an ergogenic aid in anaerobic exercise. Int J of Sport Nutr Exer Meta 2008,18:412-29.
(7) Goldstein at al. Caffeine enhances upper body strength in resistance trained women. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2010, 7:18.
(8) Jeevanandam M, et al. Nutritional and metabolic effects and significance of mild orotic aciduria during dietary supplementation with arginine or its organic salts after trauma injury in rats. Metabolism 1997;46(7):785-792.
(9) Jeevanandam M, et al. Relative nutritional efficacy of arginine and ornithine salts of alpha-ketoisocaproic acid in tramatised rats. Am J Clin Nutr 1993;57(6):889-896.
(10) William R. Lovallo, PhD, Thomas L. Whitsett, MD, Mustafa al'Absi, PhD, Bong Hee Sung, PhD, Andrea S. Vincent, Phd, and Michael F Wilson, MD. Caffeine stimulation of cortisol secretion across the waking hours in relation to caffeine intake levels. Psychosom Med. 2005; 67(5): 734-739.
Author
Dayne Hudson