If you’re a fitness newbie, then you must know that black coffee is the most effective pre-workout drink. A single cup of black coffee will not only accelerate your performance, but will also give you an added energy boost.
Drinking black coffee ahead of your day’s workout comes with a whole host of added benefits. Here are the benefits of drinking black coffee before you work up a sweat at the gym:
- Accelerates Fat Loss: Black coffee has great fat burning properties. It can cause fat cells to be used as an energy source as opposed to glycogen. Also, the high amounts of caffeine in black coffee will increase your metabolism, which makes you burn more calories throughout the day. As a bonus, caffeine and other compounds found in coffee act as an appetite suppressant, making you consume less overall.
- Enhances Performance: Athletes can “train at a greater power output and/or train longer” after caffeine consumption. People who consumed coffee before running 1,500 meters on the treadmill completed their run 4.2 seconds faster on average than the control group.
- Reduces Muscle Pain: Drinking a cup of black coffee could reduce that pain. Researchers at the University of Illinois found that subjects who consumed coffee prior to exercise experienced less muscle pain during their workout than their non-caffeinated counterparts.
- Prevents Disease: Drinking coffee helps protect your body from diseases. Coffee, black coffee to be specific contains high amounts of antioxidants, which protect against damage from free radicals. According to a 2011 study published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, coffee consumption has an inverse correlation with diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and certain forms of cancer. So drink up that cuppa!
- Improves blood circulation: According to Health Magazine, Japanese researchers discovered a 30% boost in blood flow in participants who drank five ounces of regular coffee over a 75-minute period (versus those who consumed decaf). A doctor pointed out that improved blood circulation typically equates to improved oxygenation of your tissues, which can improve exercise performance.