Coffee after my workout

I’ve fallen into a bit of a habit that after my morning workouts I grab a (free) coffee and drink away as I get ready for work. (Thank you to Nuffield Health Gym in Reading for offering a free cup coffee in the mornings!)

Until joining Nuffield’s health gym I wasn’t much of a coffee drinker and would drink 2 cups a week if that. But now I look forward to my after workout coffee, I’m not sure if it’s because of the taste or because I’ve worked out and my body appreciates the caffeine! But as I drank my coffee Monday morning I felt guilty, I’ve always tried to be healthy and avoid eating or drinking things which do not offer nutritional gains, especially straight after a workout!

So I’ve done some searching and found one study which was tested on a handful of people a few years back. The study looked into the affects of having caffeine combined with carbohydrates after a workout vs. carbohydrates alone. And the results were in my favour of drinking coffee after my workouts!

Apparently drinking a cup of coffee after your workout helps to refuel your muscles and speed up recovery! Which for all those fellow fitness freaks out there is really important, because daily intense workouts really can sometimes become hard and I hate missing workouts simply because my body hurts! (In moderation of course, I understand rest is essential also but there is a balance, and I don’t like to use the ‘I’m resting excuse’ too often as it sometimes is a lie)

The science behind it all.

Glycogen is the muscle’s primary fuel source during exercise, as it is immediately accessible. Glycogen is formed from excess glucose stored in the muscles and liver from carbohydrates you have consumed. This would explain the need to carb load before a big event to stock up on glycogen energy.

This energy supply can last from 30 – 90mins, obviously this will depend on the intensity of the work out and the Glycogen levels. Therefore for people who train daily it is important to keep levels toped up.

So how does drinking coffee fit into all this? Well by consuming this one cup of coffee (caffeine) you muscles glycogen levels are restored quicker.

But points to note are that drinking excessive amount of coffee is not good for you, everything in moderations, hence my one cup 4 times a week seems acceptable.

Since Monday I have trained every day, having done 2 spinning classes, 10 miles running and a 1hr 45min personal training session, I was surprised today how well I am feeling and how much my body has been able to sustain. Is this the coffee I wonder? Most weeks I manage 3 intense days worth of exercise and by the 4^th my body is extremely sore and my legs will no longer run or spin, however I was shocked this morning in Spinning where I was able to push myself as hard as I did at the beginning of the week!  I think next week I will have an no coffee week and see how I get on!