All the Reasons You Need to Drink Coffee Before Your Workout
One of the best ways to support weight management and supercharge your workout gains might already be sitting in your kitchen: Coffee. In addition to its polyphenols and rich taste, your go-to brew makes a safe, affordable, and legal option for maximizing your gym time.
Not just any coffee will help you lose weight, though. Too many servings can make you feel weak and jittery, and a large soy latte with extra whip won’t do you any favors, either. High-quality coffee, on the other hand, has the power to boost your workout and support fat burning — even when you’re away from the gym.
Check out all the amazing benefits coffee delivers for weight management, plus tips to collect even more benefits from your brew.
How coffee helps your workout and weight management goals
1. It puts more power into your training
Whether you prefer high-intensity exercise or cardio, coffee helps you push harder and exert more power. In studies on bikers and weightlifters, caffeine consumption gave athletes more endurance to complete workouts compared to those who had no caffeine.[1][2]
Why? Coffee is a well-known ergogenic aid in the workout world, meaning it affects your nervous system in a way that aids your physical performance. While other ergogenic aids like steroids or growth hormones are harmful or illegal, coffee is a safe option that can give you an extra edge.
2. Suppresses mTOR to maximize gains
mTOR, or mammalian target of rapamycin, is a mechanism in your body that helps you build muscle. With just exercise alone, you can suppress mTOR and cause it to “bounce back” after you finish your workout, which triggers muscle-building activity.
The more you suppress mTOR, the stronger the bounceback — so your muscle gains will be even greater. Drinking coffee tamps down mTOR even more during your workout, so you can build more muscle than you would with exercise alone.
3. Boosts your metabolism
Coffee speeds up your metabolism,[3] which can also support weight management. A faster metabolism helps you burn more calories, sustain more energy throughout the day, and torch fat.
How? Coffee is a well-known thermogenic, meaning it creates more heat in your body.[4] That extra heat raises your resting metabolic rate and makes it easier to stay in shape.
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4. Curbs your appetite
Nobody wants to feel hangry at the gym. Loading up on fast-burning carbs and sugar not only makes you hungry sooner, it also tanks testosterone levels and keep you from building muscle[5]. Since coffee contains no sugar and suppresses your appetite with caffeine, you can run, jump, and lift without stomach rumbles slowing you down.
5. Amps up your focus
You might already be familiar with the way coffee switches on your brain. Since it binds to receptors in your brain normally reserved for chemicals that make you sleepy, you feel more alert from the first sip.
The same function happens when you drink coffee before your workout — so you can keep your head in the game.
6. Soothes sore muscles
Can coffee make you feel less sore? Science says yes: In studies on both men and women, getting caffeine before a tough workout reduced feelings of sore muscles — especially for subjects who didn’t regularly consume caffeine.[6][7]
Why Bulletproof Coffee supports weight management (and a great workout)
Coffee alone already boosts your workout and supports weight management. When you pair it with grass-fed butter and Brain Octane Oil (a superior MCT oil), you get one step closer to epic gains.
Brain Octane Oil and other MCT oils are linked to weight management and better workouts, since they give you quick cellular fuel and boost your endurance. Since it also boosts your metabolism,[8], pairing MCT oil with coffee delivers a double dose of fat-burning power.
Don’t forget the butter: The extra fat helps you metabolize caffeine more slowly, so you can work out harder and longer.
The best way to drink coffee before your workout
- Enjoy your coffee 30-60 minutes before you hit the gym — by then, your body will start to absorb its caffeine. If you like to eat before you exercise, try these pre-workout meals.
- For an extra boost, try Bulletproof Intermittent Fasting before you work out. Fasting also suppresses mTOR, so you can “stack” it with your coffee and gym time to supercharge your muscle gains.
- Supplement with protein. Within 15 minutes of ending your workout, have grass-fed collagen or whey protein to slow a cortisol spike that keeps you from building muscle. Try them both in this protein-packed sweet potato smoothie.
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