Coffee before workout, not a good idea. Find out why and better options.

A coffee a day isn’t a bad thing, as some people say coffee is not good for you. It’s bad for you if you drink 5–10 coffees a day. Excess of everything is bad, right?

My experience

When i have a coffee it gives me the kick that i need at the start of the day. I think it’s very addictive. It’s not a bad addiction i guess.

I see a few people at work drinking coffee in the late afternoon before hitting the gym, so i asked they said it’s great before the gym, burns fat and whatever. So this morning i gave it a shot. Yes just one shot coffee, thanks lol. So i made a coffee, had it and after waiting a little bit i started my workout. I went hard little bit, as always.

Everything was cool as i was working out. But as soon as i finished and got back inside, the whole body was in a shock. I was dehydrated and it was all blurry. I leaned on the sink and i thought i should drink some water but it made me want to vomit as i hadn’t eaten anything i couldn’t throw up but the feeling was horrible.

So i went to the toilet and here i am sitting on the toilet floor trying to vomit, nothing is happening at all. It was getting blurry and i couldn’t even sit up still. I was leaning on the wall, i wanted to have a nap. So i just sat up for 20 minutes and in that time it was not a good feeling. I kept feeling like i am going to fall backwards.

I had a cold shower and drank coconut water, it helps with hydration. Finally i felt normal after about half an hour.

I highly recommend do not drink coffee first thing in the morning so that you can avoid this to happen. Best thing to do is have some fruit before working out.

What else can you have before your workout?

Banana

Banana is a great fruit, very filling and a great source of energy. I always eat a banana everyday, i always have a bunch of bananas sitting on the kitchen bench. It’s a great fruit even to put in smoothies.

Other fruits

Whatever fruits you have available will do the job, an apple, pear or whatever fruit you like. You don’t want to work out with empty stomach because sometimes you feel sick when you have not eaten.

Have a protein shake

Buy yourself a protein powder box and mix it in a protein shaker or any bottle with a lid. It’s a simple and a healthy option to keep your energy level up.

If you want to switch things up, mix the ingredients mentioned above to make a Smoothie

A Salad

Salad is a great option, you can chop and flip the ingredients and make a nice salad. Similar to smoothies, salads are very versatile you can make fruity savoury healthy salads. They are easy to make and very good for you. Ingredients like lettuce, onion, tomato, cucumber, chilli etc. can make a great salad.

If you want to eat something healthy and nutritious have salad before your work out, i prefer salad after my workout.

What’s not a good idea?

Eating something heavy before workout is not good, it can ruin your workout as you might want to throw up. If you eat something heavy, don’t work out straight away wait at least an hour so that the food that you ate digests properly.

If you still want to have coffee before you hit the gym, at least wait an hour before you work out otherwise you will have bad experience like i did.

Why is it said that coffee is good before workout?

Some of the points I found that might justify drinking coffee before workout.

a. Coffee helps you focus.

b. Coffee reduces muscle pain.

c. Coffee helps you burn fat.

Conclusion

What i think is, it is all in your head. I never drank or ate anything before my workout and i went hard and nothing stopped me. I am going to stick with my normal water as i used to do, it works for me. I drink or eat after my workout. You can do whatever works for you.

People giving advice sometimes do not have enough experience to do so, anyone can jump on the internet and say what they want. There are always two sides of a story. Same thing goes with coffee, some people say it is good for you and some people go against it.

You should try different things and see what works for you. When you eat or drink something before workout, make sure you give it a little time to digest so that it doesn’t ruin your whole workout experience.

Tips:

It is very important to stay hydrated. So make sure you drink plenty of water when you are working out, because if you have coffee it dehydrates you and not drinking water might make it worse. That’s what happened to me.

Detoxify your body. Give your body a break from coffee. I know how addictive coffee is, if you don’t have one you feel that you are missing something. But it is not good if your body can not function properly without coffee. Drink herbal tea for 3 days and see how different you feel. It’s worth giving it a go.