Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - Does Caffeine Really Improve Workout Performance? A Simple Science-Based Answer

Episode Date: November 2, 2017

Caffeine is the most popular drug in the world with a long and rich history, and no single molecule has enriched our culture like the wondrous little 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine. It’s also a controversial drug as various “experts” like to claim even mild but regular use eventually fries your nervous system, hurts your heart, and flatlines your adrenal glands. I’m not sure how many people would give caffeine up if this these claims were true–it’s just too damn good–but fortunately for us “users,” they’re either exaggerated or wholly false. While abusing caffeine can cause health issues, this is harder to do than you might think, but it raises the question of how much does caffeine actually impact our physical performance? Can it make a big enough differences to matter? Let’s find out. Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter! Click here: https://www.muscleforlife.com/signup/

Hey, this is Mike and welcome to another installment in my in five minutes or less series where I answer one common question quickly and simply because while long form content is great, sometimes it is also nice when someone just gets right to the point and tells you what to do and how to do it in five minutes or less. And that's what I do in these episodes. I'm often asked if caffeine actually helps your workouts or not. And the short answer is yes. Studies do show that ingesting caffeine anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes before you exercise does indeed enhance your performance. Research shows that caffeine decreases perceived effort. So it makes your workouts feel easier. It makes you more resistant

to fatigue and especially with high intensity stuff like sprinting and cycling. It also increases power output. It increases the amount of reps that you can get on resistance training exercises before failing. And last but not least, it can also boost strength and muscle endurance. Basically, caffeine makes for better workouts no matter how you want to look at it, but you have to take enough. And a lot of people don't know what enough is. Studies have shown some benefits at three milligrams per kilogram of body weight, but the generally accepted optimal dose for maximizing performance benefits and minimizing the likelihood of experiencing unwanted side effects is closer to five or six milligrams per kilogram of body weight. And just to put those numbers in perspective, that's about 300 milligrams of caffeine or three cups of coffee for a 120 pound woman

and about 500 milligrams or five cups for a 180 pound man. And those are numbers that are quite higher than what most people are taking before they train. Most people are taking maybe a half of a serving of a pre-workout or maybe they're drinking a cup of coffee or an energy drink that maybe has 100 or 120 milligrams. Now that said, if you are new to caffeine or if your intake is generally pretty low, I recommend that you start with that lower dosage of about three milligrams per kilogram of body weight, which has shown some benefit, and then assess your tolerance. See how you feel. Do you get any side effects? If you feel fine, if you feel good, then work your dosage up. You should also know that the higher your body's tolerance of caffeine is, the less effective it is as a

performance enhancer. And your body begins to build a tolerance almost right away. Studies have shown within the first one to four days, your body is already building a tolerance to it. And that tolerance of course goes up over time, which means that it takes more and more caffeine to have the same effects in the body. So ideally what you do is you would use caffeine just a few days per week in higher dosages before your hardest and heaviest workouts, you know, like your hard, heavy squats or your hard, heavy deadlifts, mainly your lower body stuff and have none on the other days. Hey, quickly, before we carry on, if you are liking my podcast, would you please help spread the word about it? Because no amount of marketing or advertising gimmicks can match the

power of word of mouth. So if you are enjoying this episode and you think of someone else who might enjoy it as well, please do tell them about it. It really helps me. And if you are going to post about it on social media, definitely tag me so I can say thank you. You can find me on Instagram at Muscle for Life Fitness, Twitter at Muscle for Life, and Facebook at Muscle for Life Fitness. Now, in terms of where to get your caffeine from, you can get it from more or less whatever you want. You could drink coffee, you could drink an energy drink, you could have a pre-workout supplement. I myself do not like coffee or any drinks because of the amount of liquid that you have to drink to get the amount of caffeine that you want. So I

use a pre-workout and I use my own pre-workout in particular, which is called Pulse, which contains 350 milligrams of caffeine per serving, as well as five additional natural supplements that have been proven to enhance physical performance like citrulline malate, beta alanine, betaine, and ornithine. If you want to learn more about Pulse and the science behind the formulation, and if you want to save 10% on your first order, just click the link in the description now. Hey there, it is Mike again. I hope you enjoyed this episode and found it interesting and helpful. And if you did, and don't mind doing me a favor and want to help me make this the most popular health and fitness podcast on the internet, then please leave a quick review

of it on iTunes or wherever you're listening from. This not only convinces people that they should check the show out, it also increases its search visibility and thus helps more people find their way to me and learn how to build their best bodies ever too. And of course, if you want to be notified when the next episode goes live, then just subscribe to the podcast and you won't miss out on any of the new goodies. Lastly, if you didn't like something about the show, then definitely shoot me an email at mike at muscleforlife.com and share your thoughts on how you think it could be better. I read everything myself and I'm always looking for constructive feedback,

so please do reach out. All right, that's it. Thanks again for listening to this episode, and I hope to hear from you soon. And lastly, this episode is brought to you by me. Seriously though, I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and believe in. So instead, I'm going to just quickly tell you about something of mine, specifically my fitness book for women, thinner, leaner, stronger. Now this book has sold over 150,000 copies in the last several years, and it has helped thousands of women build their best bodies ever, which is why it currently has over 1,200 reviews on Amazon with a four and a half star average. So if you want to know the biggest lies and myths that keep women from ever achieving the lean, sexy, strong, and healthy bodies they truly desire.

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