Ok. I'm starting to get back in my whole work-out, everyday routine. I drink 1-2 cups of coffee a day at work. Is that going to affect me any way in a negative way? I'm not overweight at all. i have a pretty athletic body already. I just didnt know if drinking the coffee at work is doing me any good or if i should stop or what.

5/16/2006 8:39:45 AM

it might make you poo

5/16/2006 8:44:16 AM

Caffeine is a diuretic, so with the higher caffeine content in coffee, it'll make you piss yourself into dehydration. As long as you drink a shitload of water, you should be fine.

5/16/2006 9:28:04 AM

men's fitness just did an article on caffiene and working out

pretty much said that caffeine can be used as a performance enhancer and could help out your work out (i guess you'd have to drink coffee before going to work out)

5/16/2006 12:32:21 PM

a cup or two of coffee has about the same diuretic effect as the same volume of water so you don't have much to worry about there (you need about 300mg or about 8 cups to produce a diuretic effect)

they have shown that small amounts of caffeine can improve your stamina while working out - more effect the more in shape you are

it will also wake you up and improve your mood which probably makes you more likely to work out

so all in all a cup of coffee before the gym is probably a good idea

[Edited on May 16, 2006 at 12:47 PM. Reason : cvx]

5/16/2006 12:47:20 PM

I can drink one cup of coffee and it will have a diuretic effect

5/16/2006 12:50:07 PM

Caffeine was determined to be a workout enhancer only in the sense that people had a skewed perception of their exertion, not anything physiological. Here it was in a past Men's Health issue:

Quote :

"Consider switching to tea for your prerace caffeine jolt. A study review in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports confirms that ingesting caffeine improves athletic performance, but tea is a better delivery system than coffee. Java may be less efficient because of "the interaction of caffeine with the hundreds of other chemicals contained in coffee," says review author Mike Doherty, Ph.D. He surveyed 21 caffeine studies and concluded that caffeine reduces perceived exertion by 6 percent, meaning you can go harder over a longer period. Overall performance rose by 11 percent. The ideal dosage ranges from 140 milligrams (the amount found in 24 ounces of tea) to 400 mg. Drink your tea roughly 60 minutes before exercise for maximum effect."

HOWEVER, there is another study talking about the health impact and it definitely seems like the one I would side with just to be safe.

Quote :

"Coffee could deliver more of a jolt than you'd expect. Swiss scientists recently determined that caffeine decreases bloodflow to the heart during exercise by as much as 39 percent. Normally, as a person's activity level increases, coronary arteries expand to let in more oxygen-carrying blood. But that process was inhibited when study participants consumed 200 milligrams of caffeine -- the amount in 2 cups of coffee -- about an hour before working out. Although the caffeine didn't harm the healthy study participants, lead researcher Philipp Kaufmann, M.D., suggests avoiding it for 4 to 5 hours before exercise if you have a family history of heart disease."

5/16/2006 1:02:56 PM

I get a diarrhea effect.

but that's because we have shit coffee in our break room.

5/16/2006 1:03:03 PM

^^ that's kinda like how nicotine constricts your blood vessels. I always find it funny when I see people lifting weights with a dip in

5/16/2006 1:05:32 PM

^^are there any ways to not have diarrhea anymore

like i'll try immodium ad and it might work for a few days but it feels like it drys me out and then i eventually have diarrhea again

[Edited on May 16, 2006 at 1:06 PM. Reason : .]

5/16/2006 1:06:21 PM

decaf


DON'T CORRECT IT OUT WITH MORE DRUGS

If you only drink it for caffeine, you might just want to quit. Life with out caffeine is so much better.

5/16/2006 2:09:02 PM

^How much sleep do you get??

5/16/2006 4:54:14 PM

You will get addicted and won't be able to function without it. My mum can't go on about her daily routine if she doesn't have a coffee in the morning and in the afternoon..

5/16/2006 6:34:58 PM

Quote :

"men's fitness "

5/16/2006 6:47:58 PM

I average around 7-8 hours a night

and don't give me shit about you not getting the reccommended


there are many reasons not to short yourself for physical and mental health

5/16/2006 6:53:09 PM

^Well I get between 4-6...and I will give you shit. I go to law school and have a part-time job. I also like to enjoy myself and go out a little and when I stay in I like to watch some late-night TV. If I don't get a lot of sleep the night before, I'm pretty useless without a cup of coffee. I'm also probably much healthier than you are.

Caffeine is good to me. Life without caffeine would be horrible to me.

5/17/2006 12:46:10 PM

lets not argue this. Unless you are a marathon runner, i seriously doubt it.


Long term sleep deprivation is proven to cause similar symptoms as add. It is also proven to reduce your mental capacity along with a string of health problems. The fact you are in law school doesn't mean it's just fine for you to deprive yourself.

[Edited on May 17, 2006 at 6:21 PM. Reason : This is from a design student....I know first hand through my past too.,]

[Edited on May 17, 2006 at 6:21 PM. Reason : ]

5/17/2006 6:18:30 PM

I get my sleep on the weekends and take the occasional nap during the week. Only getting 5 hours of sleep a night for 3-4 nights in a row doesn't bother me. I need a cup of coffee in the morning, then once I get going for the day, moving around school, walking to and from class, etc...I'm good to go. I have the occasional soft drink and/or red bull if I need a kick...but other than that I mainly drink water.

My body fat % is around 7-8 and I can run a sub 20min 5k (not close to marathon running...but it's good enough for me). Not drinking caffeine isn't going to help me any better...it's only going to make me want to fall asleep during class or when I'm in the courtroom sitting beside the judge...which is not good.

I think the large amounts of alcohol I drink on the weekend hurts me a lot more than the coffee I drink during the week....

5/17/2006 9:00:04 PM

Wikipedia quote:

Quote :

"Sleep experts state that you cannot "store" sleep by sleeping more on the weekends in preparation for the normal work week."

5/18/2006 7:53:41 PM

this is true, but don't quote wikipedia as a credible souce.

5/18/2006 7:59:21 PM

I am a WikiFan.

5/18/2006 8:04:41 PM

^^^It works for me.

5/18/2006 9:14:47 PM

^ ya really. That's how I did my whole undergrad schedule. 4 hours in the week, 10 on the weekend and a nap here or there.

As far as the coffee question goes, not drinking coffee will just make it seem like you live longer. Enjoy life, ignore the fitness nazis.

5/19/2006 12:35:48 AM