Raise your hand if you love coffee. Guess what? Many professional athletes love coffee and use it to boost their performance.
Caffeine helps boost performance in a number of ways:
1. Increased caloric burn, allowing your body to burn more fat in a workout.
2. Improved focus, allowing you to “get in the zone”.
3. Allows you to workout at high intensity levels for longer by increasing your endurance.
4. Decreased soreness after a workout.
Your body size and your tolerance for caffeine determines how much you need. To get the benefits of caffeine listed above you need to consume between 1.3 and 2.75 mg of caffeine for every pound you weigh. If you’re sensitive to the effects of caffeine and it makes you jittery or keeps you up at night, aim for the lower amount and make sure to stop drinking it after noon.
Coffee and tea facts:
- The average cup of coffee has anywhere from 80 to 120 mg of caffeine.
- Light roast coffee has more caffeine than dark roast.
- The average cup of tea has anywhere from 30 to 90 mg of caffeine.
- Tea and coffee are both great sources of antioxidants.
Recipe: Matcha Tea Smoothie
Matcha tea is a beautiful bright green and is widely consumed in Japan. This smoothie provides 100 grams of caffeine and is a great pre-workout breakfast or snack.
Ingredients:
- ½ cup frozen blueberries
- 2 tsp matcha powder
- ½ cup organic yogurt (substitute almond or coconut yogurt to make the recipe vegan)
- ½ cup organic milk (substitute almond milk or coconut milk to make the recipe vegan)
- ½ cup ice
Instructions
Put all the ingredients in a blender and puree until thoroughly mixed.