Coffee: A Personal Trainer’s Perspective Part 2
by Michael Hannon
(London, England)
For Part 1 of "Coffee: A Personal Trainer’s Prospective", Click Here
Coffee and Aesthetic:
Fat Loss:
Studies have found caffeine to be useful in increasing thermogenises (body heat, thusly metabolic rate) and weight maintenance after a low calorie diet. (11)(12)
This explains the high percentage of weight loss supplements containing caffeine in them.
Caffeine stimulates the Sympathetic Nervous System resulting in stimulation of the adrenals to release catecholamines (Dopamine, Epinephrine, Norepinephrine). Catecholamines induce lipolysis (breakdown of stored fat) through the stimulation of Cyclic Amp (Cyclic adenosine monophosphate). Cyclic AMP is the signal for the breakdown of stored glucose and fats to be used by the body. Coffee contains methylxanthines which prevents the breakdown of Cyclic AMP (Cyclic adenosine monophosphate) thusly improving the likelihood for lipolysis to occur and to continue. (13)
Consuming caffeine as part of a well structured fat loss program could be of some use, especially if taken before a fat loss session using endurance based program protocols.
Remember caffeine won’t make you lean by itself; it just increases the fat use potential!
Hypertrophy (muscle building) and Recovery:
The ability of caffeine to increase glucose storage post workout by as much as 66% when compared to just consuming solely carbohydrates (14) would be beneficial to any athlete, especially endurance athletes to aid recovery and performance.
Athletes using sarcoplasmic (structural) hypertrophy rep ranges (8-15+) and a TUT (time under tension) protocol of between 40-70-sec such as bodybuilders, would also benefit from increased glycogen to aid performance and recovery. The increased glycogen would create a fuller looking muscle also.
The increased strength (7,8,9,10), catecholamines output (13) and endurance (4,5,6,14) would facilitate a possible increase in motor unit recruitment and TUT of them, thusly improving a hypertrophy response.
From the above we can see that coffee, through different mechanism can improve strength, endurance, fat loss and hypertrophy. Drinking coffee will not result in the improvement of these physical qualities if you sit around all day watching Judge Judy and having Ben and Jerry as your only eating partners. Coffee is an ergogenic aid, a drug, a compliment to an already good diet, training regime and lifestyle, not a compensator for a bad one.
If you’re feeling like I am, you’ll be reaching for an espresso and be eager to start a training session. Before you do so, there are a few things to consider:
-Coffee may have high levels of pesticide residues (17)
-Coffee is an adrenal stressor (15)
-Caffeine has a 6hr half life (15)
-Coffee is an irritant to the colon (16)
-Coffee may have a decreased physiological effect on frequent coffee drinkers (23)
Coffee consumption like most things is subject to the individual. How one reacts to a cup of coffee is very much dependant on quality, quantity, time of day, food eaten, age, caffeine experience, body weight, neurotransmitter dominance (19), metabolic type (20), Genotype (21) and so on. In fact a study into research of Nutrigenomics (nutrition and DNA) found that coffee actually increases or decreases bio markers for heart attacks, depending on the individual consuming. (21, 24)
In light of this information here are some guidelines I would implement when consuming coffee.
1. Make sure it is from an organic source. Very easy to buy now.
2. You should treat coffee and caffeine products as a drug. Ironically the body can only deal with drugs when it is healthy. Make sure you are healthy enough to consume such substances. In particular the adrenals should be showing no symptoms of dysfunction.
• Tired for no reason
• Having trouble getting up in the morning
• Need coffee, colas, salty or sweet snacks to keep going
• Feeling run down and stressed
• Crave salty or sweet snacks
• Struggling to keep up with life’s daily demands
• Can’t bounce back from stress or illness
• Not having fun anymore
• Decreased sex drive
Do not drink coffee because you are tired and fatigued. It should be used to compliment how great and energetic you feel already.
3. Consume caffeine beverages, especially coffee, before 10:30am. This gives 12hrs before you should sleep. Aiming to sleep by 10:30pm is in accordance with natural circadian rhythms. (18)
4. Coffee granules are used in enemas as they irritate the colon instigating peristaltic contractions. This can be useful when constipated but for oral consumption I loosely recommend consuming coffee with food. Why I say loosely is because I sometimes have espresso on an empty stomach with no obvious problems.
5. Consume coffee at different times before a session. This enables you to find the optimal time to consume before a session. I find for myself 10-15min to be perfect. Any earlier and I feel it in my gut.
6. Cycle coffee consumption. It is common practice to cycle supplements such as creatine, protein powders and testosterone enhancers. The same practice should be applied with coffee consumption so as to ensure an optimum physiological response. Two examples would be 5 days on 2 days off and 3 days on 1 day off.
7. Rotate coffee sources. Make it common practice to consume different coffee sources. This could be done by frequenting one establishment over another during each cycle and if you make your own coffee simply buy multiple sources of coffee. This will ensures exposure to varied antioxidant content and lessen the concentration of any possible pesticides in the coffee.
8. Personally assess how you react to coffee. If you feel nervous, get the “jitters” and or can’t sleep when needed then coffee may not be for you.
Notable health and fitness leaders that consume coffee are Dr. Lonnie Lowery Ph.D, Charles Poliquin, Paul Chek HHP, Dr. William Wong ND and Arthur De Vaney.
It’s 9:30am so I’m off to enjoy an organic espresso.
Hope you found the article interesting and informative.
Health and Happiness,
Michael Hannon Personal Trainer
© Michael Hannon, 2009
For recommended reading on health and fitness topics and a list of books referenced please click here:
(1) http://www.nationalgeographic.com/coffee/ax/frame.html
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org
/wiki/List_of_countries_by_coffee_consumption_per_capita
(3) Essentials of Strength and Conditioning, Thomas R. Baechle, Roger W. Earle
(4) Lactate Threshold Training, Peter Jansen, MD
(5) ACSM, Report on Caffeine and Exercise
Performance, http://www.acsm.org
/AM/Template.cfm?Section=
Search§ion=20014&template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentFileID=753
(6) Effects of caffeine ingestion on exercise testing: a meta-analysis, Doherty M, Smith PM. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15657469
(7) http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1479007
(8)http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16286872?ordinalpos=1&
itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.
Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed
_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery
_RA&linkpos=5&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed
(9) http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports
_body_training_performance/
preparing_for_the_ultimate_workout&cr=
(10) http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/schultz71.htm
(11) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed
/16076989?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.
Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_
DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed
_Discovery_
RA&linkpos=2&log$=relatedarticles&
logdbfrom=pubmed
(12) http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/51/5/759?maxtoshow=&HITS=10
&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=coffee+
thermogenesis&andorexactfulltext=
and&searchid=1&
FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance
&resourcetype
=HWCIT
(13) Biochemistry Primer for Exercise Science, Michael E. Houston, page 120
(14) http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/01121.2007
v1?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&author1=
Pedersen&fulltext=
caffeine&searchid=1&
FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&
resourcetype=HWCIT
(15) How to Eat, Move and be Healthy, page 203, Paul Chek
(16) How to Eat, Move and be Healthy, page 221, Paul Chek
(17) http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/
2003/12/10/coffee-part-two.aspx
(18) How to Eat, Move and be Healthy, page 202, Paul Chek
(19) The Edge Effect, Dr. R. Braverman
(20) The Metabolic Typing Diet, William Wolcott, Trish Fahey
(21) http://www.utoronto.ca/nutrisci/faculty/El-Sohemy/
Listed are three coffee related studies
(22) http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi
/content/full/295/10/1135?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&
RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=
nutrigenomics&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT
(23) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2674593?ordinalpos
=24&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.
Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.
Pubmed_RVDocSum
(24) http://www.tmuscle.com/readArticle.do?id=1885110
(25) http://www.shvoong.com/medicine-and
-health/1673790-coffee-dangerous-health/
(26) http://men.webmd.com/features/coffee-new-health-food
