If one were to walk from the Rec Center to Shriver and take note of the drinks in peoples’ hands, it would be alarming just how many cups of coffee, be it from Starbucks, FFC, Pura Vida or Carma’s, are being carried around at any given point on this campus.
Many people claim that they aren’t able to get through the day without coffee. Some drink three cups in the morning without realizing it. Some just like the taste. But an addiction to coffee isn’t quite as harmful as one to tobacco or alcohol: from a fitness perspective, coffee, and more specifically the caffeine it contains, can be quite the natural exercise supplement.
Of course when we talk about caffeine, the first form that comes to mind is that of coffee or energy drinks. Regardless of the source, caffeine itself is the active ingredient in countless diet pills and whether taken in pill or liquid form it can have favorable effects when combined with proper exercise and dieting.
Caffeine is a great way to get that extra energy boost during your workout if taken half an hour to an hour before exercising. Caffeine acts as a stimulant, increasing pain thresholds and endurance levels. It induces a CNS (central nervous system) response that speeds up glucose intake from the blood into the muscles allowing for faster recovery during workouts.
In addition, caffeine induces lipolysis, the breaking down of fat, allowing that fat to become additional usable energy, and creates a thermogenic effect that warms up the body and amplifies calorie-burning. A study at University of Lincoln-Nebraska showed that groups taking some form of caffeine one hour before training increased the number of reps of weights lifted before muscle failure and number of laps ran with consistent times. In addition to the actual improvement in ability to exercise, caffeine can also lessen exercise-induced asthma by reducing airway constriction and blocking inflammatory pathways that signal the throat to tighten.
And because caffeine increases physical performance and actually help to prevent heart disease rather than cause cardiovascular disease, a myth commonly used by opponents of coffee. And let’s be frank, coffee doesn’t sober you up. It just makes you more alert during a hangover, producing an effect that feels like the alcohol is going away.
It’s important to note that caffeine-induced fat breakdown will only happen when the body is in action, so make sure you do some form of exercise. The amount of caffeine as an ingredient is usually measured in milligrams. I recommend about 1.5 mg of caffeine per pound of bodyweight or about one or two cups of brewed coffee (150mg each) one hour before working out. Too little coffee won’t have an effect and too much coffee can cause you to crash — not to mention stain your teeth — so always remember to take exercise supplements, natural or synthetic, in moderation.
The best type of exercise to do when working out, under the influnce of caffeine or not, is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).
HIIT is cardio training that alternates between 80 percent, 90 percent or 100 percent intensity and steady state cardio at much lower intensity levels. In the past, we were told that steady state cardio (distance runs, hours on the bike or elliptical) was the best way to lose body fat. Forget that myth: study after study after study, HIIT has been proven to be the best fat-burning technique.
Distance runs two to three hours at a time can actually burn away muscle which is why it’s not likely you’ll find a cross country or marathon runner with shoulders the size of buses. If you’re a girl, you don’t really want that since that would make you less toned. If you’re a guy, needless to say you probably don’t want that unless it’s intentional. With HIIT, the amount of carbs used as fuel is greater than that used in steady state cardio and the amount of fat used as fuel is equal to or greater than that used in steady state cardio. What this means is that in a session of HIIT, you’ll burn more calories and more calories burned equals more fat burned. HIIT is up to 50 percent more efficient in fat burning if you care about numbers.
The beauty of HIIT (provided that you have the gut to push yourself) is the amount of time it saves while burning up to nine times more fat in one session and the boost in metabolism while your body is at rest hours and even days after training. One session of HIIT can be as short as 15 minutes with the same end result as one hour of light jogging. A sample workout might be 15 seconds of all out sprinting, 45 seconds of light jogging and one minute of rest or walking repeated six to eight times. That comes down to 12-16 minutes. Even if I wasn’t pressed for time, I’d take that over an hour and a half of countless laps around the lacrosse field any day.
When we think about steady state cardio, only a few things can come to mind: jogging, biking, the stairmaster or the elliptical; each of these requiring at least 30-45 minutes to be counted as any real workout.
On the other hand, almost any exercise can be made into HIIT. If you’re jump roping, jump fast for 30 seconds and slow down for another 30. If you’re running on the track, sprint one straight away and jog the rest. If you’re in an open area, sprint in place, vertical jump and do burpees and mountain climbers in pushup position at 15-20 second intervals. On the treadmill, try one to two minutes at a high speed, one to two minutes at a slow speed and one to two minutes of walking with this cycle repeated five to six times.
The list of activities goes on and counts as training as long as you amp up the intensity and push yourself for those short-lived fractions of a minute. And the best part of it all? Just three to four sessions of HIIT a week for six to eight weeks will be plenty to show signs of fat loss.
There are of course, caveats. If you want to lose fat, just because your metabolism is boosted for two to three days after going all out on the track does not mean you can go all out on the carrot cake. Healthy dieting with lots of veggies, fruits and protein while cutting back on carbs is still essential for fat burning. Even world class sprinters like Tyson Gay have only a few BigMac cheat days per month and Michael Phelps is probably the one exception to the rule with his 10,000 calorie per day diet.
