The Caffeinated Workout Really Works

No. It's not cheating. A cup of coffee or two before a workout is like, totally legit, and, according to several studies done in the last few years, good for you--for two reasons. One: caffeine prevents workout fatigue. The London Times reports that a study conducted at the University of South Carolina and published in the American Journal of Physiology in 2003 reveals that one or two cups of coffee up to an hour before a gym session can delay or prevent post-exercise tiredness by up to 60 percent. And two: it helps you burn fat faster. The Times story tells us that substances in caffeine can trigger the release of body fats into the bloodstream during activity. This means fat, rather than carbohydrate, is burned first during exercise. The fat goes away, and carbohydrates are stored in the muscle as glycogen for later use. So you can exercise for longer, and burn even more fat. But what about the old concern about caffeine leading to dehydration? Not to worry. According to the London Times, that belief has gone the way of fat during a caffeinated workout. Read more.