Caffeine. One of My Best Friends

Caffeine. It’s been by my side through thick and thin, good times and bad, but it seems that lately our relationship has been coming to a head.

A quick google search has caused me to give some serious though to the habit.

So, Thoughts? Experiences? Experiments? Let me know what you think T-Nats. If you have anything complimentary or contradictory- Put it up.

Thanks,

SkyzykS

I seem to build up a tolerance every few months, then slowly back down.

Right now I’m at 1 cup of coffee a day + 1 spike tablet pre workout. That’s probably the lowest I’ve been in months.

I probably average 3 double espressos and 2-4 cups of coffee per day.

The only downside is that sometimes I’m totally wiped out by 8 pm and can’t stay awake past 9.

But it’s nothing a late-night espresso can’t fix.

What did the ‘quick google search’ tell you?

Everything I have read says 5 “cups” of coffee or less is good for you. I put cups in quotes as most studies seem to define a cup of coffee as 5 ounces where as most coffee cups I have seen holds 8-12 ounces.

I have went as far as to put a small scratch in my coffee mug at work so I know where 12 ounces is, as I usually have 2 mugs per day.

Hmm, caffeine. It’s something that I’ve been interested in as well, from a nootropic standpoint but also one’s adenosine receptors and if you get “used” to it or not. All I can say is I have 300mg nearly every day since that is what’s in Brain Candy, lol.

I try to stick with only coffee and some red bull , I notice that when I start to get headaches after not drinking any caffeine for a couple days that its time to back off it a bit.

Caffeine and coffee are two different things though when one reads caffeine they often plug in the word ‘coffee’ because that’s the preferred method for most to consume our favorite drug, however being on a bodybuilding site you may be referring to caffeine pills or one of the various energy supplements offered on this site (brain candy, spike)…

Coffee and caffeine can offer health benefits in about half the population because different people fit into two categories: fast metabolizes and slow. About half of people will benefit from the antioxidants and other good things in coffee while the other half may not.

Caffeine is a drug and should be respected as such and if you feel you are overdoing it maybe you should cycle off for a month and see how that goes.

I’ve went for periods with no caffeine and periods of daily consumption. I like the “umph” factor but that quickly gets eliminated once one gets accustomed to the daily dosage

I will cycle coffee days with tea days and days with nothing at all.
100-150g (or more though that’s probably enough) is a good place to start before a workout though perhaps not before every workout.

I work a 9 to 5 so there is no way in hell I would be able to lift/practice/play sports by the end of the day if it wasn’t for caffeine.

And it think this goes for most people that work during the day and lift at night – sometimes you’re just drained and taking caffeine is a good way to ensure you’re consistent.

I do not drink coffee/tea during the day, so I just take a serving of pre workout before I hit the gym at that does the trick for me.
I haven’t cycled stims in three years and I’m still alive and kicking. It’s just a matter of finding your sweet spot (underdosing as much as you can) and just sticking to it.

I?ve gotten virtually completely off of it an am much happier. I do drink some tea and eat some cacoa, but very little total caffeine and no regular schedule for it. Overall energy is much better. No drowsiness throughout the day. No food comas.

I kinda think caffeine is like nicotine, you end up needing it because you drink it. While I don?t think it?s particularly harmful, I definitely find daily life better not needing it.

[quote]Brant2 wrote:
I work a 9 to 5 so there is no way in hell I would be able to lift/practice/play sports by the end of the day if it wasn’t for caffeine.

And it think this goes for most people that work during the day and lift at night – sometimes you’re just drained and taking caffeine is a good way to ensure you’re consistent.

I do not drink coffee/tea during the day, so I just take a serving of pre workout before I hit the gym at that does the trick for me.
I haven’t cycled stims in three years and I’m still alive and kicking. It’s just a matter of finding your sweet spot (underdosing as much as you can) and just sticking to it. [/quote]

I always lift and the end of the day and a little caffeine is much better to me then taking pre workouts which either don’t do anything or make me feel like my hearts going to explode

so hard to get to the gym at 6am without a pre-workout cup of coffee.

I like to take a pre-workout energy drink with no more than 200mg of caffeine to get me started. I can not tolerate too much caffeine even though I enjoy the boost it gives. Too much caffeine and I will get a headache and be wired more than I like.

[quote]duke6j wrote:
I like to take a pre-workout energy drink with no more than 200mg of caffeine to get me started. I can not tolerate too much caffeine even though I enjoy the boost it gives. Too much caffeine and I will get a headache and be wired more than I like. [/quote]
try taking some l-theanine with your caffeine.

I just have pure powder for when I occasionally use it pre workout…it says 1/16 of a teaspoon is 200 mg…but I just eyeball it lol

Hi,

Im a bit of a coffee addict. Everymorning I start of with an espresso before the gym, and I often have one after my shower with my post-workout stuff, and then I might have one more at about 11:00am.

The “no coffee” after 12 is a rule that has worked well with me.

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I have two espressos with breakfast, another two after lunch, and then one before the gym at around 5-6pm. Any later than that and it affects my sleep.

@PB Andy-Thanks bro for the advice. I will try that!

I have worked for sbux for a while so ib have coffee at my disposal at almost anytime I want. I used to have a nasty habit of about 4-5 20 oz iced coffees with two shots of espresso a day. Not healthy or good in any way.

So I did a little 30 day challenge of no caffeine. Cold turkey from hardcore to zero. I also wake up at 5 to 6 in the morning so some might feel like they need it with that kind of schedule.

When I cut coffee I personally had no headaches or other negative side effects. The first two days I dragged a little bit but nutrition is really the key to energy throughout the day. By day 3 I realized coffee is mainly mental. If you never start in the morning you never crash and you just don’t need it. Your energy levels stay strong throughout the day.

As of right now I still drink coffee before the gym and sometimes before I go out for a night on the town. My pre workout coffee is six shots of espresso. Might seem extreme but it works for me.

[quote]nick1257 wrote:
As of right now I still drink coffee before the gym and sometimes before I go out for a night on the town. My pre workout coffee is six shots of espresso. Might seem extreme but it works for me.[/quote]
Six shot of coffee for prework is extreme, especially if you dont drink much of the stuff during other times.

I drink 3-4 coffee’s a day, and only need one shot before working out in the mornings.

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