In the past 6-8 months I’ve noticed myself taking in caffeine in some form on a daily basis and am starting to get pissed that I feel I ‘need’ it.
Coffee
Spike Pills
Spike Shooters
5hr Energy
Caffeine powder
Those are pretty much where I get it all from.
I notice that about 99% of all my co-workers always drink coffee (some several cups/day) and I notice that people are buying energy drinks at a very high rate now.
My concern is that whole “down the road” thing with a consistent caffeine intake. What would a consistent intake of caffeine have in store for someone if they keep at it?
The reasons I have are that while at work I get tired easy (6-9hrs sleep), I also like a bit of a kick in the pants before a workout, and on the weekends I also train. So that’s about the entire week I take something in.
Try to limmit your caffiene intake to just workouts. This will lower your tolerance and you wont crave it as much. Its addicting and you gotta wing yourself off of it. Try HOT-ROX, it has caffiene in it and will give you a far better boost than all that other crap.
Speaking of HOT-ROX, does anyone know why they stopped sell the latest version of the stuff. The product they have now feel much weaker. I looked up the ingrediants and the latest one that they had been hyping has been removed.
I personally drink alot of coffee… My secret for keeping it working is that by the time I get to bed It is completely elimiated from my body (caffeine)… I ususally have a cup of coffee preworkout then drink 1 to 1.5 gallons during and after the workout… Making sure you drink enough so the liver can metoboize the caffine out of your system…
I have found if I take a time release caffeine source and Its not liquid then no matter what amount of water I get it will keep me up at night (palpatating heart). If you have any stimulants in your system (caffeine, nicotine, or depressants (alchohol) it will interfere with sleep) I have read numerous articles that if you have alot of alchohol before bed you will get sleep apneia…
I persoanlly would drink alot of water all day and make sure you have no caffeine in your system when you go to sleep… Then if you want to use it preworkout it will work much better… Also make sure your getting enough sleep… If your always relient on caffeine all day (I drink quite a bit but also have alot of energy without it) you probably aren’te getting enough sleep…
Eating in balance too (some fat, carbs and protein) with your last meal will help you sleep better. I know this isn’t perfectly conducive to fat loss but I have found I have gotten the best night sleep with a balanced meal before bed. Personally protein keeps my brain active so its hard to sleep… Also make sure your well hydrated… The caffeine will work better if your properly hydated if you want to continue to use it… 6 hours of sleep probably won’t cut it…
Google on here “sleep” and read the articles on that… That will help you cut back tremendously if your getting a really good nights sleep.
If at the end of the day you drink alot of water to flush it out of your system and your really tired you may be sleep deprived… Try to catch up on your sleep deficiet…
You may also be stressing your adrenials to the max with all that caffeine… Try to get more sleep and cut back on the caffeine MG intake… Caffeine also has been known to make you crave carbs as well…
To actually answer the OP’s question without rehashing general advice. That ‘down the road’ thing is tricky to know, as everyone that I have come across treats caffeine differently and has caffeine treat them differently.
For general adaptation, it is possible that since caffiene works in part by clogging up adenosine receptors, that your body could make more, which would make you feel sleepier without the regular dose of caffeine; and since caffeine does increase neuronal sensitivity, maybe abusing it would decrease neuronal sensitivity without caffeine
I based both my guesses on the body resetting homeostasis, assuming a constant caffeine intake, and was trying to find a reason behind both caffeine-dependent lethargy as well as ‘brain fog’. These seem to make sense to me but take it with a grain of salt.
[quote]superpolishpower wrote:
I personally drink alot of coffee… My secret for keeping it working is that by the time I get to bed It is completely elimiated from my body (caffeine)… I ususally have a cup of coffee preworkout then drink 1 to 1.5 gallons during and after the workout… Making sure you drink enough so the liver can metoboize the caffine out of your system…
[/quote]
Are you saying that you drink 1 to 1.5 GALLONS of coffee during and after the workout??
Four days is about what it takes to (effectively) clean yourself of caffeine or to adapt to your intake level. So right now if you take 100mg of caffeine in the mornign you probably don’t notice it, but if you took 4-5 days off without any then took 100mg you’ll absolutely get a kick in the pants if you’re someone who is effected by caffeine.
Some people’s tolerances are different but I remember reading a few times it’s about 4 days to adapt.
Personally I drink and eat a lot of caffiene. I buy it in powdered form and have it before workouts at about 400mg. I also drink about 3-4 double shot espressos throughout the day just because I like the flavour and enjoy coffee. My intake usually fluctuates between 400-1000mg a day.
All I do is to take teh weekend off. So 2 days of every week I don’t have any caffeine. I’m lucky in that I don’t get withdrawals as some people do, but take that into account.
Get the hell off the caffeine, take my advice or pay the price. Learn to drink decaf(even decaf has some caffeine) with Splenda, and yes even on workout days. If you need a boost eat an apple or a banana. Caffeine during workouts is terrible for your arteries, I’m not going to get into details here, but you gotta kick the habit.
Once I stopped taking caffeine daily I began sleepy infinitely better. Although I miss the sugary taste of Spike, I really only drink one if my body is seriously fatigued and it’s hampering my performance. I think constant use leads to a need to use it for becoming motivated, or getting that positive feeling or desire to accomplish something.
[quote]B rocK wrote:
Ghost22 wrote:
Use nicotine instead.
Cut up nicotine patches into sevenths and apply.
Works pretty well when using sparing.
wtf?[/quote]
I was offering up an alternative stimulant that I’ve found quite useful. It seemed you were concerned about your intake of caffeine. So why not spread around your chemical intake?
Caffeine and nicotine act through different mechanisms.
Over consumption of caffeine can be a bit dangerous. It really has to be a tremendous intake to cause severe issues. Don’t forget that Caffeine is the most thoroughly studied ergogenic aid on the planet and is very safe. Drinking a Spike prior to training is not a dangerous endeavor. I’d recommend reducing your intake to 1 can prior to a training session if necessary and otherwise I’d restrict it from all other areas. As far as the “limit” to take in per day keep it below the 500g mark and you should be fine.