Monday, August 31, 2015
Caffeine and Its Effects on Exercise Performance
It’s the end of a long and trying workday. You want couch, and plenty of it. But on the way home you knock back a double espresso and find, miraculously, on arrival you’re ready for that round of INSANITY:MAX 30 you’d planned to blow off.
Ah caffeine, the original performance-enhancing drug.
Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive substance in the world. According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), more than 80 percent of North American adults regularly consume caffeine, with intakes averaging between 210 and 238 mg per day. One in 10 of us ingests 1000 mg per day or more, from sources that include coffee, cola, tea, sports drinks, chocolate, and non-prescription supplements.
Yet despite caffeine’s ubiquity — and considerable research on the topic — its role in athletics is still emerging science. People of all stripes consume caffeine to enhance their well-being and daily activities, but athletes are often left wondering how it affects their performance, notes Louise Burke, head of Sports Nutrition at the Australian Sports Commission and co-author of Caffeine for Sports Performance.
And it’s not as if the beverage industry has played down the potential link between caffeine and athletic performance. As far back as 1928, Coca-Cola sent 1,000 cases with the U.S Olympic team to the Amsterdam games, and Coke remains the Olympics’ longest continuous corporate sponsor.
Until recently, caffeine was considered a banned substance by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Burke says that when it’s intentional, athletes usually used caffeine to reduce fatigue or offset a performance decline that would otherwise occur during an event. But given how prevalent caffeine is, some athletes were “juicing” without even realizing it. “Not all athletes who have caffeine in their system while they train or compete had the intention of gaining a performance advantage,” Burke says. Recognizing this, WADA removed caffeine from its list of prohibited substances in 2004. The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) still considers it a regulated, but not banned, substance.
How Caffeine Can Give Your Workouts a Jolt
The stuff works, as any swing-shift employee can attest, and used judiciously can help both get your butt out there on training days, and peak your performance in competition.
At the physiological level, ingested caffeine is quickly absorbed by the stomach and peaks in the blood within 1-2 hours. Initial effects — the jolt — can be felt sooner, and women metabolize caffeine about 20 percent quicker than men.
Because caffeine is absorbed by most human tissue, it can affect all of the body’s major systems. Caffeine stimulates your brain, can elevate your mood, and postpones fatigue. While it doesn’t appear to improve fine motor coordination, it has been shown to improve endurance and performance at simple tasks.
Studies in the 1970s suggested that caffeine helped performance in endurance exercises by upping the level of adrenaline in the blood, which in turn stimulated the release of free fatty acids from fat tissue or skeletal muscle. The idea was that working muscles were using this as an energy source early in the exercise, saving more glycogen for later on.
And there’s probably something to that, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. While conflicting studies in the 1980s left many thinking caffeine had no real net impact on athletic performance, more recent double-blind experiments have found there is a physical gain to be had. For some. At certain concentrations.
Are there any downsides to caffeine? Well, shaky hands are a telltale sign of too much of the stuff. (This is a problem easily solved for most by sticking to low doses.) And if you consume caffeine before bedtime, you’ll probably take longer to fall asleep and sleep less deeply. Happily, the wives’ tale that caffeine is a diuretic has proven false under study: Not only do you not pee more than if you were drinking plain water, you also don’t lose substantially more moisture due to sweat.
How Much Caffeine Is Ideal?
In a well-regarded 2002 study, researchers examined how competitive cyclists performed using caffeine vs. a non-caffeinated but otherwise nutritionally-sound sports drink under two protocols. In the first, they tested how subjects performed in time trials using varying levels of caffeine before or during a ride. In the second, they gave subjects Coca-Cola in the final 40 minutes of a long, steady-state ride. Between the two studies, it was determined that 6 mg/kg of body mass did have an ergogenic effect.
A 2012 study compared that amount to 3 mg/kg of body mass and uncovered that the lower dose was equally as effective. While this research was on cyclists, it’s been shown that caffeine taken before exercise can help across a range of sports, including endurance events like long-distance running, stop-and-go events like racquetball, and sports involving sustained high-intensity activity lasting up to an hour, such as swimming and rowing.
But the benefit may go beyond just the physical. “Performance is not all physiological — a lot of it is mental,” notes Bob Girandola, an associate professor of Biological Sciences at USC who has taught classes on drugs in sports.
“Caffeine may affect your subjective feeling of fatigue or stress or pain,” Girandol says. “If you and I were doing an exercise and I was taking caffeine and you were not, perhaps it would feel a little bit less strenuous to me.” He explains that over the course of a sustained training regimen that could provide an advantage. “With any kind of performance enhancing substances, there’s a lot of individual variation with people. I always tell athletes here, as long as it’s not illegal…take it during practice and see if you think it’s going to help. Even if it’s just psychological, that’s fine.”
Via: Team Beachbody
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Coconut Lime Shakeology
Total Time: 5 min.
Prep Time: 5 min.
Cooking Time: None
Yield: 1 serving
Ingredients:
1 scoop Vanilla Shakeology
½ cup unsweetened coconut milk beverage
½ cup water
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
½ tsp. pure coconut extract
Preparation:
1. Place coconut milk, water, lime juice, coconut extract, Shakeology, and ice in blender; cover. Blend until smooth.
Via: Team Beachbody
Monday, August 17, 2015
Should I Eat Before My Morning Workout?
Morning workouts aren’t for everyone and I just recently switched to them due to my son starting Pre Kindergarten, but for those of you who love them (or just love to get them over with early in the day!), deciding whether to eat breakfast before or after is a pretty common dilemma.
The good news is, it’s possible to be properly fueled for a morning workout without the unpleasant side effects that send you running to the nearest restroom. It’s all about what you eat, and when you eat it.
Before Your Morning Workout
- 30-60 minutes before you lace up your sneakers, have a carbohydrate-rich snack, like a piece of fruit, a slice of toast with jam, or a low-fiber granola bar.
- Drink a tall glass of water to help digest your snack and rehydrate after those 8-12 hours of laying around.
- Avoid fiber and fat since they take more effort for you body to digest and can cause an upset stomach.
- If eating early in the morning doesn’t agree with you, have some applesauce or a small glass of 100% fruit juice. Just stay away from the more acidic juices like orange or grapefruit since they can irritate your stomach. You can also hydrate with a diluted sport drink instead of regular water. The added carbohydrates will help keep you going.
Enjoy a healthy breakfast that contains complex carbohydrates and protein within 1 hour following your workout. Doing so will replenish your energy stores and help build and repair muscle. Here are a few great post-workout breakfast ideas:
- A yogurt parfait with granola, fruit, and a sprinkle of nuts or seeds
- A smoothie made with yogurt, fresh or frozen fruit, and some avocado, peanut butter, flax, or chia seeds for a dose of healthy fats
- Oatmeal (made with milk for added protein), topped with dried or fresh fruit, nuts, or nut butter
- Eggs with sautéed veggies (think: spinach, tomato, caramelized onions), a slice of whole grain toast, and a cup of reduced-fat milk. Grab a piece of fruit or a handful of nuts if you’re still hungry.
Do you exercise in the morning, too? What are some of your favorite workout-fueling foods?
Via: MyFitnessPal - Elle Penner= M.P.H., R.D. and edited by Maria Doney
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Breakfast Made Easy
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 medium yellow crook neck squash
1 yellow bell pepper (any color is fine)
Pinch of red onion
Sea Salt
Garlic Powder
Pepper
Directions:
Sautee bell peppers, onion, and squash to desired taste. Add egg and scramble in adding spices (to taste as well).
Via: Maria Doney
Should I Eat Back My Exercise Calories?
Congrats! You’ve worked out at home, gone to the gym, put in some time on the treadmill and now have a few hundred extra calories in the bank. But what do you do with those extra exercise calories? Should you run to the kitchen and gobble them up, save them for a special weekend treat or ignore them altogether?
When faced with this decision, it’s important to consider several factors, most notably your weight goal (whether you’re wanting to lose, gain or maintain), the frequency, intensity and duration of your exercise, and your overall level of hunger.
For the average exerciser trying to lose or maintain weight (i.e. someone who burns an additional 200-500 calories a few times per week), exercise calories don’t make up a significant portion of overall calorie burn, generally in the 1500-2200 per day range. Unless you’re exercising at a moderate to high intensity for an hour or more, several times a week, or are actively trying to gain weight, you most likely don’t need to be worried about eating all of those calories back.
The main reason is this: It’s easy, and fairly common to overestimate calorie burn (both from everyday activity and from exercise) and underestimate calorie consumption. By going out of your way to eat back every calorie you expend during exercise, you may unintentionally undermine your efforts to lose or maintain your weight. Additionally, you could be overriding your body’s hunger cues if you don’t feel particularly keen for those exercise calories but eat (or drink) them back them anyway. If your body isn’t telling you it needs fuel, it’s best to save your exercise calories for when you want them–say, for an unexpected hunger pang or a weekend treat meal with friends.
Now if you’re trying to lose weight, chances are you’ll be on the hungry side even without exercising since MyFitnessPal’s weight loss calorie goals are calculated independent of exercise. The upside to this is that those exercise calories become a “bonus”–so if your workout leaves you feeling a bit hungry afterwards, by all means you should enjoy the bump in calories and eat something. (Just read the 5 tips below beforehand to make the most of them!)
The vast majority of us who are trying to shed a few pounds or maintain our weight need not be concerned about eating back all of our exercise calories, but those trying to gain weight, and/or who are training heavily several times per week should be mindful about getting in enough calories–both to fuel physical activity and promote muscle growth, repair and recovery. For those of you who fall into this category, here are some great pre- and post-workout meals and snacks.
Whether you’re exercising to lose, gain or maintain your weight, improve your fitness level, or just reduce stress, one thing to remember when eating back exercise calories is that the quality of those calories is just as important as the quantity.
To help you get the most out of those hard earned calories, here are 5 tips to healthfully handle those post-workout hunger pangs:
1. Start with a hydration check. Thirst can be misinterpreted for hunger so, if you’re on the fence about whether you need to refuel or not, make sure you’re not just dehydrated. Here are some hacks from other MyFitnessPal users for staying well hydrated.
2. Hone in on your hunger cues. Rather than running for the kitchen cabinet the moment you get home from your workout, trust your tummy to tell you if you need a post-workout snack.
3. Don’t get stuck on the number. Remember, the calories you eat and exercise off are estimations, and we’re more likely to overestimate calories burned from exercise. If hunger hits between meals, start slow–particularly if you’re trying to lose or maintain your weight. Begin by eat back a percentage of your exercise calories (say, 50%) rather than all of them, and see how you feel in 20-30 minutes.
4. Focus on high-quality protein and wholesome carbohydrates. Doing so will optimize muscle repair and recovery.
5. Spread ‘em out. Our bodies aren’t able to store protein like carbohydrates and fat so, if you have a significant number of calories to eat back (lucky you!), be sure to include protein with each meal and snack over the course of the day for optimal muscle building and repair.
Nutrition Note: Large calorie deficits over time, whether through calorie restriction, exercise or a combination of the two, can lead to nutrient deficiencies and other health problems, so it’s always a good idea to consult with a doctor or dietitian if you are unsure about how many calories (exercise or otherwise) you should be consuming.
Via: My Fitness Pal, edited by Maria Doney
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