Strength Conditioning and Nutrition 101

If you greet the morning with the aroma of freshly brewing coffee, you are one of billions of people worldwide who indulge in the daily grind of coffee consumption. According to the latest coffee statistics from the International Coffee Organization (ICO), we pour about 1.4 billion cups of coffee a day worldwide. That's a lot of coffee!  And about 45 percent of it (400 million cups a day!) is drunk in the United States. The United States is the single biggest consumer of coffee in the world - but that does not mean that the typical person in the U.S. drinks more coffee than the typical person in any other country.



I do support the use of caffeine in many situations, such as fat loss for its ability to help in the mobilisation of fat and increased metabolic rate. Also, for personal record days with the increased ability to fire the neurosystem. However, there is a major issue to consider when drinking caffeine and other stimulants. With a great deal of the population under significant amounts of stress and very sleep deprived, it is natural to fall into the temptation of using coffee, energy drinks, and/or other stimulants.

When these stimulants are consumed they do not provide energy. Rather, they use energy by producing a stress response in the body. This stress response triggers the body to increase its heart rate, blood pressure, and stress hormones such as adrenaline. This creates the illusion of more energy, but in fact can have detrimental long term effects by creating an even more tired body. By ingesting these stimulants this additional stress that is being placed on the body can lead to inflammation and delayed recovery.

Many athletes have significant amounts of these stimulants in their pre workout drinks. When consuming stimulants and not having enough sleep, it has been found that one can burn out their adrenal glands.

By incorporating stimulants into your daily life, it can have detrimental effects by putting greater stress on your already overly stressed body. As former eight-time MR. Olympia Winner Lee Haney puts it: “Stimulants are borrowed energy. It is not real and it has to be repaid.”