Science Says Coffee is the Best for Pre-Workout Energy and Post-Workout Recovery

As a pre-workout, coffee helps you burn fat and use it as energy before your body taps into its supply of glycogen. Post-workout, coffee encourages the recovery and storage of glycogen within the muscle when consumed with a bit of carbohydrates.

Over 50% of New Year’s resolutions are related to living a healthier life or losing weight, and we’re here to help you on this journey. To start, we looked into the latest research on coffee as a pre-workout and post-workout beverage, how it affects recovery, and why it’s better for you than alternative store-bought supplements. 

First, we must talk about glycogen and its purpose within the body. It’s your muscle’s fuel that’s ready to use during high-intensity exercise. When your body uses up its glycogen storage, you start to feel sluggish, and your body finally begins to break down fats and proteins for energy. Depleting glycogen storage can happen only a few minutes into the workout, making it harder to make the most of the time you set aside to exercise. 

How does coffee help? As a pre-workout, coffee helps you burn fat and use it as energy before your body taps into its supply of glycogen. Consuming coffee before working out stimulates lipolysis, which breaks down fat to use as energy. Post-workout, coffee encourages the recovery and storage of glycogen within the muscle when consumed with a bit of carbohydrates. Stay with me if you’re on a keto or low-carb diet, you don’t have to break ketosis to get the benefits, and I’ll share a low-carb pre-workout recipe at the end. 

In a clinical trial conducted by the University of Brasilia, 14 healthy and active people underwent tests to see how coffee and the consumption of carbohydrates impacted post-workout muscle recovery. The results showed that coffee and a splash of milk after exercise significantly help with recovery. Milk is nutrient-packed, and in a separate group, they used only milk as the post-workout beverage to test the recovery rate. Still, those who consumed coffee with milk had a more significant increase in recovery of over 100% than the milk group alone. 

Science confirms that molecules within coffee play a big role in muscle glycogen recovery and thinks the cause is coffee increasing enzyme activity. Still, the particular molecule has yet to be defined. In this study, the recovery benefits kick in after a few hours post-workout. Consuming it before exercise will help after recovery too, yet give you the most you need to get started. 

Coffee has many benefits as a pre and post-workout beverage. Yet, we still see lots of supplements catering to fitness on the market. Should we use coffee over supplements? Short answer, it depends on your views. Supplements are not regulated by the FDA and may contain low-quality ingredients, additives, and artificial sweeteners. The best clean pre-workout I’ve found is NAKED ENERGY which is $45 on Amazon, and it’s not an enjoyable taste when compared to a nice cup of coffee. 

Coffee is a natural product, and it's full of antioxidants. It’s a beverage that most of us already consume, and as the cost of living rises, it’s just one great way to save that’s good for your body. 

By consuming it one hour before working out will help you get maximum benefits. Still, it’s important to note that maintaining a healthy diet is crucial to reaching your goals. For more tips and facts about coffee, please sign up for our newsletter and shop Don Pablo Coffee for all your coffee needs.

Here’s the recommended recipe:

• 8 oz of coffee
• 2 TSB of Heavy Whipping Cream
• Stevia or Monk Fruit to Taste