Drink Coffee Before Exercise to Increase Fat Burning and Performance

Momentum Issue 62

Importance

Coffee is a powerful tool for both performance and fat loss.

Performance

Coffee can improve performance in every regard, whether cognitive, physical, social, or other.

Caffeine has been shown to decrease perceived effort during a workout, and thus improve performance in the gym. It also increases time-to-exhaustion, muscle strength, and sprint power, which all mean you can go harder for longer.

Caffeine is also the most widely used stimulant and neuro-enhancer in the world. It improves cognition — memory, attention, and reaction time all improve when drinking coffee.

Fat Loss

Coffee is a powerful fat loss tool.

Fat loss happens through two mechanisms - mobilization and oxidation. Mobilization is the movement of fat out of storage, and oxidation is the burning of fat for fuel.

Coffee taps into both of these.

A recent study by the University of Granada in Spain found that drinking a strong cup of coffee (3mg of caffeine per kg of bodyweight) half an hour before exercising significantly increased fat oxidation during the exercise session. If this protocol was done in the afternoon rather than the morning, the benefit was even greater.

While burning fat is generally more important for aesthetic purposes rather than health, keeping fat levels to a minimum has many health implications.

From obesity to stroke, excess body fat can wreak havoc on the body. This simple practice may help you increase the fat burning efficiency of your workout.

---

Implementation

To maximize both performance and fat loss, here is a 2-step protocol you can follow.

Step 1 — Exercise in the afternoon

Exercise performance is highest in the afternoon.

This is due to an increased core temperature, a peak in testosterone, increased muscle recruitment, and increased metabolism. Furthermore, fat oxidation is also highest in the afternoon, which is what we are looking to tap into.

Step 2 — Drink coffee before your workout

Drinking coffee before a workout has long been known to increase subsequent fat oxidation.

However, the 2021 study above shows that the combination of pre-workout coffee consumption paired with an afternoon workout may lead to the greatest fat oxidation.

The study concludes:

“These results suggest that a combination of acute caffeine intake and exercise at moderate intensity in the afternoon provides the best scenario for individuals seeking to increase whole-body fat oxidation during aerobic exercise.”

The study participants consumed the caffeine 30 minutes before starting their workout, so if you want to maximize your fat-burning, have your caffeine 30 minutes before starting your exercise. The exercise was also aerobic in nature.

Caveat

This study was performed on caffeine-naive participants, meaning people who don’t normally drink coffee. I think we all know what it feels like to have a cup of coffee when we haven't had one for a long time or don’t normally have one — our bodies are especially sensitive to caffeine.

While this isn’t to say the results would have been different had they used people who drink coffee regularly, it’s something to be aware of when interpreting these results.

---

If you want to dive into the topic of coffee further, here is an in-depth guide I recently published:

Coffee — The Ultimate Drinking Guide (free link)