For a lot of lifters, pre-workout is a life source in the gym. It helps give them energy and focus to perform heavy lifts. It is also a vascular dilator that helps open up blood flow, helping you look more pumped up and vascular. Some lifters even blame a poor lifting session on not having pre-workout or at least not taking enough of it. Pre-workout is chalk full of a lot of chemicals though. Can coffee replace this chemical concoction?
This article actually comes from a personal experience of mine. I have been a heavy pre-workout proponent for years. I loved the jolt of energy it would give me before the gym, especially on the days when my energy was low. It was honestly a supplement that I could not envision working without.
That was until a few weeks ago when I ran out of my pre-workout and with life being busy, I just kept forgetting to get more. Some of the days when I was getting ready for the gym and I need a little boost to help get me through my workout, I would plan out to have a cup of coffee to give me a little boost.
Truth be told, I feel the energy and focus I get from coffee is more manageable then when I was taking pre-workout. For those of you who take pre-workout, you know what I am talking about. You can get pretty jittery from some of the pre-workouts out there. The come down from it is also a lot more manageable. When I was taking pre-workout, it seemed to keep me wired for hours and then I would inevitably crash.
Sure after a cup of coffee my veins are not bulging out like they would be if I had taken pre-workout, but even with pre-workout that only last a few hours then your back to normal. The money saving factor of using coffee instead of pre-workout is worth not having that one benefit.
Now, do not take this article as an article stating that all pre-workout is bad. I do not think I will never take pre-workout again. I am just trying to bring up that there are other alternatives out there that work just as well and can be more manageable for some people.
Even for the lifters out there who feel the need for pre-workout, these are great to remember when you want to cycle off pre-workout for a week. Since most pre-workouts do recommend to cycle off every 6-8 weeks to let your body reset, you do not have to go cold turkey from all caffeine.
For everyone out there looking for a more manageable boost to get you through your workout or just trying doing an off cycle from your pre-workout, coffee can definitely help give you just the boost you are looking for.