It’s old news, but I feel that I must share with you. Not only is coffee my obsession and passion, but I am now finding out that it promotes exercise and relieves muscle soreness and pain!
This may seem too good to be true, but I assure you, it is not. There was a small study showing that when a group of men cycled after having a few cups of coffee beforehand, then their results of pain and soreness were dramatically reduced.
Researchers had 25 subjects engage in two bouts of high intensity cycling. Before each session, they gave every subject a pill. One time, the pill contained the equivalent of two or three cups of coffee. The other time it was just a placebo. The participants all said they felt less pain in their leg muscles during the caffeine-assisted workout than they did with the sugar pill. And it even worked for subjects who already chug a couple thermoses of joe a day.
The simple reason behind this is that the caffeine in coffee blocks some of the chemicals your body makes when it is inflamed from exercise and soreness, so therefore, you are getting the benefit of the workout, without the nasty “workout hangover” afterward where you feel you can barely move from soreness and stiff muscles. So, the barista can help your biking. Java can boost your jogging. And, of course, enjoy those lattes before your Pilates.