No doubt coffee is one of the popular pre-workout and post-workout drinks that fulfill your need for an extra boost in energy. But:
Can Boxers Drink Coffee?
Boxers can drink coffee as an energy booster to reach their workout goals and to improve their overall athletic performance. Many boxers have embraced coffee into their training due to its various physical and mental benefits.
Is Coffee Good For Boxers?
Thanks to the high levels of antioxidants and beneficial nutrients, it’s been proven that a cup of coffee is very beneficial for athletes.
Here’re the Top 4 Advantages of Drinking Coffee in Boxing:
1. Helps you to Burn Fat
As an athlete, drinking a cut of coffee is the best suitable way to intake caffeine, as it is one of the few natural substances that are proven to increase fat burning.
Generally, you’ll start noticing the effect of coffee around 1 hour later. Caffeine increases the heart rate, blood pressure and releases fatty acids into the bloodstream, which significantly increases your ability to break down fats.
2. Coffee Delays your Exhaustion
A study done by Coventry University shows that athletes who didn’t take caffeine, exhaust much early whereas those who drink the coffee before a workout are able to invest more effort in the last reps.
Basically, coffee does give some extra energy that allows you to last throughout your training and rehearsal sessions.
3. Improves Your Reaction Time
This is another very important and key benefit you’ll get by drinking a cut of coffee. We both know, even a single cut of coffee can provide a nice boost in the energy levels and make us feel less tired.
Many studies prove how coffee positively impacts the human brain and improves various functions related to our mood, memory, reaction time, energy levels, etc. (source)
4. Improvement in Athletic Performance
Depending on your lifestyle, you may find a great boost in your performance ability by simply consuming a cup of coffee half hour before you go to the gym.
Coffee increases the level of Adrenaline hormone in your blood that allows you to train your body for longer with higher power output during your workouts.
Despite of all the good-looking benefits of coffee, no one can deny there are some downsides if you’re not careful:
Disadvantages of Drinking Coffee for Boxer
Surely coffee helps to stay active and alter during boxing, but it also has other physiological effects on the body. An excessive intake can result in restlessness, dizziness, and brings some level of unwanted excitement.
Also, make sure you’re drinking a coffee at least half an hour before the workout because you might need to face some digestive issues If you drink coffee right before the exercise.
Sleep difficulties or Insomnia is another major side effect that can significantly damage your physical performance due to the excess consumption of coffee every day. That’s why it’s better to avoid coffee 6-7 hours before bedtime.
To be honest, caffeine has its highs-n-lows, and taking it without a proper schedule might lead to an addiction.
So,
How Much Coffee Can You Drink?
Personally, I suggest you to take 3mg to 4mg per kg of your body mass. that means if you weigh around 160 pounds (around 72 kg), you should take roughly 250mg to 300mg of caffeine per day. (i.e. 3 cups of coffee)
If you haven’t drunk a coffee before, I would recommend you to start with a dose of 150mg (1 to 2 cups per day) to see how your body reacts.
FAQs on Boxing and Caffeine
Is Caffeine Banned in Boxing?
Drinking coffee is not banned in boxing. Although being a drug, caffeine has its highs and lows and can be addictive too but it is generally accepted and embraced by many boxers.
Can You Drink Coffee Before a Boxing Match?
You can drink a cup of coffee half hour before a boxing match to get some additional energy boost and to enhance your overall physical performance. It helps you to increase concentration, alertness, muscular strength while minimizing your reaction time.
Final Thoughts
Definitely, coffee provides you with some extra boost in performance, but that doesn’t mean you have to start drinking coffee.
I already touched upon the various aspects of coffee in terms of its advantages and disadvantages for boxers.
Sure, if you want, you can try it and see if it’s working for you or not? Because a single cup of coffee and little extra energy is not going to make you a great boxer. Just enjoy and experience all the moments from your boxing sessions and best of luck on your journey.
