The next time you train, try writing out your program for the day, BEFORE your workout, instead of just starting and making it up as you go along. When you take the time to actually write out the excercise and number of repetitions and or sets ect, your mind becomes more focused and even creative. As well, when thinking and planning during your workout, you are more exhausted, physically and mentally and are less likely to push yo self as hard because there is no established goal - you are more likely to change it based on how you feel in the workout. When planning and writing it down, you will be more likely to create and therefore DO something more intense because your MIND is less in the actual moment so you are not FEELING the burn, you are CREATING it for "the later you". ;).

So the next time you want to plan your workout, write it out for someone else, the "later you", the more fit you ;).

Train Your Mind To Train Your Body

How Caffeine Can Put a Buzz in Your Workout

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were something you could take to make you feel energized during your workouts, allowing you to get the most bang for your buck in that single exercise session? You could lift heavier weights for a longer period of time or go an extra mile on the treadmill and still feel like you had enough energy to do more. My philosophy is, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. However, new research has brought to light the benefits of taking caffeine to improve sports and exercise performance in elite athletes.

The issue of caffeine and its effect on exercise performance has long been an issue of debate. Decades of studies have brought us full circle, from the belief that caffeine is helpful to the belief that the risks of its use outweigh the benefits and then back again.

Athletic Performance and Caffeine

Caffeine has been long thought of as a performance-enhancing drug. In fact, it was a banned substance for professional athletes until 2004. Competitors could test positive for caffeine use if they drank as few as three cups of strong coffee.

Because caffeine was so common in most athletes’ diets, the World Anti-Doping Agency decided to remove it from its restricted list. The funny thing was, as soon as it was allowed, caffeine levels dropped in urine tests for most sports. The prevailing wisdom in the elite athlete world was that if it wasn’t banned, then it must not enhance sports performance.

Today, there is no doubt that caffeine is a powerful performance enhancer. Decades of studies have established that caffeine helps with aerobic sports, such as sprinting, and other endurance activities for up to two hours. A growing body of research now also suggest that it helps resistance exercise such as weightlifting.

Caffeine, however, is a diuretic and will make you lose water. It is therefore commonly believed that caffeine use can leave you dehydrated, which is not what you want while you’re exercising.

How Does Caffeine Improve Performance?

How caffeine works is still a matter of some debate. Some weight loss drug manufacturers would have you believe that caffeine increases your metabolic rate a
nd helps you burn more body fat. However, research has dispelled this notion.

The current theory on caffeine’s effect on exercise performance is that it directly affects how muscle fibres contract. Caffeine may actually cause each muscle fibre to contract more strongly when it receives a signal from the nervous system.

Caffeine vs. Coffee

There is a difference though between the caffeine we are talking about and coffee. One rigorous research study done at the University of Guelph found that it was only pure caffeine that produced a performance boost, even when the level of caffeine in the bloodstream from coffee was the same.

Other studies have found a performance-enhancing effect from coffee, so we must take this finding with a grain of salt. The bottom line is it is much more difficult to pinpoint the effects of a more chemically complex substance, such as coffee, than those found from the use of pure caffeine.

Nowadays, coffee is a popular choice as a performance enhancer among athletes. A British study published in June found that 38.1 per cent of track and field athletes drank coffee for the specific purpose of enhancing performance, while 28.6 per cent took caffeine pills.

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for the average joe

Those of us who are recreational athletes and exercisers are mainly focused on beating our own best performances rather than beating other people. This is where the value of the use of caffeine comes into question. If you’re not concerned with shaving seconds or even milliseconds from your marathon time, would caffeine still be helpful to you?

Considering that the most common way most of us ingest caffeine is through tea and coffee, it may not be that helpful. You may wonder if caffeine supplements would be a good route to take, but keep in mind that most supplements are unregulated. Caffeine is also addictive. So as with any product that can improve performance, do your research, talk to your doctor and see if it is the right choice for you.