It's a personal thing 100%, but if you had poor sleep I'd first have you eliminate caffeine within 8hrs of bed.Originally Posted by esam915
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Pre Workout Caffeine for Early Evening Training
It was suggested to me that I try a cup of coffee before I head for the gym (I don't drink it that much so I'm relatively sensitive to the stuff). I usually start training at 5:30pm three times a week and go to bed by 11-11:30 pm, sans caffeine at the moment.
Is there any particular hazard in consuming coffee within 6 hours of bedtime? My sleep quality is damn good right now and I'd hate to do anything to mess that up. Or, is this a personal thing that I have to mess with on my own? Anyone have any experience with this?
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It's a personal thing 100%, but if you had poor sleep I'd first have you eliminate caffeine within 8hrs of bed.
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I'm in a similar boat, but I simply train earlier (4:00 or 4:30) and go to bed earlier (by 10, because I'm 28 going on 68). I have a couple cups of coffee in the morning at work, a diet pop early afternoon or with lunch, and 200mg of caffeine in my pre-workout concoction. I pretty much never have any issues sleeping but I may not be as sensitive to caffeine as you.
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N=1 but I often take 100mg of caffeine (caffeine + chocamine tablets) before training at c8pm, and rarely have problems getting to sleep by 11pm. Sometimes I use strong camomile tea and ZMA to help get me off though.
Having a two year old in the house helps me to be generally tired all the time though, so YMMV.
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There's two ways to look at this, I think anyway. One is that you aren't taking any caffeine right now and if you're training is going well, then why add it in? Regular use is going to mean that it will lose some of its effectiveness, so you could just look at using it when you really think you need it rather than everyday.
Otherwise, caffeine is very effective and it can be quite helpful I've found. I would stick with a cup of coffee or a supplement that is going to be around 100mg or less rather than going for ever larger and larger doses. I wasn't so smart and I really need to dial my intake back because I don't really think I'm getting much out of it at this point.
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Most data on caffeine being an ergogenic aid suggests 3-9mg/kg with an obvious individual tolerance factor. With the caveat that you'd expect much of this data to be somewhat flawed (it is ex. sci afterall), I find that many folks don't take enough caffeine for pre workout purposes in addition to being underfed, dehydrated, and having questionable programming.
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This is interesting. I don't drink coffee and haven't touched any soft drink since kicking my habit several years ago, so my normal daily caffeine intake has been practically zero for years. A few months back I started taking a pre workout supplement with 180mg of caffeine per serve (at 88-89kg puts me well under the suggestion). First few sessions I was hyped up bouncing off the walls like I was on speed. Nowadays I don't feel a thing. Guess I should up the dose a little?
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Turn it up to 11.
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