OK, Who has Given up caffeine? UGH!

[OZ-USF-UFGator]

Its been 12 days and my strength is down ~5 - 10 % across the board and it doesn't seem to be bouncing back. I did SS for ~8 months and now am 6 weeks into T method. I am a real caffeine addict and don't drink coffee, so the 40 - 60 oz of soda / energy drinks a day had to go.

Will my strength level bounce back, or is caffeine tantamount to a PED. This just sucks.
Any experience here?

[wes]

My experience is that a moderate (less than the amount in an energy drink) amount of caffeine directly before lifting is a performance enhancing drug on the same level as creatine.

Why did you stop? Is pre-training caffeine out of the question for you now?

[Sean Herbison]

I take caffeine (200 mg pill) before I work out, and I notice a difference when I don't. Other than that though, I don't intake much caffeine, as I don't drink soda or coffee. Especially if you're used to it, I would keep it pre-workout, and ease off it the rest of the time.

[Karl Schudt]

Try Sweet Marias, and learn to like good coffee.

http://www.sweetmarias.com

[Simon Rest]

how can you not drink coffee? Coffee is great. Now that you've got me thinking about it Im going to have an espresso - 250mg of pure caffeine in a thick black syrup of deliciousness

[Sean Herbison]

how can you not drink coffee? Coffee is great.

I don't drink coffee because I don't like coffee. I figure it's better than the people who get a drink that's 40% chocolate, 40% caramel, 15% whipped cream, and 5% coffee, then claim they like coffee.

[Simon Rest]

I don't drink coffee because I don't like coffee. I figure it's better than the people who get a drink that's 40% chocolate, 40% caramel, 15% whipped cream, and 5% coffee, then claim they like coffee.

That's true. I generally balk at any drink more milk than coffee, which is almost everyone's preference.

[51M0n]

That's true. I generally balk at any drink more milk than coffee, which is almost everyone's preference.

America's coffee culture is uhh..not good (from an Australian perspective).

I don't actually mind pot-coffee (which is non-existent is Australia), but the things you do to espresso coffee is criminal. Double caramel whipped cream cappuccinos, with damm near half a litre of milk, or foaming the milk to the point where it's actual foam.

My preference is for a small (8 ounce) double-shot cappuccinos.

Thank god starbuck went bankrupt here is all i'll say.

[Charlie Davies]

Every few years I go caffeine-free for a while, to destroy my tolerance. I.e. I'll go from 10 cups per day to 0 for a month. It takes three weeks to entirely get over the chronic tiredness.

Then I can go back to coffee, and get a nice zing in the morning from just one cup again.

[51M0n]

You do know a cappuccino is 1/3 foam, right? Seems odd that someone on SS is complaining about having to drink milk, and someone who drinks a drink that is mostly milk and foam complaining about exactly that, but whatever.

I try not to drink caffine on weekends, but I usually have two cups of coffee in the morning. My preference is french press, but I recently bought a pour over that I really enjoy, especially the clean up. I've cold brewed a few times, and find it to be excellent, but 24 hours is a long time for me to plan ahead.

The problem is the sizing. Australian coffee comes in standard (8 ounces) and large (12 ounces). A large American coffee is 16 ounces, meaning the layer of foam is much bigger (and I've had some US ones that basically missed the 1/3 milk, it was a shot covered in foam). Australian coffee is normally done in the latte art style which means it's less 'foamy' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappuccino