CAFFIENE

I absolutely love my coffee. My morning blend using my french press is pretty awesome and I wouldn't call myself a 'coffee snob' but I'm close, lol.

While a good cup of joe is not a bad thing, what happens if caffeine intake gets out of hand?

As we all know, caffeine is a stimulant that activates the central nervous system. This creates alertness, energy and can improve performance when it comes to muscular contraction, sounds fantastic, right?

Well, the downside is that besides the good things above, it also can raise cortisol levels, cause nervousness/anxiety and disrupt sleeping patterns. The double downside to those things is that they can negatively affect your hormone levels, especially testosterone.

Besides energy drinks and coffee, preworkouts are another common source notoriously packed with caffeine and can do all of the above as well.

So what is a proper and safe level? It really depends on the individual. Certainly if you aren't sleeping well, that's a hint to back off, if not eliminate, caffeine. Another good sign to cut back is if you feel a high level of anxiety or your heart rate starts to race.

Ratchet down your stimulant levels if you notice any of the above. There are non-stimulant preworkouts (I like Bulletproof from Phat Muscle Project) available as well. I have my morning coffee and then the non stim preworkout before I train.

Even though often the day doesn't start for most before their morning coffee, it can get out of hand. If this happens, not only can it negatively impact your training goals and hormones but certainly set you up for needing a time out.

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