New study finds drinking coffee can boost your workout

Drinking coffee improves your workout, no matter if you're an everyday drinker or an athlete trying to get a caffeine boost before a competition.

According to a new study from the University of São Paulo, athletes who had caffeine burned more calories compared to those who didn't.

Habitual coffee drinking athletes are often told to lay off before a competition. That way, they can up their game with caffeine the day of. But a Brazilian researcher, who's an avid coffee-drinker and recreational cyclist, was unconvinced.

Forty competitive male cyclists were studied. Each were told to burn 450 calories by pedaling as fast as possible.

One group was given a caffeine pill equal to four cups of coffee. Some were given a placebo, and others were given nothing at all.

People taking the caffeine pill were 3.3 percent faster on the bike. The placebo group got a 2.2 percent bump.

It may seem like a small difference, but that could shave minutes off your marathon finish time.

Interestingly, the cyclists who usually chugged lots of coffee every day got the same boost from caffeine as light drinkers, even if they didn't cut back days leading up to the strenuous workout.

More studies need to be done, considering how only super fit men were studied, and not women.

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