There are two groups of people in this world; those that like coffee, and those that aren’t people.

Seriously, if water wasn’t absolutely essential for my survival and wellbeing, coffee would top the list as my most consumed beverage. Yes, even over beer (as a grown man, that was a very difficult thing for me to type.)

So obviously, I’m slightly biased towards coffee. I mean, why wouldn’t I sing the praises of something I drink myself?

Well, as it turns out science is on my side too (and of every coffee lover on this planet.)

As such, I’m going to take a more neutral approach and give you 4 solid reasons why, as a tumbler, you should be drinking a cup (or two) of this dark nectar of the heavens, every time you hit the mat.

“It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity.” – Dave Barry

Reason #1: Coffee Improves Vascular Health and Performance

It is no surprise that a cup of coffee contains caffeine which can give you a nice jolt when you need it. As such, coffee has been shown to increase focus, response times, power output, endurance and even motivation.

A study showed that when sleep-deprived trainees took caffeine before their workout, they worked just as hard as those that were well rested. But when they took another group of sleepy-heads and told them to train without the aid of caffeine, the results weren’t so good; these subjects not only chose to lift lighter weights, but generally chose to do less work overall.

Next, you should know that the caffeine from coffee isn’t as bad for you as the stuff you’d get from a can of RedBull. Most people think that taking caffeine will sky-rocket your blood pressure and do bad things to your insides. That’s all grossly exaggerated.

Drinking coffee does increase your blood pressure a little, but only for the short term. Once your body metabolizes the caffeine, it’s all back to normal. In fact, the caffeine in coffee increases nitric oxide production in the interior surface of blood vessels, which actually improves the health of these vessels.

And here’s something that will really blow your mind: One study showed that drinking coffee habitually for 8 weeks actually lowered overall blood pressure readings.

Didn’t expect that, now did ya? Amazing stuff, this coffee.

Reason #2:  Coffee Helps Burn Fat!

As if allowing you to tumble with more power and for a longer period of time wasn’t enough, how would you like to get slimmer and leaner as well?

Yup, coffee can do that.

Drinking it has been shown to increase your metabolic rate. Basically, this means that you’ll burn more calories then you normally would. Also, caffeine slows glycogen depletion (the use of sugar by your muscles) by telling your body to use fat as a preferred fuel source.

And if your body is using fat instead of glycogen, it means you’ll have more fuel left over for later. You know, in case you feeling like tumbling for another hour or so.

Now don’t go thinking that just drinking a cup of coffee during tumbling practice will magically give you a chiseled stomach; it won’t.

But if you already eat decently and condition on the regular, then adding something like green coffee extract (which is even more effective at burning fat than regular coffee) can definitely help your stomach go from a flat to defined.

A four pack to a six.

I think you get my point – it’s not magic, but it can take you to the next level if you’re already doing the right things.

Reason #3: Coffee Helps You Live Longer

It’s one thing to look good, but it’s another thing to look good for a long time. Well, now we can have both because an observational study of more than 400,000 people found that the more coffee people generally drank, the longer they lived.

Men who drink about 2 cups a day dropped their risk of morality by 10 percent. For women, these results were even more favorable (more time for those selfies, huh ladies?)

“drinking coffee habitually for 8 weeks actually lowered overall blood pressure readings.” (tweet this)

Some of you might think that this whole life-extending benefit of coffee only affects a select group of people, but not so. The increase in average lifespan of coffee drinkers has been proven over a variety of different ethnicities. Basically, coffee beans don’t judge – they’ll help you live longer no matter what your skin colour or background.

Just the way things should be.

Finally, coffee has also been associated with lowering the risk of breast, stomach, colon and lung cancer. How much lower are we talking? Well obviously it differs for each body part, but generally speaking the risk is lowered anywhere from 10 to 25 percent. Obviously, these numbers aren’t mind-blowing but hey, as a coffee lover, I’ll take it.

Reason #4: Coffee Helps Reduce Soreness And Speeds Up Recovery

If you remember in my article 6 Ways To Reduce Soreness After Tumbling Practice, I explained how something called antioxidants can help relieve pain by reducing the inflammation in your muscles, and speed up recovery.

Well, guess what is absolutely loaded with antioxidants?

Yup, coffee!

However there’s one small problem… after you tumble hard for an hour or more, your body produces something called cortisol – also known as “the stress hormone.” While cortisol has its uses, prolonged levels of cortisol in your blood have been know to have negative effects such as (but not limited to):

• Increase in fat storage near the stomach
• Slower wound/injury healing
• Impaired memory
• Decreased thyroid function
• Decrease bone density

It should be obvious that you should help your body get rid of this stuff as soon as possible. However, taking caffeine after a workout not only elevates the level of cortisol in your body, but it will slow down your body’s ability to metabolize it.

And what has caffeine in it?

Yup, coffee!

So what is a coffee lover to do? Simple, after your workout have a cup of decaffeinated coffee along with 1-2 grams of Vitamin C.

This way, you get all the antioxidant goodness from coffee, and none of the drawbacks of elevated cortisol. What’s more, Vitamin C will actually help your body get rid of the cortisol that’s already in your system even faster.

All this boils down to one simple fact – you’ll be able to walk into the gym sooner with less soreness and pain.

“There are two groups of people in this world; those that like coffee, and those that aren’t people.” (tweet this)

Bonus Reason: Coffee Is Good For Your Liver

A study published in Hepatology (a journal by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases) looked at over 27 thousand people who were 20 years or older, and reported drinking at least 3 cups of coffee a day. They found that coffee consumption was directly linked to lower levels of abnormal liver enzymes.

“This suggests that chemical compounds in coffee other than caffeine may help protect the liver.” – Hepatology

The bottom line is that regardless of whether you prefer decaf or regular, you can still take advantage of the liver protecting benefits of coffee!

Not All Coffee Is Made Equal

So clearly, we can now conclude that coffee is awesome and that as a tumbler, you should be drinking it.

But before you go chugging down gallons of the stuff, I need to address some common sense issues so you’re not bouncing off the walls 24/7, driving your parents and coaches mad.

First, when I say coffee, I mean actual coffee. Not the over-priced crap you get from Starbies which is basically milk and diabetes in a cup. A Caramel Frappuccino is not going to help you recover or provide the benefits I’ve listed in this article.

I’m talking about a cup of the good ol’ dark stuff with a couple shots of cream and maybe two sugars. For my Canadian friends, a double-double is the perfect choice.

“coffee beans don’t judge – they’ll help you live longer no matter what your skin colour or background.” (tweet this)

If you prefer to brew your own coffee at home, I recommend buying organic coffee beans, as the quality and aroma are not only superior, but their antioxidant levels are much higher.

Finally, if you love coffee to the point where you must have a cup that’s not only high in quality but made immediately, I recommend the solution I’ve been relying on for the past 6 months – The Tassimo T45 coffee maker.

I literally love this thing to death; I’d rather learn a cartwheel all over again then give up my T45 — mainly because I know I’d have excellent coffee to fuel my training sessions.

Keurig is also an option, but I’ve found the quality of the coffee it makes is below average. I know gas stations that offer better coffee than the sludge Keurig spits out. So in my dark, delicious conclusion, every tumbler should be drinking coffee. The benefits are obvious, the stuff is delicious, and you’ll only be better for it.

So, how do you prefer your coffee? Have any good ones I should try? I’d like to hear from you – drop a line in the comment section below!