At one time or another, we’ve all had that feeling of barely being able to keep our eyes open on the way to the gym. This creates a serious problem as depressed energy levels result in a depressed training intensity, and consequently depressed results.
The primary role of your diet is to provide your body with sufficient energy-boosting nutrients. Unfortunately, when it comes to training many people look for the quick fix, which is often an instant energy boost loaded with refined sugars and caffeine.
I recently asked body transformation and sports nutrition expert Brian St. Pierre (CISSN, CSCS) for some ideas on health-conscious high-energy foods. Brian packed this top 10 with unique foods to help keep your energy levels high, while keeping your body fat low.
Coffee
Of all natural food sources, coffee has the largest caffeine content. Caffeine has been shown to improve performance and decrease your perception of effort, allowing you to work harder longer. Coffee also contains large amounts of antioxidants, and may supply up to 70% of the total daily antioxidant intake of the average American. If you use coffee to give you a quick energy boost, be conscious of the time of day. Drinking coffee within eight hours of when you go to bed can cause some men to have trouble falling asleep and/or staying asleep. If you wake up in the middle of the night with your heart racing, you may have to find a less intense alternative, such as tea.
Tea
When proper nutrition and hydration fails you (or when you fail it), sometimes a quick caffeine boost can help get you through a training session. Different teas such as white, green, oolong, and black can give you a small amount of caffeine, but they also contain the calming amino acid theanine, which has been shown to prevent the anxiety that large caffeine consumption can cause. This will ultimately help you create better attention and focus. The amount of caffeine per serving depends on the type of tea: white gives about 20 milligrams; green gives about 30 milligrams; oolong gives about 40 milligrams; and black gives about 50 milligrams.
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