Did you know that drinking tea before a workout allows you to achieve your fitness goals faster? Drinking tea before and after your workout aids in recovery from fatigue and at the same time, enables you to exercise for longer periods by increasing the duration before fatigue sets.
In a nutshell, this is what tea does when you work out:
- Increase your body’s fat burning levels
- Lengthen your workout duration
- Keeps you hydrated
- Aids in post-workout recovery
Most people who go to gyms like Blink Fitness and Crossfit drink water. There’s nothing wrong with this of course and if it works for you, keep at it. But there are gym goers who drink low sugar soda drinks and energy boosters which have very high caffeine.
Tea also contains caffeine, but unlike coffee and other caffeinated drinks, you won’t experience energy crashes.
Increase your body’s fat burning levels
Tea is rich in antioxidants known as catechins which contribute to an increase in body fat metabolism needed for energy expenditure. What that means is that by drinking tea, the body makes more fat reserves available for burning during your workout.
Lengthen your workout duration
Everyone has a limit when it comes to the amount of exercise we can carry out before we get exhausted. However, some people may want to increase the amount of time spent exercising and that’s another area where tea can help.
Caffeine levels present in tea can help boost your energy levels during your workout. One
study analyzed the effect of regular consumption of green tea extract over a period of 10 weeks. The study found that performance in endurance exercise improved up to 24%.
Keeps you hydrated
Water is the go-to drink of gym goers to help them maintain their hydration levels. And while tea should not be considered a replacement for water, it offers other benefits. In the past tea was considered a diuretic, which means it causes you to pee more frequently. But this theory has been debunked.
Aids in post-workout recovery
Muscle damage and repair are part and parcel of a workout regimen. That’s why you get body aches after a workout. Fortunately, the high levels of catechins found in tea reduces muscle damage during your exercise. Moreover, tea also aids in the reduction of muscle and joint inflammation.
Teas You Can Drink Pre-Workout
Knowing which tea is right for you requires some trial and error but here is a list of options you can choose from:
1. Black tea
Black tea contains zero calories and has the highest caffeine content in teas. As what we have already established, caffeine in moderation is great for workouts.
Black tea boosts your mood and enhances mental clarity while exercising. You get all these without jitters. It has a rather gentle caffeine effect, so you won’t get the caffeine crash that you often get with coffee.
2. Green tea
Green tea gives you a gentle and continuous supply of energy during your workout. Drinking a cup of green tea 30 minutes before exercising also helps combat bloating.
Green tea contains Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG), an antioxidant which helps in defending against certain cancers and protect the muscle from damage. Moreover, it promotes muscle building and relaxes muscles.
3. Milk tea
For most, they drink milk tea after a workout because milk takes a lot of time to digest. But milk tea seems to be an ideal pre workout drink for those engaging in long endurance exercises like running. This kind of tea helps in muscle recovery while at the same time enhances mood and relaxes the body.
But if your goal is weight loss, we recommend avoiding milk tea since it can be high in calories as well.
Drinking tea offers several benefits for those who are working out, including muscle growth and repair, enhancing focus and alertness, and boosting your energy levels.