Fitness and health are the two major priorities of people these days. These priorities make people look into new and healthy ways to boost up their lifestyle.
The two most popular ways to do so are by following the right diet and a perfect workout routine.
With half of the population going experimental with their workouts and diet, researchers are bringing in new formulas to keep them going.
The recent addition to these new formulas is the identification of the benefits of black tea before a workout.
Well, black coffee before a workout, was a common thing to digest, but black tea comes pretty new to the mind as a pre-workout.
After all, it was always a part of your morning routine?
Yes, you are absolutely right, it was always there in your kitchen but its benefits as pre-workout came to light recently.
And this blog just highlights these benefits apply for you to get the most of it!
But before we do that, let us give our newbies a brief take on is black tea good before a workout and what actually is it.
Black Tea As Pre Workout – What Is Black Tea?
Black tea comes from the same plant, Camellia sinensis as the other forms of tea come from.
It is one of the most common forms of tea and almost 80% of Americans use it in their daily routines.
The black tea comes in various forms and blends like the English breakfast and the early grey.
Two of the most trending forms of black tea include masala chai and Ceylon.
While the masala chai combines the tea leaves with various spices, Ceylon gives a chocolatey taste.
What brings it out as a recent pre-workout discovery is the rich amount of nutrients it holds while offering fewer calories.
It also serves as a healthy cup of benefits for your health offering:
- Reduction in inflammation
- Antibacterial and antifungal properties
- Protection against various cancers
- Boost in the immune system
- Relief from stomach pain
- Better metabolism
In fact, its single cup is capable of boosting your endurance for a workout.
Moreover, it’s not just the endurance, but also the boost in the recovery rate and a lot more that brings it out as a pre-workout.
The next section evaluates more about such benefits that drinking black tea before a workout can give!
Key Benefits Of Black Tea Before Workout!
Black tea is the most oxidized form of tea among the white, green, and oolong forms of tea.
It is a good source of nutrients providing you with a rich blend of potassium, polyphenols, and tannins.
Because of this reason, there are certain tea benefits that you must look out for if you follow a strict workout:
#1. Rich caffeine content enhances your performance
Drinking Black Tea Before Workout gives you a solid performance because of its caffeine content.
The caffeine present acts as a stimulant during your workout sessions keeping you charged up. You already know how drinking coffee charges you up before your workout because of specific compounds.
The same compounds work on your body when you drink a cup of Black Tea Before A Workout.
However, the major difference between the two is the caffeine content.
Black tea contains a lesser amount of caffeine than coffee and still activates your nervous system for a better workout session.
[highlight color=”yellow”]A single cup will give you 45-50 mg of caffeine which is enough to stimulate the release of adrenaline in your body.[/highlight]
Hence it helps pump you up both physically and mentally helping you fight the fatigue from the workout.
In simple words, it will tune up your body for a tough session.
#2. A boost in stamina and weight loss
According to several studies, the benefits of drinking black tea before a workout includes weight loss and tough stamina.
And all of this is because of the apt dosage of caffeine and antioxidants it contains.
The tea works ideally for various workout results because:
- It contains high amounts of flavonoids and antioxidants that boost energy and can control cholesterol
- The tea reduces triglyceride levels helping you fight abdominal obesity
- It helps boost your stamina for an intense workout
- The drink also works for the time-trial performance of cyclists
Altogether, this low-calorie drink can help you get many positive results out of your workout.
Apart from this, there are many more reasons why you must use black tea before and even after a workout.
Let us elaborate on that.
Black Tea Before Workout Routine – Reasons To Trust Black Tea!
Black Tea Before Gym has ideal advantages for general health as well as workouts!
This must have been clear with the above section showing off some of the key benefits that it offers.
In this section, we will discuss closely why black tea pre-workout can deliver such massive results.
#1. It keeps you hydrated during workouts
Hydration is important to go on with intense workout sessions. Dehydration during workouts cause impaired muscle functions and loss of strength.
This is because muscles are built of around 75% of water. Hence, lack of water affects muscle regeneration and repair.
This affects your ability to get the most out of your workouts. Moreover, you also lose water while you sweat out during the sessions.
Hence drinking water before your workouts is an essential routine. That’s when the role of black tea comes into action.
Black tea before workout provides you with enough hydration to survive the long sessions. It also supports your muscle health.
In case you wonder if even the energy drinks can provide you this, then here is what facts scream about.
Energy drinks usually contain high caffeine and sugar levels which might not give you the amount of hydration your body needs.
But when you take black tea, it’s only water with fewer calories and more polyphenols giving you just what you need.
#2. Enough energy to go on for long tiring hours!
One of the best Black Tea Before Workout Effects includes the high energy levels it offers.
Now if you are already a gym freak, you would know how energy matters in your exercises.
People with goals to build up muscles and a better physique must have enough energy to stay focused. Since many people usually hit the gym post-work, energy drinks usually matter a lot.
But most of the energy drinks out there contain high calories and even added flavors and sweeteners.
These contents usually hamper your fitness levels!
To escape such harm, and get the desired energy levels you can switch from such drinks to healthy black tea.
It will help you gather enough energy to fight the tiredness of heavy exercises.
In fact, it will keep you focused, and the hydration effect will make you enjoy your sweating sessions.
Hence, instead of artificial energy drinks go for this one natural refresher to hit your gym goals.
#3. Better recovery of muscle aches and damages
Post the workout sessions, your muscles are usually tired and fatigued.
Though this indicates a good workout session, the pain is often not bearable.
Hence it is very important to take the right nutritional diets and drinks post your workout.
This will help you repair your muscles and help them recover faster. The faster these muscles recover the quicker you will be able to hit the gym.
It will also help you get some quality lean muscles!
Hence, more than the workout, what matters during the toning of muscles is the nutrients going inside your body.
And where will you get those nutrients from?
Well, let black tea come to your rescue as the rich levels of catechins present in it help in recovering muscles faster.
Hence drinking black tea after a workout or even before a workout will help in supporting your muscle training.
It will also help you in reducing muscular pain post your workout.
As a bonus, the relaxing effects of the black tea will enhance your focus on the goal. Thus, it will help you complete and achieve your goals quicker.
#4. Boosts metabolism and helps in fat breakdown
The caffeine and catechins present in black tea make it an ideal drink for boosting metabolism and fat metabolization.
[highlight color=”yellow”]Moreover, the study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that the caffeine in black tea has the ability to boos up your basal metabolic rate by almost 6%.[/highlight]
Since you already know that green tea has the amazing property of boosting metabolism because of catechins.
Black tea serves the same results!
The catechins which are actually antioxidants help reduce your body weight as well as your waist size with the right exercises.
Hence, drinking black tea before your workout boosts your metabolism helping your body burn more fat than usual.
However, you must take care of the caffeine dosage that you are following. It should never exceed 400 mg a day!
Moreover, people with caffeine sensitivity would have to take special care of the amount of caffeine they are taking.
#5. It brings changes in the gut bacteria promoting weight loss
According to a prominent study from the European Journal of nutrition, black tea holds the property of bringing changes to gut bacteria. It can increase the bacteria which promotes lean mass and reduce the bacteria responsible for weight gain.
These changes plus the workout you follow will indeed help in reducing your weight as well as fat levels.
In fact, taking black tea before a workout will also amplify the efforts you put in for your weight loss journey.
With just 2 calories per cup, it also acts as a perfect blend that promotes healthy living with less calorie intake.
However, for enjoying most of the benefits of black tea, you must actually know how to drink it.
Black Tea Before Workout For Weight Loss – Making The Perfect Cup Of Tea!
Tea is very simple to make, but people like taking it in different ways.
However, what is important for making a perfect pre-workout black tea is the timing and the precision.
You just need three ingredients for a perfect blend:
- Water
- Tea leaves
- Healthy sweetener (optional)
For sweeteners, you can use honey instead of sugar for a healthy start. However, if you don’t like honey much, make sure you don’t add too much sugar to ruin its health benefits.
Once you have gathered all the ingredients, start with the process.
- Just get a saucepan and add a cup of water or as desired. The amount of water usually depends on the number of cups you would like to make.
- If you are using sugar cubes here, add the sugar cubes to the water and put the saucepan on a medium flame.
- Heat the water for around two minutes while stirring it now and then.
- Once the water starts boiling it’s time to add the leaves. Sprinkle these leaves and stir on a medium flame for two minutes.
- When the water reaches the right colors and consistency, strain the tea leaves and here you are with the perfect cup of tea.
Since we are not making the regular cup of tea, what’s important here is to remember few points.
When you are making this tea make sure that the tea is steeped for around three to five minutes. But that again goes as per your preferences of mild or strong brew.
But you must make sure of the quality of tea you are using.
Apart from this, if you want to go for a strong brew, do not overcook the tea for a longer time, this will make it bitter.
Instead, try using more tea leaves.
Low temperature may not give you a rich flavor, hence make sure that the tea gets a good boil before pouring it out.
When making black tea, never go for distilled water as this will give you tasteless black tea.
Always go for freshwater for a perfect cup of tea.
Conclusion
Usually, people take black tea early in their breakfasts with a toast or however you like it.
But if you are working out in the evening we suggest you not take it to post your workout.
This is because it contains caffeine and might interfere with your sleep cycle.
In fact, people with caffeine sensitivity must also make sure that they don’t overconsume caffeine in anyways.
People with weight loss goals can use black tea for a good amount of nutrients and a daily cup will only boost their results.
However, don’t expect the tea to work rapidly as it’s a natural stimulant, not a magic potion.
Moreover, follow a diet and a workout routine for the best results.