Written by Garett Reid | NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S
Fact checked by Sam Coleman, Co-Founder
FACT CHECKED
No this isn’t clickbait.
I will tell you a specific time when you should take caffeine to increase your fat burn.
Caffeine is one of the most effective sport supplements we know of and has a variety of benefits including:
- Delayed fatigue
- Decrease rate of perceived exertion
- Mitigates pain
- Increases cognitive function
- Improve muscle firing to produce more power
- Increases
- Causes an increase in BMR
We now know that caffeine also directly increases the rate at which fat is broken down, a process known as lipolysis (1).
This is done through the activation of hormone-sensitive lipases (HSL), an enzyme that breaks down stored fat into free fatty acids and glycerol. Once broken down, the fat can be transported more easily and converted into energy.
At the same time, caffeine inhibits glycogen phosphorylase from being released. Glycogen phosphorylase is the enzyme that helps break down stored glycogen into glucose to be used for energy.
So basically you have more stored fat being broken down and less glycogen. As a result, your body burns more fat for fuel!
It’s important to distinguish that you burn more fat but this doesn’t necessarily translate into losing fat. You will still need to get a caloric deficit to burn the fat and keep it off!
So when should you take caffeine?
As caffeine helps break down fat, taking it before fasted workouts can theoretically give you a little bump in performance.
Not only will you burn more fat, you should theoretically have more energy. This is in addition to all the other benefits like increased energy.
Still, I should mention that other studies show that this effect can still occur even when not in a fasted state so either way, you’re good!
There are a couple of caveats. This effect is seen in greater magnitude with untrained or less-trained individuals as well as non-habitual caffeine users. However, other people will generally still see an effect, but it’s just of smaller significance.
Further, doses of 3.0 mg/kg of body weight tend to produce optimal results.
Other than that, if you’re a fan of morning fasted workouts, or want to start, pop some caffeine 20-30 minutes before you set out!
Garett Reid
Author