Deciding to be more active is the first important step to taking advantage of all the amazing benefits of exercise. From better moods to improved sleep and higher confidence, there is no doubt that leading a healthy lifestyle brings excellent long-lasting results to your mind and body. Overall, the combination of regular exercise and a well-balanced diet spells good health.
In order to have high physical performance and endurance, you must fuel your body with nutritious food. This doesn’t only include opting for more protein, carbs and veggies, but also staying hydrated with beverages which can provide a peak athletic performance.
Black tea, in particular, has become increasingly popular among athletes as their go-to beverage before engaging in any type of exercise. It is an all-natural, calorie-free drink with many active ingredients which provide multidimensional benefits. Known for its various strong flavors, black tea serves as an excellent alternative to water during exercise.
Therefore, if you are looking to switch from water to refresh yourself before, during and after an intense workout, here are six effects of how black tea can help improve your physical performance.
Hydration
When you are physically active, your body maintains its optimal body temperature by removing heat through sweat. Therefore, as the intensity of the exercises and duration increases so does water loss. If this loss continues to increase, the result will most likely be a decrease in physical performance.
In order to prevent this from happening, black tea is an excellent way of staying hydrated. Not only will you be encouraged to take in more liquids, but it will also help improve your performance, strength and motor skills. Also, being a great alternative to water, black tea comes in different flavors which add more benefits in the form of a steady flow of antioxidants, amino acids and vitamins to your water intake.
Increased energy
Generally speaking, black tea is known as the classic pick-me-up morning beverage due to the highest amount of caffeine out of all true teas. Therefore, if you are looking to increase your energy levels for your intense workout sessions, you should opt for a cup of black tea before hitting the gym.
This tea contains about 42 milligrams of caffeine per serving which is just enough to boost your energy levels without giving you the jitters like most energy drinks do. The buzz you would get from drinking black tea before your workout comes from the presence of amino acids, with L-theanine being the most important one. This is because L-theanine helps your body process the caffeine better by neutralizing its edgy effects while enhancing the mind-focusing aspect more.
Higher endurance
Besides offering increased energy, the caffeine in black tea also helps provide higher endurance. Since the caffeine levels are much lower in this tea, drinking a cup before engaging in any type of exercise is considered a natural source of endless stamina which will keep you active throughout your workout session.
In addition to this, black tea contains the catechin EGCG which also helps increase your physical endurance. This is an essential nutrient which not only offers great anti-inflammatory properties, but it boosts your stamina by using fat as an effective source of energy.
Moreover, EGCG has proven to be useful in increasing oxygen levels which help support intense workouts. It also reduces fatty acid concentration which results in higher endurance.
Moderate stimulation
Unfortunately, it is very common for athletes to drink energy drinks or other stimulating beverages to achieve higher energy levels and endurance to survive an intense workout. However, these alternative drinks contain a ton of caffeine, sugar and additives which can result in crashes especially if consumed often.
Therefore, in order to prevent any undesired consequences, drinking a cup of black tea before your workout is a much better option. This tea is lower in sugar and caffeine which provides the much healthier and moderate stimulation you need before you engage in any physical activities.
The caffeine in black tea is considered one of the truest substances for enhancing performance because it basically gives you the right push you need.
Burns fat
Since the caffeine present in black tea has proven useful in boosting energy levels, it can also increase your metabolic rate. This means that your body will be able to perform better during your exercise which will undoubtedly help you improve your fat distribution.
Therefore, if you are looking for a natural way to slim down, you should definitely opt for a cup of black tea. This tea is known as the most oxidized tea variant which contains many antioxidants such as flavonoids that are promising when it comes to losing weight.
Moreover, black tea is a naturally calorie-free drink you can drink before your workout session to help you feel full sooner. This will decrease your caloric intake which is also crucial in losing weight.
Faster recovery
In reality, intense or prolonged workout sessions produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) within the human body. This results in damage to fats, proteins, nucleic acids and especially muscle cells. When this happens, the outcome is fatigue and overtraining and your body’s oxidant defense system isn’t enough to prevent such stress.
Therefore, one way of alleviating these symptoms is to have a cup of black tea. The antioxidants present in this tea protect the body from the oxidation effect of intense physical activities. This means that your body will be able to recover much quicker and have less damage to your muscle cells after a workout.
In addition, the antioxidant effect of theaflavins in black tea also helps decrease the oxidation of blood glutathione (GSH) after exercise.
Final thoughts
If you want to switch from drinking water and avoid energy drinks to give you the boost you need for an intense or prolonged exercise, black tea is the perfect option for you. It is most recognizable for its strong flavor and moderate amount of caffeine as well as the variety of health benefits it provides athletes. You can also look read for more tea reviews if you want to explore other tea varieties that are good for your health.
The combination of many antioxidants and other compounds help the body achieve excellent physical performance which undoubtedly will be long-lasting. Therefore, if you are willing to improve your physical endurance, have a cup of black tea before hitting the gym and get through your workout session with ease.
