Coffee and Exercise

There's a hot, new thirst quencher that appears to be taking the place of water at my health club. You might have heard of it. It's called coffee.

It's not a shock that coffee finally surfaced on the health and fitness scene. After all, it has a lot of exciting short-term benefits. For one, it makes you temporarily feel stronger, faster, and healthier than you really are. It also dehydrates you, making the number on the scale look more appealing. It's an appetite suppressant, helping your body to ignore your built-on survival mechanism to replace all the calories you worked so hard to burn off -- which is amazing for rapid weight loss.

Coffee doesn't just stimulate weight loss faster, though. It also helps to make your heart beat faster; raises your blood pressure faster; and makes you age faster. Cool, right? And, the best part about your hot, roasted beverage: it does all these things to your body before you even get your exercise routine started.

With all the amazing effects coffee has on the human body, it's a wonder why people still drink water. I mean, I've never heard anyone ever say, "I'd look a lot thinner if not for all this extra coffee weight!"

But, don't rush off and trade in the water bottle for a travel mug just yet. Even though water might not be the beverage of choice for short-range appearance goals, it is excellent for another aspect of your life that frequently goes overlooked. More specifically: your health.

What's so great about water? Well, it's the main ingredient in your body. And, when you don't have enough of it, you slowly begin to shrivel up like a weed in the hot, dry sun. Every organ in your body suffers; along with your health and, more importantly, your appearance.

One of my favorite things about water is that you can drink pretty much as much as you want without having to worry about gaining weight or harmful side effects. In fact, the more you drink, the better it is for your body. Keeping your body hydrated with water may not always look great on the scale, but it slows down the aging process inside and out and makes you feel and look healthier long-term.

So, if you're exercising for short-term appearance purposes and like that long-term leather face look and crusty, decrepit internal organ feel -- coffee is definitely the way to go.

If you're exercising for health purposes and like to look and feel amazing all the time, then I recommend good, old fashioned H2O.