Coffee & Optimised Performance Training: Fuel Your Workout Naturally 

If you ask me whether I drink my coffee before or after exercise, there's absolutely no contest.

Before. Always.

I generally have mine around 35 minutes before I train, and I honestly can't remember the last time I deliberately started a workout without one.

Part of that is caffeine. I feel more focused, have more energy and endurance, and when I'm resistance training I feel capable of working harder and lifting heavier.

But after years of combining coffee with training, I've realised there's another part of it that matters just as much to me.

It's the ritual.

I have my coffee, change into my training clothes and mentally move from whatever else I'm doing into training time. That beautiful cup of coffee has become a little ceremony that tells my brain: right, we're doing this now.

And interestingly, the latest research suggests there's some pretty good science behind the caffeine part too.

So, Should You Drink Coffee Before or After a Workout?

If you're drinking coffee specifically to support exercise performance, before your workout has considerably more evidence behind it than afterwards.

Research generally studies caffeine taken before exercise, often somewhere around 30–60 minutes beforehand. Personally, about 35 minutes works beautifully for me.

A major systematic review and meta-analysis published in 2026 looked at 20 studies involving 226 participants and found that caffeine improved cycling time-trial performance and mean power output.

The researchers concluded:

“Caffeine ingestion significantly reduces cycling completion time and enhances mean power output.”

They also found that lower caffeine doses could produce improvements comparable with higher doses. So this isn't necessarily an invitation to knock back three double espressos before walking into the gym.

Source: Wu J et al., Effect of caffeine ingestion on cycling performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Frontiers in Nutrition, 2026.

Does Coffee Really Improve Endurance?

There is good evidence that caffeine can improve endurance performance, although—as with most things involving humans—the response varies from person to person.

The 2026 cycling analysis found improved completion times and power output after caffeine ingestion in the studies it examined. Interestingly, the researchers did not find a significant overall change in heart rate or perceived exertion.

That makes sense to me experientially.

When I drink coffee before cardio, I don't necessarily feel like I've transformed into an Olympic athlete. I simply feel sharper and more capable of getting on with the work.

And apparently I'm not imagining all of it.

Another 2025 analysis looking at different caffeine strategies found that a relatively low dose—about 3 mg of caffeine per kilogram of bodyweight when given in capsule form—improved time-trial performance compared with placebo.

For me the takeaway isn't more caffeine equals more performance.

It's almost the opposite: find the amount that works for you.

What About Coffee Before Resistance Training?

This is particularly interesting to me because my own training combines cardio with resistance work.

I notice that after coffee I'm more focused and generally feel able to lift heavier and maintain my effort for longer.

A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis examined 12 studies involving 230 participants and came to this conclusion:

“Caffeine ingestion enhances movement velocity and power output during resistance exercises, regardless of load.”

The results varied between individuals, and benefits weren't identical across every group, but there is now decent evidence supporting what many coffee-drinking gym-goers have been telling us for years.

Source: Xiao Y et al., Effects of acute caffeine intake on muscular power during resistance exercises: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Frontiers in Nutrition, 2025.

But Does Actual Coffee Work, or Does It Have to Be Caffeine?

Now we're getting to the important question for those of us who would much rather drink a fabulous coffee than swallow a caffeine capsule.

Research has historically studied measured doses of caffeine because that's much easier to control scientifically. A cup of coffee is less predictable: bean, dose, brewing method and serving size can all affect how much caffeine ends up in your cup.

However, a 2026 scientific review comparing coffee and caffeine reported that:

“Coffee can produce similar ergogenic effects, particularly in endurance exercise.”

That's welcome news in my world.

I don't want coffee to become another supplement that has to be weighed, calculated and swallowed purely for performance. A good coffee is one of life's pleasures.

Source: Domaszewski P et al., Coffee Versus Caffeine as Ergogenic Aids: Biological and Performance Perspectives, 2026.

My Pre-Workout Coffee Routine

I generally train in the morning or mid-morning.

I prefer to wait roughly 90 minutes after waking before having my first coffee. That's my routine rather than a rule everyone needs to follow, but it works beautifully for me.

Training earlier in the day also means my caffeine is usually finished early. I like that because protecting my sleep is far more important to me than squeezing another coffee into the afternoon.

I generally train fasted as well. Again, that's personal preference—not advice that everyone should train without eating.

Some people feel terrific exercising after breakfast or a little protein. I'm generally not interested in food until around 11am, so morning coffee and training fit naturally into my day.

Milk, Black Coffee or Cold Brew?

I'm not particularly dogmatic about this.

I often put just a dash of milk into my coffee. I find it takes the edge off the caffeine feeling and lets me feel energetic but calm while I'm training.

Sometimes I'll go in another direction completely and blend our Katapult Cold Brew with a little MCT or coconut oil for a creamy, Bulletproof-style coffee.

It's delicious, particularly when I want something different from my regular morning coffee.

I don't personally choose my pre-workout coffee according to whether it's a single origin or blend, either. Drink the coffee you genuinely love drinking.

For me that's far more sustainable than forcing down something because somebody on the internet has declared it the perfect “performance coffee”.

Our Mintaka Organic is a favourite everyday choice, while Katapult is fantastic if you prefer cold brew.

I Don't Add Sugar

One thing I personally skip before training is added sugar.

If your nutritional plan requires carbohydrate around a particular training session, that's a separate sports-nutrition conversation. But I don't see any reason to turn my everyday pre-workout coffee into a sugary energy drink.

Good coffee shouldn't need disguising in the first place.

The Part Science Can't Quite Measure: Ritual

This may actually be my favourite part of the whole subject.

Coffee has become my transition into exercise.

Coffee.

Training clothes.

Training.

It's a behavioural cue.

There may be caffeine working away biologically in the background, but there is also something incredibly useful about having a ritual that makes you want to start.

Mark, our Coffee Man at Kimberley Coffee Company, is on his own health and fitness program and trains twice a week with a trainer. His routine usually involves two coffees beforehand before a mixture of cardio and resistance training.

I'm certainly not prescribing Mark's two-coffee dose to everybody!

I'm pointing out that the ritual is real.

And here's the interesting bit: even someone who can't tolerate caffeine can still have it.

What If You Can't Tolerate Caffeine?

You absolutely don't need to start consuming caffeine just because you've started exercising.

If you don't drink caffeine now, I certainly wouldn't recommend suddenly adding it to your diet simply because research suggests it may improve performance.

Some people become anxious, shaky, uncomfortable or simply don't feel good after caffeine. Others metabolise it differently or find even relatively small amounts interfere with their sleep.

That's when decaf becomes rather fabulous.

You can still have:

Coffee → training clothes → workout.

You still get the aroma, flavour, warmth and ritual without needing the caffeine hit.

If you're choosing decaf, I prefer coffees processed without chemical solvents, such as the Swiss Water Process. You can explore our decaffeinated coffee range if caffeine isn't your friend.

People who are pregnant, have relevant medical conditions, take medications affected by caffeine, or have concerns about anxiety, heart rhythm or blood pressure should get individual advice from their healthcare professional rather than taking a coffee roaster's blog as medical instruction.

We know coffee. We're definitely not your doctor.

What About Coffee After a Workout?

This was one of the things I specifically wanted to check when rewriting this article.

Personally, I don't drink coffee for recovery.

There is some emerging research around coffee, caffeine, carbohydrate and post-exercise glycogen replenishment, but the evidence isn't strong enough for me to tell you that everybody should be having a coffee after exercising.

If you love one afterwards, fantastic.

If you've had a huge training session and you're exhausted, caffeine may make you feel more alert—but feeling less tired isn't necessarily the same thing as physiologically recovering faster.

For recovery, I'd rather concentrate on the boring but important things: hydration, appropriate nutrition, rest and sleep.

Don't Sacrifice Tonight's Sleep for Today's Workout

This is probably my biggest qualification to all the pro-coffee exercise research.

I wouldn't personally use caffeinated coffee before an evening training session.

Even when caffeine helps today's workout, that's not much of a victory if it ruins tonight's sleep and leaves tomorrow's training worse.

Caffeine sensitivity varies enormously, so there isn't one universal coffee cut-off time. I simply prefer having my caffeine and my training earlier in the day and letting both wind down well before bedtime.

So What's My One Piece of Advice?

Make a genuinely beautiful coffee part of your training ritual.

Don't think of it as medicine.

Don't think you need enormous quantities of caffeine.

And don't start consuming caffeine purely because you've read that athletes use it.

But if you already love coffee and tolerate caffeine well, having a cup before training can be a wonderful combination of pleasure, ritual, focus and—according to some increasingly strong science—a modest performance advantage too.

For me, the coffee starts the process.

I drink it, pull on the training gear and know it's time to get moving.

And I wouldn't train without it.

Simone – The Coffee Girl
Kimberley Coffee Company

Research referenced

Wu J, Xu K, Yin M et al. Effect of caffeine ingestion on cycling performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Nutrition, published January 2026.

Xiao Y et al. Effects of acute caffeine intake on muscular power during resistance exercises: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Nutrition, 2025.

Xue R et al. Effects of Caffeine Dose and Administration Method on Time-Trial Performance: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. Nutrients, 2025.

Domaszewski P et al. Coffee Versus Caffeine as Ergogenic Aids: Biological and Performance Perspectives. 2026.

This article shares our personal experience with coffee and training alongside published research. It is general information only and isn't medical or sports-nutrition advice.