Why a Coffee Nap might just be THE secret to getting the most from your workout

Coffee and sleeping… pretty much two of our all-time favourite things.

Unfortunately, however, the duo are star-crossed lovers destined to lead separate lives... or so we thought. Enter the Coffee Nap, something that is loved and used by athletes the world over. The concept is simple: you drink a cup of coffee then take a 15/20 minute nap BEFORE the caffeine kicks in. For years, scientists have been advocating the use of caffeine to combat driver fatigue, and it seems athletes are now doing the same to kick-start their afternoon work-outs. Irish Olympian Arthur Lanigan O’Keeffe recently raved about the pre-workout coffee nap. So after a particular strenuous work day with zero energy and no real desire to head to the gym, Her decided to try it out. Here’s a timeline of our Coffee Nap adventure: 5pm        -     Ate dinner 5:30pm  -     Made coffee 5:32pm  -     Drank coffee 5:35pm  -     Seriously considered not training and hibernating for February 5:40pm  -     Headed to bed and set an alarm for 20 minutes 5:41pm   -     Closed our eyes and tried to clear our busy minds 5:45pm   -     Tried to remember if we took chicken out to defrost 5:50pm   -     Eventually drifted off 6pm         -     Cue alarm So did it work? Well, in a word, YES! In fact, we can definitely see coffee naps being a staple part of our routines. Although we wouldn’t recommend doing it any time after 7pm (caffeine is caffeine after all!) as you mightn't then sleep that night. And we all know that evening or afternoon sessions in the gym can be seriously tough. It’s hard to motivate yourself during the eternal Irish winter (especially when there’s Netflix to watch and chocolate to eat). Coffee Naps are great when used as part of your training routine: you'll feel invigorated, fuelled and ready to attack that workout. Certainly, this is one technique that is worth trying out. And if all else fails and the gym remains unvisited, at least you’ve had a coffee AND a nap... so life is good.