Red Bull really does give you wings

Today was a long day, I was up at 5:15am, at the hospital from 7:00am-4:45pm and by the time I got to the gym for deadlift day, I was dragging a little. Well, more than a little. The idea of picking up the bar, let alone with a couple plates on either side, seemed absurdly daunting. So I decided to throw caution (and the advice of my nutrition coach who has had me off pre-workout supplements since June) to the wind, bought a sugar-free Red Bull at the gym and chugged it along with my pre-workout protein shake.  

After getting over the experience of drinking Red Bull without vodka being part of the picture (the stuff is seriously gross and it's been a few years since I've been down the Red-Bull-vodka road to no-memories-of-what-happens-there), I got to work warming up and starting my training for the day. 

I. Felt. Amazing. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

I don't know if it was just the caffeine or all the other random crap in Red Bull (niacin, taurine, etc, etc), but I felt better than I have in weeks, AND I deadlifted 241# for 5 reps, which is definitely a PR since I cleaned up my form. All in all, a serious success.

Coming home from the gym I started to worry that drinking caffeine this late in the day would mess with my ability to sleep tonight, but based on the fact that it's 8:55pm and I can barely keep my eyes open, I think it will be ok. 

I am considering adding caffeine back in to my pre-workout routine, in the form of black coffee though, not Red Bull. I think it may help carry me through the next few weeks of pre-comp training and honestly, it just felt really good today and I want that feeling back . . . caffeine is an awesome, awesome drug.