Fang Ting

Fang Ting first encountered Chinese tea not in a quiet teahouse, but between sets of heavy deadlifts. A competitive powerlifter based in Henan, she was searching for something to replace the pre-workout spike-and-crash, and a friend introduced her to a 2018 Dà Hóng Páo (大红袍). The oolong’s roasted, mineral complexity and the steady, L-theanine-smooth caffeine curve were a revelation. She went from curious lifter to dedicated student, eventually training under Masters in Xinyang and Wuyi, earning her Senior Tea Expert title with Teamotea.

Today, Fang Ting leads the strength and powerlifting vertical at tea.fitness, designing pre-training and recovery protocols that pair the most functional teas with the demands of high-load training. Her go-to pre-workout brew is a robust, medium-roast Tiě Guān Yīn (铁观音) — its balanced amino acid profile and moderate caffeine sustain focus through a 90-minute block without jitters. For intra-training hydration, she steers athletes toward cold-brewed Xìn Yáng Máo Jiān (信阳毛尖), a Henan green with a crisp, vegetal profile that supports electrolyte balance when prepared with a pinch of salt and honey. And for sleep and deep recovery, she advocates aged shēng pǔ'ěr (生普洱), rich in antioxidants and the microbial metabolites that attenuate inflammation — a subject she explores with the research team at tea.doctor.

Her cross-category cupping skills, honed across Henan’s tea mountains and in blind-tasting sessions with the broader tea.school, allow Fang Ting to pinpoint the exact oxidation, roast, and leaf grade that align with an athlete’s metabolic needs. She has contributed to the caffeine-timing guidance on tea.energy and works closely with the lab at tea.doctor to validate anti-inflammatory markers in aged pu-erh. Her subscription boxes at tea.fitness often feature limited-run wulong from the Wuyi cliffs and sheng samples curated for the long-haul recovery.

At tea.fitness, Fang Ting hosts no live events but welcomes questions in the community threads, where her no-nonsense, evidence-first voice has become a trusted resource for lifters looking to harness the quiet power of the leaf.