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Caffeine Myth-Busting...

Friday, 04 March 2016 00:10

By Katie Rhodes (usatriathlon.org)

Grabbing for that daily morning cup of joe may not be the route for endurance athletes. Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the benefits of a caffeine rush just as much as most of you. But, when it comes to those wanting to use caffeine to create a competitive edge during an event, being a habitual consumer decreases the likelihood of such an effect. Caffeine enhances performance. The research can’t be ignored that caffeine is a proven ergogenic aid in endurance exercise through its effects on alertness, concentration, pain tolerance and perception of...

fatigue. But, in order to get the most out of your caffeine consumption is to not consume it on a regular basis and limit it to your endurance exercise and events. So, as you are sadly putting down your usual afternoon pick-me-up let’s start with understanding the basics about caffeine and then how you can use it as a competitive advantage.

(MYTH BUSTER: Caffeine is not a diuretic. Despite your bathroom urgency, continuous research consistently debunks this hypothesis.)

Caffeine is the most widely consumed drug in the world with over 50 percent of the population consuming caffeine on a daily basis in various forms, the most common being coffee. Once consumed it is easily absorbed into the bloodstream through the stomach and intestines causing physical and psychological responses within the body. Benjamin Stone, Ph.D. and founder of Sigma Human Performance, shared that he uses caffeine because of its sparing effect on muscle glycogen. He explains that caffeine causes a higher dependency on exogenous forms of carbohydrate, prolonging endurance activity. Psychologically, researchers agree in addition to increasing alertness, caffeine reduces pain levels and alters your perception of fatigue, allowing endurance athletes to work at a higher level of intensity for a longer period of time resulting in an increase in work performed. Less research is available on caffeine’s effect on strength training and shorter events, but what is available has shown caffeine consumption increases the dynamic and isometric muscular force, power and endurance strength, all of which positively impact endurance performance. After averaging out findings from various studies, caffeine consumption before an endurance event can improve performance by 3-3.5 percent. That may sound small, but think about it; in a one-hour time trial that is almost 1.8-2.1 minutes and in a 10-hour race that is 18-21 minutes. That is huge, folks. Recent research has concluded that caffeine has a significant impact on recovery as well, reducing perceived muscle soreness. Worth a try, right?  READ MORE