How caffeine affects athletic performance

Published: March 20, 2020

We all know that caffeine can have a significant impact on the human body. This is something that everyone who has had one too many cups of coffee can confirm. However, the main question now is how caffeine affects athletic performance. We are going to focus on answering this question in this article. Keep on reading and you will have a chance to learn all of the answers!

First things first- what is caffeine?

Basically, we can say that caffeine is a stimulant that is metabolized by the liver. It is absorbed by the small intestine and stomach within 30 or 45 minutes after ingestion. The trick part is that caffeine can stay in the system for up to three to six hours after consumption. As our system metabolizes it, caffeine breaks down into three compounds.

These compounds have an effect on vasodilation, decreasing airway construction in the lungs and triggering fat oxidation. Since caffeine stimulates the nervous system, it can influence sports performance in several ways. In case you need an additional piece of advice, feel free to ask your personal trainer Dubai at home.

How to consume caffeine when it comes to strength performance

If you think that caffeine can only enhance endurance performance, you are wrong. It can also be of great help when strength performance is in question. As a matter of fact, this is proven through research. Namely, the researchers formed a team of male athletes and provided all of them with 5 mg/kg of caffeine. During this protocol, they had to do a chest press, leg press, and Wingate test. This is actually an anaerobic test that they should do on a cycle ergometer. Of course, they rested for 60 seconds between all the exercises. According to the results, there was a significant increase in performance for the chest press. Also, there was peak power on the Wingate, but there was no significant advantage for the leg press.

How caffeine affects athletic performance when it comes to endurance

If you are an endurance athlete, you will certainly find caffeine beneficial. If you consume a moderate dose of caffeine, it will get you a long way. As a matter of fact, your performance will be improved by 4 or 5 percent. There was a trial on the cycling performance. The result was that the cyclists were riding significantly farther during the hour-long time trial.

In addition to this, we can also conclude that the use of caffeine in anhydrous form, that is, with no water, is of greater benefit for the purpose of enhancing endurance performance. So, if you would like to maximize your performance, you should have a low or moderate dose of caffeine. This means that a sufficient amount would be between 3 and 6 mg/kg. In case you are thinking about what are the best exercises to lose belly fat, think about cycling.

Do not cross the limits of caffeine intake

One of the things that often happen is thinking that going over the line can be beneficial. It is the same situation when you start thinking about how caffeine affects athletic performance. Yes, it can be quite helpful, but this does not mean that you should take it with no measure. As much as 400 mg of caffeine a day appears to be safe for most healthy adults. On the other hand, adolescents should ingest no more than 100 mg of caffeine. If it happens that you exceed the recommended daily dose, you may experience some side effects. For example, some of them can be insomnia, a rapid heartbeat, and muscle tremors. So, avoid putting yourself in a situation like this and be careful about the consumption of caffeine.

You should not worry about hydration if you take it moderately

When thinking about how caffeine affects athletic performance it probably also comes to mind whether you will be hydrated enough. Since coffee has a diuretic effect and it is dehydrating, this may worry you a bit. However, there is no reason for you to feel this way. If you moderately consume caffeine, you will certainly not get dehydrated. So, avoid crossing the limits of caffeine intake and there will be no side effects such as this one.

Be careful about where you buy your coffee

Even though drinking coffee can have good effects on your performance, it does not mean that your body will react the same on just any kind of coffee. This means that buying coffee in some of the most well-known coffee shops usually has a lot of calories.

For example, regular coffee with two sugars and two creamers has 80 calories. Also, a large vanilla frappuccino has as much as 470 calories! Since these are not diet beverages and you need something that will help you start your day fresh and full of energy, choose black coffee. It has no calories which means that you will put neither your body nor your performance in danger.

You have had a chance to see how caffeine affects athletic performance. There is no reason why you should not try this. You should also measure your results and if there is some difference, you will notice it in no time. So, the most important thing is not to exceed the daily limits and there will be nothing for you to worry about. Do everything by the book and you will get to enhance your athletic performance in great measure.