Caffeine and Endurance
Posted November 16th, 2006 at 7:00 AM by Hariz Siddiqui
Section: Running & Training, Nutrition, Health & Fitness
We have reported in the past, that it might be best to hold off on the coffee, or other sources of caffeine, until your after your run. However, we have posted this article, hesitantly, to at least inform you of the recent studies that have found caffeine to increase endurance. Just remember that although caffeine can produce the positive effects discussed below, there are many possible dangers and moderation is key.
[Studies have shown] that caffeinated drinks increase endurance during long events such as a marathon, triathlon [or cycling events]. A study from the University of Birmingham in England shows that caffeine helps the body use more carbohydrates from drinks that you take during exercise (Journal of Applied Physiology, June 2006). Those who took sugared drinks with caffeine were able to absorb and use 26 percent more of the ingested sugar than those who took the same drinks without caffeine.
Previous studies show that caffeine helps athletes run faster in both short and long-distance races. In short races, it makes athletes faster by causing the brain to send messages along nerves to cause a greater percentage of muscle fibers to contract at the same time. In longer races, it delays fatigue by preserving stored muscle sugar. Muscles get their energy from sugar and fat in the bloodstream, and from sugar, fat and protein stored in the muscles. When muscles run out of their stored sugar, they hurt and become more difficult to coordinate. Caffeine causes muscles to burn more fat, thus sparing stored muscle sugar to delay fatigue.
Nobody really knows how much caffeine you can take in without harming yourself. At rest, caffeine is a diuretic, but during exercise it does not increase urination. Caffeine is a potent stimulant that can cause irregular heartbeats in people who already have heart disease, and raise blood pressure in people with hypertension. [It can also lead to severe dehydration].
Most research shows that it doesn’t take much more than one or two soft drinks to increase endurance. Caffeine loses its beneficial effects with repeated exposure, so athletes who want to gain maximum advantage from caffeine during competition should avoid drinking caffeinated beverages when they are not exercising.
This post is written by Dr. Gabe Mirkin, M.D. and used with permission. Dr. Mirkin is board certified in Sports Medicine and has practiced for over 40 years. He has completed more than 40 marathons and was a talk show host of a nationally-syndicated radio program for about 25 years. For more articles by Dr. Mirkin, please check out: www.DrMirkin.com
Tags: blood pressure, caffeine, coffee, dehydration, diuretic, endurance, energy enhancing, fatigue, heart disease, hypertension, irregular heartbeat, stimulant
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The Final Sprint
I’m far from a “real runner” but I do pop a couple hundred mgs of caffeine before I do a cardio workout at the gym. I figure its not too much of a problem if it’s kept in moderation.
November 16th, 2006 at 8:35 pmI like to have a glass of tea (20oz) before I run a marathon. It seems to have helped me.
November 19th, 2006 at 10:57 pm[…] Yesterday, TFS hesitantly posted an article to inform you about caffeine’s potential endurance benefits. However, it is clear in that article and in this one that caffeine abuse poses very dangerous and severe risks for even the most sedentary individuals. These risks are significantly intensified for runners, cyclists and other competitive athletes. […]
March 29th, 2007 at 12:19 pm