As an avid runner, I remember reading an article a few years ago about the positive effects of caffeine on fitness performance. Is this true?
How can caffeine effect your fitness program?
—Alan Grant, Z Pizza, Seal Beach
Before I dive into this question let me define what caffeine is, where it is found, and how it interacts with our bodies.
Caffeine is a bitter tasting chemical stimulant that is found naturally in coffee beans, tealeaves, cocoa beans and some fruits. Although it was discovered in 1819 by a German chemist, things like coffee beans have been around for hundreds of years and have been used by many cultures as medicine and food.
Today, it is most commonly consumed by people like you and me in the form of coffee, tea, chocolate, energy drinks and is a popular added ingredient in carbonated beverages and some over-the-counter mediations.
In a study done in 2000 it was estimated that 54 percent of Americans drink caffeine everyday.
Today with the integration of more sodas and energy drinks this number has increased to 90 percent, mostly effecting our youth and younger generations.
Physiologically, caffeine makes us feel alert, pumps adrenaline to give you energy and changes dopamine production to make you feel good, but how?
Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system by blocking the chemical reaction that normally causes a calming effect in the body.
Your heart rate increases, your pupils dilate, your muscles tighten up, and glucose is released into your blood stream for extra energy. This in part is the “fight or flight” response you have likely heard about.
Caffeine versus fitness
performance
In addition to various psychological and physiological effects, numerous studies have documented caffeine’s enhanced effect on athletic performance, particularly in regard to stamina and endurance.
Studies show that caffeine ingested 1-2 hours prior to exercising increases stamina and endurance in moderately strenuous aerobic activity. Other studies researching caffeine consumption on elite distance runners and distance swimmers show increased performance times following caffeine consumption.
Caffeine’s positive performance-enhancing effects have been well documented—so much so that the International Olympic Committee placed a ban leading to disqualification for an athlete exceeding regulated levels for performance. Roughly 600 to 800 miligrams of caffeine, or four to seven cups of coffee or related beverage, consumed over a 30-minute period would be enough to exceed this level and cause disqualification.
Caffeine: pre-exercise drink?
Although caffeine has shown to have benefits to providing endurance in fitness it has not shown any results for strength improvement. In fact, ingestion of caffeine can counteract the body’s production of creatine that helps with your muscles natural ability to access stored energy for maximal output.
So if you plan to hit Starbucks before your next 10K, be sure you’ve been drinking it during training, says Nancy Clark, a dietitian and author of the Sports Nutrition Guidebook.
Too much caffeine can make you overly jittery and nervous, and that may hurt performance, says Bülent Sökmen, a researcher in the department of kinesiology at California State University-Fullerton.
The caffeine downer
Despite coffee/caffeine’s positive effects on psychological states and performance, there are numerous documented risks.
Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system and can produce restlessness, headaches, and irritability.
Caffeine also elevates your heart rate and blood pressure.
Perhaps the most important long-term problem is the effect of caffeine on sleep.
The half-life of caffeine in the body is about 6 hours. If you drink a big cup of coffee with 200 miligrams of caffeine at 4 p.m., at 10 p.m. you still have about 100 miligrams in your body.
Even though you may be able to sleep, you may not be able to obtain the restful benefits of deep sleep. What’s worse, the cycle continues as you may use more and more caffeine in hopes of counteracting this deficit.
Caffeinated conclusions …
Though caffeine has some benefits in relation to exercise performance, risks have been documented. Most problems seem evident with very high consumption.
The American Heart Association says that moderate coffee drinking (one or two cups per day) does not seem to be harmful for most people.
As with everything else, moderation is the key to healthy caffeine consumption. Slow and steady wins the race. We suggest that if you drink coffee, drink only one cup prior to an exercise program and drink organic coffee. Enjoy that cup!
Bryce Turner is co-owner of Beach Fitness at 148 Main E&F. He has a bachelor of science degree in physical therapy/exercise science.
Do you have a question for Bryce and this column? Call him at (562) 493-8426 or send e-mail bryce@beachfitness.com.
