caffiene - good or bad before a workout?

[serendipity]

I have gotten in the habit of drinking a caffienated beverage like Red Bull or diet coke before most of my lifting workouts and have been pleased with the results. I can normally lift more and lift longer after drinking caffiene (ie: i have better workouts and make more progress).

However, what about swim, bike and run workouts? What kind of effects does caffiene have on them? Do you think that the negative effects might outweigh the potential positive ones?

 

[jrstevens]

I have gotten in the habit of drinking a caffienated beverage like Red Bull or diet coke before most of my lifting workouts and have been pleased with the results. I can normally lift more and lift longer after drinking caffiene (ie: i have better workouts and make more progress).

However, what about swim, bike and run workouts? What kind of effects does caffiene have on them? Do you think that the negative effects might outweigh the potential positive ones?

you might not benefit as much from the effects of caffeine when you are a regular user i.e caffeine tolerance develops. then you have to drink more of it to achieve the same effect but also experience some of the undesirable side effects. FWIW, I've found caffeine to be a great stimulant for hard rides when used infrequently.

JS

 

[ric_stern/RST]

I have gotten in the habit of drinking a caffienated beverage like Red Bull or diet coke before most of my lifting workouts and have been pleased with the results. I can normally lift more and lift longer after drinking caffiene (ie: i have better workouts and make more progress).

However, what about swim, bike and run workouts? What kind of effects does caffiene have on them? Do you think that the negative effects might outweigh the potential positive ones?

Life just wouldn't be the same without a Lavazza espresso or two in the morning.

There is some evidence that caffeine will help in endurance exercise, and the negative effects are lessened by habitual use

ric

 

[bikeguy]

I drink a liter of coca cola a day and it may be coincidence but my interval power was 20-30 watts off when I didn't drink cola on that particular day. I do the intervals at 440-460 w.

-Bikeguy

 

[ric_stern/RST]

I drink a liter of coca cola a day and it may be coincidence but my interval power was 20-30 watts off when I didn't drink cola on that particular day. I do the intervals at 440-460 w.

-Bikeguy

I hope it's sugar free

 

[Spunout]

Life just wouldn't be the same without a Lavazza espresso or two in the morning.

Ditto. Espresso, yes.

Red Bull? Whatever.

 

[AussieRob]

The AIS put out a paper on caffeine when the WDA un-banned it. Take a look if you want the scientific view.

If you can't be arsed to look it up Rick is right.

 

[bikeguy]

I hope it's sugar free

Do you think I'm too heavy at 6 feet and 75 kg? I weighted 72.5 kg in October for a VO2 max test. I usually gain 2 or so kilos in the winter.

When I was 17, our school had a trip to New York city. There was a 12 hr bus ride there, and for the three days I was there, I didn't take a **** (12 hours of sitting does this to me). I had weighed myself at 76 kg the day we arrived, and I weighed 75 kg three days later. I ate fries, steak, chicken, deli sandwiches (and bagels!!) etc while I was in New York. I don't know how it's possible!
One day later, after much metamucil I was able to go to the bathroom. The whole time, I didn't feel ill, I didn't feel sick, nada.

I now know not to eat heavy processed foods during a 12 hr bus ride, I think we stopped twice at McD's on the way over. I didn't eat anything on the way back.


-Bikeguy

 

[Felt_Rider]

I feel like an addict and hate to admit this, but at 4 am my alarm goes off and I take a 200 mg caffiene pill and lay in bed until it kicks in. Then I go train.

I should just get an IV drip and set it to a timer.

 

[MichaelB]

I feel like an addict and hate to admit this, but at 4 am my alarm goes off and I take a 200 mg caffiene pill and lay in bed until it kicks in. Then I go train.

I should just get an IV drip and set it to a timer.

Well **** me!

 

[ric_stern/RST]

Do you think I'm too heavy at 6 feet and 75 kg? I weighted 72.5 kg in October for a VO2 max test. I usually gain 2 or so kilos in the winter.

I was thinking about your teeth and dental care.

Ric

 

[bikeguy]

I was thinking about your teeth and dental care.

Ric

No problems there either.

Thanks anyway.

I could use a life though...

-Bikeguy

 

[li rider]

I don't know if it is good or bad. I do know that I am a regualr coffee drinker. If I drink before a workout, withuot changing anything else my heart rate will be up to 10 bpm higher. so I now drink after the workout, not before.

I have gotten in the habit of drinking a caffienated beverage like Red Bull or diet coke before most of my lifting workouts and have been pleased with the results. I can normally lift more and lift longer after drinking caffiene (ie: i have better workouts and make more progress).

However, what about swim, bike and run workouts? What kind of effects does caffiene have on them? Do you think that the negative effects might outweigh the potential positive ones?

 

[VeloFlash]

The bad side for exercise -

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=36164

In healthy volunteers, the equivalent of two cups of coffee reduced the body's ability to boost blood flow to the heart muscle in response to exercise, and the effect was stronger when the participants were in a chamber simulating high altitude, according to a new study in the Jan. 17, 2006, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

"Whenever we do a physical exercise, myocardial blood flow has to increase in order to match the increased need of oxygen. We found that caffeine may adversely affect this mechanism. It partly blunts the needed increase in flow," said Philipp A. Kaufmann, M.D., F.A.C.C., from the University Hospital Zurich and Center for Integrative Human Physiology CIHP in Zurich,.

The researchers, including lead author Mehdi Namdar, M.D., F.A.C.C., studied 18 young, healthy people who were regular coffee drinkers. The participants did not drink any coffee for 36 hours prior to the study testing. In one part of the study, PET scans that showed blood flow in the hearts of 10 participants were performed before and immediately after they rode a stationary exercise bicycle. In the second part of the study, the same type of myocardial blood-flow measurements were done in 8 participants who were in a chamber simulating the thin air at about 15,000 feet (4,500 meters) altitude. The high-altitude test was designed to mimic the way coronary artery disease deprives the heart muscle of sufficient oxygen. In both groups, the testing procedure was repeated 50 minutes after each participant swallowed a tablet containing 200 milligrams of caffeine, the equivalent of two cups of coffee.

The caffeine dose did not affect blood flow within the heart muscle while the participants were at rest. However, the blood flow measurements taken immediately after exercise were significantly lower after the participants had taken caffeine tablets. The effect was pronounced in the group in the high-altitude chamber.

Blood flow normally increases in response to exercise, and the results indicate that caffeine reduces the body's ability to boost blood flow to the muscle of the heart on demand. The ratio of exercise blood flow to resting blood flow, called the myocardial flow reserve, was 22 percent lower in the group at normal air pressure after ingesting caffeine and 39 percent lower in the group in the high-altitude chamber. Dr. Kaufmann said that caffeine may block certain receptors in the walls of blood vessels, interfering with the normal process by which adenosine signals blood vessels to dilate in response to the demands of physical activity.

"Although these findings seem not to have a clinical importance in healthy volunteers, they may raise safety questions in patients with reduced coronary flow reserve, as seen in coronary artery disease, particularly before physical exercise and at high-altitude exposure," the researchers wrote.

Although caffeine is a stimulant, these results also indicate that coffee may not necessarily boost athletic performance.

"We now have good evidence that, at the level of myocardial blood flow, caffeine is not a useful stimulant. It may be a stimulant at the cerebral level in terms of being more awake and alert, which may subjectively give the feeling of having better physical performance. But I now would not recommend that any athlete drink caffeine before sports. It may not be a physical stimulant, and may even adversely affect physical performance," Dr. Kaufmann said. "It may not be as harmless as we thought before, particularly if you suffer from coronary artery disease or if you are in the mountains."

Dr. Kaufmann noted that this study was not designed to measure athletic performance.

Although the participants were all healthy, Dr. Kaufmann said that the results raise concerns about possible effects of caffeine in people with heart disease.

"Any advice would be based on results of healthy volunteers and would be a bit speculative; nevertheless, my advice would be: do not drink coffee before doing physical activities. We hope to be able to provide data soon on the situation of patients with coronary artery disease," he said.

The researchers noted that other studies of coffee and heart disease have produced mixed results.

Although this study included only 18 participants, the researchers said that the differences they saw were large enough for them to be confident that the effect of caffeine on heart muscle blood flow is real. They pointed out that longer studies of people with heart disease will be needed in order to understand whether the blood flow effects have important health consequences.

Thomas H. Schindler, M.D. from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in Los Angeles, California, who was not connected with this study, said that if the results are confirmed, they could have important implications.

"In particular, this may play an important role in patients with obstructive coronary artery disease in the intermediate range between 50 percent and 85 percent narrowing of the epicardial luminal diameter. In this range of coronary artery disease-induced epicardial narrowing, the myocardial flow reserve (MFR) has been widely assumed to compensate for the epicardial narrowing and, thereby, to preserve the myocardial blood flow to the heart. A further reduction of the MFR, for example owing to caffeine intake, therefore could precipitate stress-induced myocardial ischemia, angina pectoris (reflecting an imbalance between myocardial oxygen supply and demand) or could also contribute to the manifestation of acute coronary syndromes. Consequently, as stated by Namdar et al., the current findings indeed raise safety questions in patients with already reduced MFR as seen in coronary artery disease, particularly before physical exercise and at high-altitude exposure," Dr. Schindler said.

Dr. Schindler said that further studies will be needed to answer the important questions raised by this study.

 

[AussieRob]

Dr. Kaufmann noted that this study was not designed to measure athletic performance.

Not bad for excercise. I think I'll take the word of the boys at the AIS before Dr. K.

 

[moo-jo]

Although i'm sat here drinking a red bull (sugarfree), having read that, i will give some thought to whether or not i want to do caffeine before exercise.

 

[VeloFlash]

Not bad for excercise. I think I'll take the word of the boys at the AIS before Dr. K.

The AIS studies pre date this study and are heavily qualified.

When sporting teams (eg Australian Wallabies) admitted they were taking caffeine in tablet form like No Doz I know of a number of cyclists who followed suite. Although it is only anecdotal, they complained that at the same perceived effort as previously they experienced laboured breathing to breathlessness. This was before this study had been conducted.

 

[AussieRob]

I do recall that. Its also funny that the WDA would un-ban it. Either it is not performance enhancing and/or its not dangerous.

At the end of the day I don't take the tablets but I know a lot of boys who do.

 

[VeloFlash]

I do recall that. Its also funny that the WDA would un-ban it. Either it is not performance enhancing and/or its not dangerous.

At the end of the day I don't take the tablets but I know a lot of boys who do.

The problem with caffeine from an anti doping policy was that a threshold had to be set as it was a "drug" that was freely available in the community in coffees, soft drinks, chocolates, etc.

It could not be classified as a zero tolerance drug.

The threshold set by WADA and predecessors was quite high but the claimed ergogenic benefit kicked in quite low - from about the equivalent of two coffees whereas the threshold was the equivalent of about 6 coffees. So in its wisdom WADA totally removed caffeine from the banned substances list but has kept it on the observation list.

 

[unicos]

Caffeine = Bad for training & stamina.