Can Coffee Help Sports Performance?
In August 2015 the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee looked at whether caffeine could have a positive impact on sporting performance. The findings were certainly very interesting. Members of the group included Professor Greg Whyte, professor in Applied Sport and Exercise Science and Dr Sophie Killer a performance nutritionist at British Athletics. Their findings can be summarised below.
Key Research Findings
- Caffeine is most effective in endurance sports which last more than 5 minutes
- Caffeine can improve short term high intensity performance
- Caffeine can reduce muscle pain during endurance exercise, reduce muscle soreness after strength exercise and generally assist in the recovery process
- They found that it is not true that you should avoid caffeine prior to and during exercise, in fact the view is that coffee can contribute to fluid balance.
How To Use This Research
If you drink a cup of coffee an hour before exercise this can help you exercise up to 30% longer. Exercise will also feel easier and output will be improved. To be exact, consuming 3-4 mg of caffeine per kilogram of bodyweight improves endurance in cycling, high intensity running, sprinting, football and rugby.
So this research is suggesting that a small amount of caffeine taken an hour before exercise could really help improve performance end encourage people to stick with their exercise plan.