Every day, millions of people wake up to a good cup of coffee (or tea, if you’re British). People need that hit of caffeine to power up the early part of their day.
We are pretty sure that everybody already knows that caffeine is fantastic for giving a bit of extra perkiness, but did you know that caffeine may also have an impact on your athletic performance? Let’s look.
How Caffeine Impacts Athletic Performance
The main ingredient in a high stim pre workout is caffeine, and there are a few reasons for this. These reasons include:
- Boosted energy levels
- Reduced pain
- Increased strength
- Increased speed
Let’s explain.
Firstly, caffeine is known for helping to boost energy levels. It is only a temporary boost to energy levels, but it is enough to help make the workout go a little bit smoother. When people supplement with supplements that contain caffeine, they have been shown to work out for longer periods of time, and far harder. This means that you are either going to see faster gains, or faster weight loss.
Some studies have also suggested that caffeine can inhibit pain a small amount. When you work out for longer periods of time, you’re far more likely to be dealing with pain. This pain can end your workout session earlier than planned. So, by having some caffeine before you exercise, some of that pain can be avoided. Again, this is going to help you to work out for longer and harder.
In terms of increased strength, a study looked at how much men could lift after dosing with caffeine. These studies indicated that there was a slight boost in the lifting power. We are not saying that you will magically be able to lift tons of extra pounds when you supplement with caffeine. However, you may be able to add a few extra pounds to the weights that you are lifting. This could lead to slightly faster muscle building, but only ever so slightly faster. Do bear in mind that the benefit of caffeine here doesn’t really seem to have a huge benefit when you are new to strength training. It only becomes a huge benefit when you have been lifting for a while. Nobody really knows why this is the case.
Finally – a study indicated that those who supplemented with caffeine were able to run and cycle faster than those who didn’t. This is something that seemed to happen only over long distances. So, caffeine may be a good supplement for those who are doing long distance cycling or running.
The Cons of Using Caffeine to Improve Athletic Performance
The major downside of caffeine is that it is a drug. It is addictive. If you regularly dose for caffeine, especially in addition to a few cups of coffee per day, you’ll become addicted to it. You will crave the caffeine, and this could potentially cause headaches and nausea. So, most people will only supplement with caffeine when it is a small amount.
Secondly – if you use caffeine, there is a small risk that it can cause headaches and sickness. So, if you have any negative side effects after taking caffeine supplements, then stop taking it immediately.
Finally – while we doubt this will apply to too many people reading this, it is worth noting that many bodybuilding competitions ban the use of caffeine over a certain amount. While you should be fine to drink a few cups of coffee per day, as soon as you supplement for caffeine, then it becomes an issue. So, if you are using caffeine supplements and entering competitions, make sure that you check the rules.
Caffeine Dosages
While there are several pros to taking caffeine to improve your athletic performance, you must remember that caffeine is a drug. As we said – caffeine is addictive, and it can give you withdrawal symptoms if you suddenly stop taking it. However, you should also remember that you can overdose on drugs.
Studies have shown that the maximum amount of caffeine you should have is about 3-6mg per kg of body weight per day. While you may be able to have a touch more than this, we wouldn’t recommend it. Having more than this per day is likely to cause the negative consequences that we highlighted before, and you will certainly feel the effects of caffeine addiction. Bumping the caffeine dosage up even further is dangerous.
If you drink coffee (or any drink containing caffeine), then we suggest that you keep an eye on your consumption when you are planning to take a caffeine-containing supplement too. This will prevent you from taking too much and, hopefully, prevent you from getting addicted or sick.
Do bear in mind that you can receive much the same benefit from caffeine in coffee as you would with a pre-workout supplement. We just recommend pre-workout supplements because they will often be loaded with a lot more beneficial things.
Final Thoughts
There is evidence that caffeine can have an impact on athletic performance. Studies have shown that caffeine can increase alertness, endurance, strength, and speed. It can also help to reduce pain when you are working out. While the current studies are quite small, they have been well-designed.
This is why more and more companies are now starting to add caffeine to their pre-workout supplements. Take a pre-workout supplement containing caffeine, and you will really feel a lot of benefit during your workout sessions.
