Strong Exterior, Healthy Interior:Part 2 - Caffeine, Friend or Foe?

Posted by at 12:00 02/12/11

“A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems”

- Alfred Renyi.

Ask any common person in the street what the most commonly consumed psychoactive drug in the world is...and almost none of them will mention caffeine, yet the worldwide consumption of this compound is astounding due to it's natural presence in many foods (cocoa, guarana, kola berries) and beverages such as tea, coffee and energy drinks (Heckman, Weil & Gonzalez de Mejia, 2010).

Caffeine comes from a class of compounds known as methylxantines, that can take up to an hour to peak levels in the bloodstream after ingestion (from coffee or other beverages) but likely much faster if taken without food or in a more processed form (such as a pre-training drink).

After this it'll take at least 6-12hours, to clear 50-75% of the compound from your system (McKardle, Katch & Katch, 2007).

I shan't bore you with a complex science lesson on caffeine, however, it's an interesting compound...

Converted by the liver into 3 main metabolites or the 'di' methylxanthines: Paraxanthine, Theobromine and Theophylline. Each of these little gems has differing effects on the body, and overall, augment caffeine's useful and deleterious effects.

• Paraxanthine increases lipolysis (fatty tissue breakdown), leading to an overall increase in blood plasma glycerol and fatty acid levels. Having the strongest effect as a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant.

• Theobromine causes vasodilation and increases diuresis (urine volume). This is the principle alkaloid found in coffee and cacao beans.

• Theophylline causes relaxation of the smooth muscle in the upper airways (hence its use in asthma treatment).

Whilst anyone who's embraced caffeine prior to training will often recount the improvements in performance they had, as with all sports supplement compounds, there are some issues with caffeine consumption as outlined in the following table:

*This only affects individuals who do not consume caffeine regularly (e.g. 2-3 cups of caffeinated tea/coffee daily).


I'm putting the coffee cup down...

Whilst you're probably choking on your latte at the thought of some of those side effects, but this is a non-biased article, so I must stipulate that many of the negative side effects reported are often from acute, high dosages and they vary considerably between individuals...

...henceforth, in English literature, there has only been 8 mortalities from acute caffeine ingestion (McGee, 1980) and all were from pharmaceutical grade caffeine pill ingestion.

Unless you have a desire to ingest the equivalent of 80-100 cups of coffee in one sitting (toxic dose for caffeine), then you can pick the latte back up and keep reading!

So how am I best using caffeine?

My best advice would be from the wise words of my great grandmother...

'everything in moderation'

(she should know, having reached the grand age of 102 this year).

However, moderation for one, is not moderation for another.

If your goal is better performance in training, then caffeine usage should not be abused. A rate of diminishing returns in the gym occurs quickly with habituation, as little as >300mg per day is needed to develop complete tolerance (Bell & McLellan, 2002).

For example, a single cup of coffee contains ~100-150mg caffeine (depending on brewing), so one only needs to drink 2-3 cups a day to start the downward trend to losing the benefits of caffeine in the gym!

Very quickly, that 1 scoop of 'Supercrazy Energy Extreme' won't be enough...

Here's my steps to get the best out of it:

1)Calculate how much caffeine you ingest (from all sources) during a typical day. This is a great link to get you started: http://www.energyfiend.com/caffeine-content-uk-europe-drinks.

Remember! Chocolate also contains caffeine, the relative cocoa content will depict how much (70% containing the most). A standard bar of Cadbury's Milk Chocolate will have ~6mg per 30g.

2) If you've reached >300mg, then you might want to consider reducing your intake (especially) if you have trouble sleeping.

Start by gradually reducing the strength (but not frequency) of cups of coffee & caffeinated drinks/foods taken throughout the day to help 'wean' you away from the caffeine* .You can still take caffeine pre-workout at this stage.

*If you calculated <300mg, you can withdraw more quickly due to the lack of tolerance developed.

3)Once you've halved your total intake across the day, begin reducing the frequency of caffeinated beverages and foods, starting from the latest hour of the day you take caffeine. Again, you can continue to take your pre-training caffeine at this stage but work on eliminating all other sources.

4)Once you've whittled your intake down to as little as possible, start working on your pre-training caffeine...

All current research to date shows that as little as 3mg/kg of bodyweight (~200mg for a 70kg man) is as effective as a much greater dose of caffeine.

Doses >9mg/kg of bodyweight lose their most of ergogenic benefits in the wake of more side effects, so don't be tempted to creep it back in again!

Could I just use coffee pre-training?

In short, yes, but you won't get the same benefits.

In reference to the caffeine metabolites, the difference in abundance in coffee vs. pharmaceutical grade caffeine is the principle reason why coffee and chocolate do not exert the same ergogenic effect in sports (Graham, Hibbert & Sathasivam, 1998).

So whilst a good-old cup of morning Java might be beneficial to provide the motivation to hit the gym...it won't necessarily enhance performance in the same manner as pharmaceutical-grade caffeine or other stimulants often found in pre-workout beverages.

Not only do these supplements contain the correct formulation of caffeine, they often contain other proven ergogenics such as:

Creatine monohydrate, Beta alanine, L-carnitine, citrulline malate, glycine-L-arginine-alpha-ketoisocaproic acid calcium (GAKIC), yohimbine HCL, 1-3 etc.

So stumping up for that posh pre-training beverage is very likely worth it in the long run. Hopefully if you've followed my suggestions, you'll get the best from it.

References:

Astorino, T.A. & Robertson, D.W. (2010) Effect of acute Caffeine Ingestion for Short-Term High-Intensity Exercise Performance: A Systematic Review. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 24(1), p.257-265

Bell, D.G. & McLellan, T.M (2002) Exercise Endurance 1, 3 and 6 h after caffeine ingestion in caffeine users and non-users. Journal of Applied Physiology, 93, p.1227-1234

Graham, T.E., Hibbert, E. & Sathasivam, P. (1998) Metabolic and exercise endurance effects of coffee and caffeine ingestion. Journal of Applied Physiology, 85(3), p.883-889

Heckman, M.A., Weil, J. &Gonzalez de Mejia, E. (2010) Caffeine (1, 3, 7-trimethylxanthine) in foods: a comprehensive review on consumption, functionality, safety, and regulatory matters. Journal of Food Science, 75(3), p.77-87

McGee, M.B. (1980) Caffeine poisoning in a 19-year old female. Journal of Forensic Science, 25(1), p.29-32

McKardle, W.D., Katch, F.I. & Katch, V.L. (2007) Exercise Physiology, Energy, Nutrition & Human Performance. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Baltimore

Sokmen, B., Armstrong, L.E., Kraemer, W.J., Casa, D.J., Dias, J.C., Judelson, D.A. & Maresh, C.M. (2008) Caffeine Use in Sports: Considerations for the Athlete. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 22(3), p.978-986

Sunderland, K., Greer, F. & Torok, Z. (2011) Multiple Sprint Performance and Wingate Measures Following Acute Caffeine Ingestion. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 25, S1

Warren, G., Park, N., Maresca, R., McKibans, K. & Millard-Strafford, M. (2010) Effect of Caffeine Ingestion on Muscular Strength and Endurance: A Meta-Analysis. Medicine in Science & Sports & Exercise, 42(7), p.1375-1387

Author: Rick Miller

If you liked this piece, please take a look at the following articles:

Strong Exterior, Healthy Interior Part One: Glorious Guts

Supplements - When You Should Cycle Them