Just to add some clarity here, I am suspecting that the bodies rate of improvement may be reduced/impaired by the chronic use of caffeine (eg slower mitochondrial reproduction, enzymatic production etc)



Cheers

Benno,

My only argument against the long-term use of caffeine in endurance training would be similar to the one I posted about ephedra... it goes something like this:

Caffeine raises your blood pressure, core temperature, and (most importantly) heart rate. For athletes (like me) who base most of their training on heart rate, this poses a problem:

If I generate 203W at heart rate 135 without caffeine and then start drinking the stuff, it will cause my heart rate to rise. Then maybe I need to cut back to 190W to maintain that 135 HR.

I think this compromise hurts both my training AND my weight control in the long run. I'd argue that I'm likely to get a better training benefit AND lose more weight over time by training at the higher resistance, w/o caffiene, for the following reasons:

(Bear with me here.)

(1) My legs work harder and, with proper rest, get stronger by achieving 203W in my target HR zone (without caffeine ) than they would by moving down to 190W to stay in that zone (with it).

(2) Stronger legs mean either more muscle or more efficient muscle, or both.

(3) More muscle means more calories burned by that muscle just to sustain weight. Over time, more muscle with no increase in caloric intake means a loss in weight. And none of that weight lost is muscle.

(4) More muscle and less overall weight obviously means more speed up those damned hills.

I'm not sure if this holds water or not, but it seems to make sense to me. This disregards any of the psychological effects of coffee, which can be admittedly strong.

I pulled out the Sports Science Exchange "Caffeine and Endurance Performance." It's from 1990, so it certainly may be missing more recent study results.

Highlights: Caffiene raised fatty acid levels that may lead to increased fat burning during exercise. Caffeine study results have been inconsistent. "While there is not sufficient evidence demonstrating that caffeine benefits the endurance athlete, studies have not found caffeine intake to be detrimental to endurance performance either."

I went "off" caffeine for a year before IM Canada in 1997. I had a very comfortable race in about 10:45:00. I haven't done it since. After a huge break-up a few months ago I went back to using caffeine (comfort food) pretty heavily. Sitting here at Xantusia on my 3rd cup right now. I have this sense that if I could kick the habit it may benefit me. But its also good medecine for a broken heart, and that is my most chronic concern.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

For the eudurance athlete this is the key physiological benefit of a few cups of coffee prior to a long(2+ hours) training session or race. Caffeine raises the level of fatty acids in your blood. The net result of this is a sparing of glusose metabolism over the course of the race/work-out. Thus extending the time of the use of glucose as the main fuel for energy. This has been proven repeatedly in the lab.

Would this hold you back? - likley not, as it would allow you to push for longer work outs at higher intensities.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I don't have the studies available, but I do "remember" reading that caffeine spares glycogen and reduces fatigue but does NOT increase heart rate.

I may have read this at peakperformance online. So you may check there.

The only problem I see with using it on a daily basis is when you do have a "big" workout or race, you won't get the immediate benefit, since your body would be adapted to it. On the other hand, you may be ahead of where you would have been if you didn't use it, so it may not matter.

Hope this helps.

Jeff

For those of us who can't stand coffee, would 12-16 oz. of Coke or Mountain Dew (flat, of course) prior to a long workout provide the same benefits?

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Dave in WI
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"What you once were isn't what you want to be anymore" - Wilco

Thanks to all those replying here.

Some interesting issues brought up...to paraphrase: "caffeine use is shown to raise levels of fatty acids and spare glycogen use"

This is the area I suspect is a double edges sword. HOw does this sound:If the training was routinely done, then the body would "expect" the fatty acid levels to be in the blood, without the body having to make an effort to raise the levels itself, whereas if the training was routinely done without caffeine, then the body would adapt to quickly raise the levels itself, without requiring caffeine.

Any comments on the above statement?

I normally cut back/cut out caffeine for about 1-2 weeks prior to race day anyways to build up a tolerance again, to increase effect on race morning.

Cheers

For a long time I had been a heavy caffeine user/addict.
I would have about 4 liters total in a day of diet and regular soda.

I quit entirely last summer, because I had heard it was really bad for running.

When CC season started, my times started at 22:04 and moved down to 20:30. On One course in perticular, that we had ran 5 times already, 20:30 was my best time. We had that course for regionals, the last meet of the season for me.

I wanted a sub-20, and on the way there and up to 2 minutes before the race, I chugged diet MD code Red.

I finished with a 19:33 time. And this was the first race I actually passed people, and wasn't passed at all myself in.

SO my suggestion is deprive yourself of it for some time, and then load before anj important, yest "short" race.

Just my 2 cents.