Coffee before workout or sport

Coffee May Reduce Muscle Pains

From http://theedge.bostonherald.com/healthNews...bg?articleid=38

Your morning cup o' Joe may do more than get you going. It may help blunt the
pain of any exercise you do later.
Researchers at the University of Georgia report caffeine was able to reduce
levels of muscle pain felt by volunteers who did strenuous cycling exercises.
``This could be one way to feel a little less muscle pain when you work
out,'' said Patrick O'Connor, professor of exercise science.
The researchers had tested aspirin on exercising volunteers and reported
that it had no effect on reducing muscle pain.
``Muscle contractions produce a host of biochemicals that can stimulate
pain,'' he said. ``Aspirin blocks only one of those chemicals. And apparently
the biochemical blocked by aspirin has little role in exercise-induced muscle
pain.''
O'Connor said caffeine blocks a biochemical known as adenosine that is
produced during vigorous exercise.
The paper, published in the Journal of Pain, tested 16 volunteers who
cycled for 30 minutes on two separate days. The exercise was designed to make
their thigh muscles hurt. Subjects took either a caffeine pill or a placebo pill
about an hour before the workout. Those who took the caffeine pill reported
substantially less pain.

I think I've had a double espresso too many today. I'm seeing double.

The clue was in the "Patrick O'Connor" - to be sure, to be sure.

caffeine is also supposed to increase fat burn during exercise.

http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/1998/09sep/hawley.htm

Has to be cycled on and off to be effective
throw in a little caffeine and ephedrine (yes I know it's illegal) and a six pack can be yours!

I drink coffee just before I go before I go for a run, but more to kill my hunger pangs because I'm usually starving when I get home from work.

Adenosine triphosphate is, however, used up by exercise and usually in the first 100m or so. The formation of lactic acid is what causes the pain. I would assume coffee assists in the slower buildup of lactic acid since lactic acid is formed due to oxygen debt and the increase in heart rate caused by caffeine could result in more blood being oxygenated and thus more oxygen getting to the muscles thus slowing down the buildup of lactic acid.

Have finished my coffee now. Off I go for my daily caffeine-enhanced canter...

what does "cycled on and off" mean? Infrequent high doses rather than a steady intake?

Close , it means the body quickly builds up a tolerance to the substance and it's fat burning and muscle sparing properties subside - so using it for this purpose means (say) using it everyday for one week (with exercise) and then staying off for two weeks or one day on and two days off (say).

Fuck that, I would suffer more pain from having to give up coffee for two weeks!

This has no scientific background, only personal experience. But caffeine certainly has an efffect on my heart rate. Increases heart rate, force of contraction and speed of conduction and some say bathmotropic effects as well. Wouldn't advising people to drink caffeine cause people either to lose efficiency of their exercise program? Hitting their max. VO2 rate much earlier. I would suggest staying away from it, for long exercise, but use it right before you swim the 100M Fly in the Olympics.

Ok, it seems Patty O'Conner checked for what I thought of, here is an abstrat of his from last year,

Pain. 2004 Jun;109(3):291-8. Related Articles, Links
Click here to read
Dose-dependent effect of caffeine on reducing leg muscle pain during cycling exercise is unrelated to systolic blood pressure.

O'Connor PJ, Motl RW, Broglio SP, Ely MR.

Department of Exercise Science, University of Georgia, 115-L Ramsey Center, Athens, GA 30602-6554, USA. poconnor@coe.uga.edu

This double-blind, within-subjects experiment examined the effects of ingesting two doses of caffeine on perceptions of leg muscle pain and blood pressure during moderate intensity cycling exercise. Low caffeine consuming college-aged males (N=12) ingested one of two doses of caffeine (5 or 10 mg.kg(-1) body weight) or placebo and 1 h later completed 30 min of moderate intensity cycling exercise (60% VO2peak). The order of drug administration was counter-balanced. Resting blood pressure and heart rate were recorded immediately before and 1 h after drug administration. Perceptions of leg muscle pain as well as work rate, blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen uptake (VO2) were recorded during exercise. Caffeine increased resting systolic pressure in a dose-dependent fashion but these blood pressure effects were not maintained during exercise. Caffeine had a significant linear effect on leg muscle pain ratings [F(2,22)=14.06; P < 0.0001; eta2=0.56 ]. The mean (+/-SD) pain intensity scores during exercise after ingesting 10 mg.kg(-1) body weight caffeine, 5 mg.kg(-1) body weight caffeine, and placebo were 2.1+/-1.4, 2.6+/-1.5, and 3.5+/-1.7, respectively. The results support the conclusion that caffeine ingestion has a dose-response effect on reducing leg muscle pain during exercise and that these effects do not depend on caffeine-induced increases in systolic blood pressure during exercise.

@Ullysses

I hope it doesn't make you repeat your runs as well.

@Yeti

No, unfortunately, it's not that good.

I find it wakes me up before I go go.

Huh? you drink coffee, pee, and then go for a run?

Yes, how did you know?