Is it time to swap your pre-workout protein shake for a cup of coffee?
According to one study, perhaps.
People who drink coffee before exercising perform better than those who don’t, scientists found.
Researchers gathered up 46 amateur cyclists who had been exercising between one and three times a week for at least a year.
They were asked to complete a questionnaire about how much coffee they usually drank, then were divided into two groups: the low group, made up of people who typically drank one or two cups a day, and the high group; people who drank four to five cups a day.
Some of the cyclists were then given a cup of Nescafé Original, containing three milligrammes per kilogramme (mg/kg) of caffeine, while others drank a placebo.
An hour later, they completed a five kilometre cycling time trial on an exercise machine.
Drinking coffee before the trial improved people’s physical performance by on average 1.7%, regardless of how much coffee participants usually drank, the researchers found.
That’s not a massive increase, we know, but if you’re trying to up your speed or endurance, this suggests a quick espresso might be a good shout.
Previous studies found coffee can boost peoples’ physical endurance by suppressing pain, reducing fatigue and improving neuromuscular performance.
Author Dr Neil Clark at the University of Coventry said: ‘The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of habitual caffeine intake on five kilometre [three mile] cycling time-trial performance following the ingestion of caffeinated coffee.
‘Ingesting coffee, providing three mg/kg of caffeine improved five kilometre cycling time-trial performance with similar performance observed between habitually low- and high-caffeine users.
‘Consequently, habitual caffeine consumption did not affect the ergogenic effect of coffee ingestion prior to a five kilometre cycling time trial.
‘The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) established that there is an association between caffeine consumption and an increase in endurance performance and capacity, coupled with a reduction in the rate of perceived exertion during exercise.
‘This is the first study, however, to investigate whether regular coffee consumption impacts these energy and performance enhancing effects.’
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