If you are seriously into athletic competitions, you know about carb-loading before an endurance event. But have you ever considered coffee–or caffeine-loading? The caffeine in your morning coffee can improve your physical endurance so much that, until 2004, it was one of the International Olympic Committee’s “controlled” substances. Athletes whose urine tested at more than12 mcg of caffeine per ml were disqualified. They could enjoy coffee, but had to be very careful about how much,and when. What exactly does caffeine do help athletes achieve peak performance? It appears, according to Dr. Terry Graham,of the University of Guelph in Canada, to affect both the brain and muscles. It may induce the brain into ignoring symptoms of fatigue, and into–that timeworn sports cliché–“reaching back for something extra” by calling on seldom-used muscle capacity.
And its greatest benefit may be that, once you have exhausted your glycogen stores, caffeine speeds up your body’s release of fat to keep your muscles fueled. So competitors who have the right amount of caffeine coursing through their systems improve their chances of being less tired, stronger, and faster than competitors who don’t. And what is the “right amount”? It depends on your body mass, but Graham suggests that 3 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram–2.2 pounds–of body weight is about right. A 10-12 ounce mug s of strong coffee per 150 pounds would suffice. And coffee, of all the caffeinated beverages, is the most efficient way to caffeine-load. Because the caffeine content of regular coffee runs between 200% and 400% that of teas, colas, and energy drinks, you need to consumeless of it. And the less coffee you drink, the less likely you are to interrupt your athletic performance for personal comfort reasons.
The downside? Coffee is a mild diuretic, and can also cause the large intestine to contract, creating stomach cramps or diarrhea; neither characteristic is conducive to maximum effort. So experiment to learn your own body’s tolerance for caffeine loading, and you may find a true, legal performance booster–right in your morning brew.
