Although caffeine is a social accepted drug, when consumed in high doses it may be toxic and produce several acute health problems.
On the other hand, when consumed in very low doses, it may not give a significant impact to improve performance (and many times, overall being).
Therefore, it’s essencial to understand where the threshold of the benefits and risks stand, in order for us to be able to get the benefits while doing it in the safest manner possible.
To do so, 37 studies were reviewed to evalute the different effects of caffeinated drinks (coffee, energy drinks…) on physical performance in various sports categories such as endurance, power-based sports, team sports, and skill-based sports.
The results showed improvements in time performance, jump height, maximal force, ability to perform repeated sprints, power, isometric muscle strength, and in a variety of other tests.
Meaning the results of this Systematic Review do indeed show that caffeinated drinks can have a positive effect in several aspects of sports performance, as long as some criteria is met.
1 ) The dose has to be, at least 3 mg per Kg of bodyweight to impact performance
When the dosage was lower than 3 mg per Kg there was no improvement on the tests made.
Not only that, but one study reported that the athletes who didn’t regularly consume caffeinated drinks, were more likely to benefit from them.
This suggests that consuming regularly low doses of caffeine (lower than 3 mg per Kg) may not have any impact on performance, but will make your body more familiar to it, and thus, more resistant to higher doses aswell.
This can lead to (if not taken into account) a constant increase in the dosage of caffeine needed for any impact on performance, and on the long run, several health related problems.
2 ) The ingestion should be done either before, or during the activities
Although it’s pretty known that those beverages should be drinked before, not many people know that drinking caffeinated drinks during endurance-based sports may also be benefitial.
This is because, if only taken before, the positive effects will only be shown at the first portion of the activity.
Consuming it during the activity can be done for both rehydration and caffeine supplementation to increase performance during the latter phases of the exercise, ensuring you get the benefits throughout the whole time!
But remember…
“Although it has not been the focus of this study, it is essential to note that caffeinated drinks may produce several side effects, which should be evaluated when planning to use this type of drink to increase sports performance.”
– The Authors
Main Reference:
