Caffeine revisited!

A few years ago I ran this column on caffeine and had a pretty strong response from many of my readers. Some folks were very much against the idea of using caffeine to enhance their exercise performance. Others agreed that caffeine has an important place in their fitness regimen. Most did agree however, that out of all the supplements in use for health and fitness, caffeine falls into the lesser evil category of supplementation.

The one common theme when it comes to caffeine is almost everyone has a strong opinion ether for or against ingesting caffeine for any reason. With this in mind lets revisit caffeine in regard to exercise and fitness.

The use of caffeine during exercise can enhance performance by increasing the concentration of certain types of hormone-like substances in the brain called endorphins. The endorphins are those magic little guys that help you function in the morning after that first cup. Plus they reduce perception of pain and create a sense of well being.

Caffeine will also delay fatigue during exercise by blocking adenosine receptors on fat cells. As a result, caffeine increases the level of free fatty acids in the bloodstream which leads to increases in fat burning during exercise. Now if you follow my column, remember "Bonk" when glycogen, your principal fuel for muscles, depletes and exhaustion occurs? Well, caffeine mobilizes stored fat and encourages working muscles to use fat as a fuel along with your glycogen. It is important to note, however, a poor diet high in sugar and bad carbohydrates counteracts any benefits of fat burning, so check your diet. Caffeine consumption in moderation does not appear to cause any health problems. A daily cup of coffee has been shown to have many health benefits.

Studies have shown solid performance increases in various endurance exercises and competitions after consuming caffeine. In one study, elite runners improved their time in a run to exhaustion by 1.9 percent with caffeine. Caffeine increased time to exhaustion in a cyclist by 15 minutes in another study. Even though benefits of caffeine used in endurance sports and/or exercise sounds like a no-brainer, you may find your individual results can vary widely.

A few factors that need to be considered are how your metabolism, diet, and frequency of caffeine used will affect how you will react to caffeine during exercise. Here are a few key points on caffeine consumption during exercise and endurance sports:

1. Caffeine does not significantly impact water balance or body temperature during exercise, but it is important to remember caffeine is a mild diuretic, so always hydrate properly during any exercise. It is recommended to consume about 12 8-ounce servings of water daily!

2. How much caffeine should be consumed prior to a workout? For a 150-pound runner, roughly 210-320 mg, or the amount of caffeine from 14 to 16 ounces of drip brewed coffee.

3. There is no supporting evidence that higher doses of caffeine provides any more benefit to your workout. In fact, it will more than likely give you unwanted side effects like headache, jitters, stomach distress etc.

4. Consuming caffeine about 30 to 60 minutes before your workout or race is the standard recommendation. However, some studies show consumption 3-4 hours before a workout helps trigger fat burning. Although blood levels of caffeine peak much sooner, the maximum caffeine effect on fat stores appears to occur several hours after peak blood levels.

5. It is important for any of you that are under a physician's care that you check with your doctor about the relevance of caffeine to your health and any issues it may have with prescription medications you may be taking.

Everyone will vary in his or her response to caffeine use during exercise. Take a "learn by doing in moderation" approach and you will find what works best for your body. You may find no caffeine and better rest or sleep is the answer to a more energized workout or competition.

Judd Jones is a director for the Hagadone Corporation.