Caffeine is perceived as a stimulant that increases muscle endurance and strength, which is why it is sometimes accepted by athletes just before the competition. However, it turns out that improving the results of caffeine is significantly reduced when the athlete is an enthusiastic cup of coffee.
Most of us use caffeine to increase the amount of energy in the morning or to be able to work more efficiently for a long time. Athletes often take caffeine to improve their performance. Regular use of caffeine may, however, cause the athlete to achieve worse results if the competition requires repetition, e.g. gears. And even in a situation where he will take caffeine just before the competition.
Small black
Discovered by Freidrich Rung in 1819, caffeine is the most popular psychoactive substance in the world. Chemically, it is a purine alkaloid that plants use as a natural pesticide. People have consumed caffeine in various forms since the Stone Age, initially chewing leaves, seeds or the bark of plants, and later preparing them for infusions. Today coffee is the best known source of caffeine, although alkaloid is also included in tea or yerba mate. Caffeine contributed to receiving the Nobel Prize in 1902 by Hermann Fischer. Although Runge obtained a relatively clean caffeine for the first time, it was Fischer who determined its chemical structure and offered it a completely chemical synthesis. Among other things, for this achievement Fischer was awarded the Nobel Prize.
Caffeine is absorbed in the stomach and small intestine about 45 minutes after consumption. Its half-life, the time after which half of the amount of caffeine is metabolised, is on average between 4 and 5 hours in an adult human. However, the duration of caffeine half-life is influenced by cigarette smoking (shortening it) and hormones: in women taking hormonal contraception the caffeine half-life is extended to 5-9 hours, and in pregnant women it is 9-11 hours. Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system, reducing fatigue, reducing sleepiness, increasing the ability to focus attention and positively influencing the process of remembering. It has also been proven that caffeine increases muscle endurance and strength, which is used by athletes who just before sporting events often reach for supplements containing caffeine.
Coffee? No thanks
Irish scientists have proved, however, that the regular use of sports by athletes may cause their form to decline. 18 men who were members of the sports team took part in the survey. They were given the task of completing ten 40-meter sprints. Before each race, the athlete would get chewing gum. Some of them received gum with a dose of caffeine, corresponding to two cups of strong coffee, while others chewed gum with decaf. The daily intake of caffeine by the study participants and how the daily dose of caffeine will affect the results during the course (with and without stimulation) was also checked.
It has been proven that the athlete's body every day reaching for the equivalent of at least 3 cups of coffee daily gaining tolerance to caffeine, and caffeine gum had little effect on the time of the sprint. It was also noticed that athletes who consumed large amounts of caffeine every day achieved worse results in subsequent runs - even when they used caffeine gum as a stimulant. In turn, players who did not reach every day for caffeine or took small amounts of it, stimulating the effect of caffeine gum were observed - and in all ten sprints.
The results of the study show that regular use of caffeinated beverages can lower the performance of athletes. Researchers recommend that caffeine should be discontinued a few days before the competition, because only then caffeinated "doping" can bring the expected results.
Based:
M. Evans, P. Tierney, N. Gray, G. Hawe, M. Macken, B. Egan,Acute Ingestion of Caffeinated Chewing Gum Improves Repeated Sprint Performance of Team Sports Athletes With Low Habitual Caffeine Consumption. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism (2017) 1-25