Have you ever had a cup of coffee before a workout and found it boosted your performance? Well now science backs up your experience, with a review finding that endurance is enhanced by around 24 percent after drinking coffee.
The only issue? You’ll have to drink a whole lot of it to get those dramatic effects.
Can coffee boost your fitness?
The University of Georgia team led by Simon Higgins, reviewed more than 600 articles. These were whittled down to nine studies specifically linking coffee and endurance.
"Previous research has focused on caffeine itself as an aid to improve endurance," Higgins said. "Coffee is a popular source of caffeine, so this paper looked at the research surrounding its ergogenic benefits," Higgins said in a UGA press release.
What did the review reveal?
After the review, the team discovered that athletes recorded a 24 percent increase in endurance after drinking between 3 and 7 milligrams of caffeine from coffee, per kilogram of body weight.
In the nine trials, athletes ran or cycled before drinking coffee. After the brew, they worked out intensely and had their endurance measured.
Just bear in mind that the amount of coffee needed to see those benefits was between two and five cups – quite a lot for the average person.
The researchers concluded that "caffeine from coffee has ergogenic benefits – that it enhances physical performance – and that more research is needed on the use of caffeine from coffee versus pure caffeine use."
They also stress that athletes (and more importantly, we mere mortals) should discuss coffee and caffeine intake with their trainer or healthcare professional since it can cause side effects.
Originally published on Feb 01, 2016
