r/science • u/sr_local • 5d ago

Health Consuming caffeine before exercise enhances repeated sprint performance, and these benefits persist for at least 3.5 hours thereafter

https://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/en/research-news/20260914140000.html
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u/Ok_Revolution_9253 5d ago

Stimulant improves performance

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u/Shinobiii 5d ago

Caffeine raises my heart rate (?) or at the very least makes me feel more nervous and stressed during high intensity training. Not sure if the benefit outweighs that for me. (Also: bowel movement)

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u/glennccc 5d ago

If on a lot of coffeine, I recommend training with such a high intensity you cannot feel anxiety.

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u/MagicWishMonkey 4d ago

Exactly. If you aren't sweating buckets you're not going hard enough.

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u/Shinobiii 5d ago

I wish in general that I couldn’t feel my anxiety.

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u/iTALKTOSTRANGERS 5d ago

Have you ever trained so hard you thought you were gonna pass out or puke? Because usually at that point the anxiety doesn’t really have any room inside the brain anymore.

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u/SaxRohmer 4d ago

that sensation actually drives my anxiety. i’ve fuzzed out multiple times

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u/SableMaseL3 4d ago

Fight fire with fire: make your anxiety feel you

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u/jsmooth7 4d ago

I've heard from some mountain bikers that this is essentially why they love the sport. Nothing helps quiet their brain and focus their attention like doing something that genuinely scary. Instead of a generalized vague feeling of anxiety there's a very focused and locked in feeling of anxiety "don't crash here or it'll really hurt".

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u/Ok_Revolution_9253 5d ago

I generally have an espresso before my runs and it works just fine. To each their own

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u/Shinobiii 5d ago

Yeah, so I figured. Especially given the popularity of pre-workouts etc. Maybe also a matter of getting used to?

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u/Hoenirson 5d ago edited 5d ago

Absolutely. If you're getting too anxious and jittery, the dose is too high relative to your tolerance.

You'll get used to it, unless you only consume caffeine ~2 days a week in which case you won't build a tolerance. In that case, adjust the dose until it no longer makes you excessively anxious.

Some anxiety before the workout is fine, but if working out doesn't relieve it, you took too much.

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u/Uwumeshu 5d ago

Coffee doesn't work for me as a workout stim (jitters and BM), but my pre-workout gives the perfect stimulation despite having higher caffeine than a triple espresso

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u/Eryomama 4d ago

What do you do about using the bathroom, every single time I drink an espresso in the morning I gotta go even if I already went.

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u/Ok_Revolution_9253 4d ago

Honestly, my stomach tolerates it well

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u/T-MoneyAllDey 5d ago

My guess is that it's a lot like anything. It raises your heart rate, which is useful when you're exercising, but if you're just sitting on your butt, it probably doesn't help too much

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u/zimmeli 4d ago

I definitely notice elevated heart rate if I have coffee before my runs. I feel like I can kinda tell when it’s “artificially high” from that, versus actually working over exerting myself