Caffeine Exercise Performance

Caffeine is a natural central nervous system stimulant. It is considered a drug that if is overly consumed can be dangerous for one’s body. Caffeine is a temporary energy booster that improves mood and alertness for most people, mainly athletes. It can be an eye-opener in the morning, could be drunk or eaten on practice brakes, and for some, it just became a habit that they cannot go through a day without a cup of coffee before exiting their doorways. Furthermore, it requires good health and stamina for athletes to perform throughout the game, particularly the one in teams,

Caffeine is found in many plant species, where it acts as a natural pesticide. It is found most commonly in cocoa, tea and coffee, but is also artificially added to some soft drinks such as cola to act as a flavour enhancer. When consumed by humans, caffeine works as a stimulant causing amounts of released neurotransmitters to be increased. High use of caffeine has been related with raised blood pressure, restlessness, insomnia and anxiety which, in the long term, can lead to heart and circulation problems.

Various studies have been conducted in attempts to connect the use of caffeine with increased endurance levels. Graham and Spriet (1995) conducted a double-blind test involving eight endurance runners. Each participated in a control test previous to the study in which they ran a prescribed distance, to the point of exhaustion. All ate similar meals and abstained for caffeinated substances previous to the trials. Over a four-week period, each runner returned to the laboratory to run the prescribed distance while intravenously being given varying doses of caffeine. A blood and oxygen sample was collected every fifteen minutes during the run in order to record the time span until physical exhaustion was reached. The results confirmed that low doses of caffeine caused a drastic increase in endurance levels, while not altering the epinephrine (or adrenaline) levels. Also, large doses of caffeine caused great increases in plasma epinephrine levels while only slightly altering the endurance levels. This test, therefore, supposes that small doses of caffeine, when compared to

Humans have used caffeine for the past hundred years to be active and get work done faster, but is caffeine really helping us do that? Caffeine has been demonstrated to improve reaction time, cognitive performances, and physical activities. Effect of caffeine has been studied in various research studies. Caffeine is used in many different activities to stay active or awake during the task. An example of this can be college students using caffeine while studying for their exams to be alert. Even though caffeine has some benefits to it, it does have drawbacks with it such as, headaches, anxiousness, irregular or fast heartbeat and sleeplessness.

In a recent research study produced by the Kinesiology Department of Delaware University, the following findings were presented: that caffeine is a vasoconstrictor and stimulant; caffeine can increase blood pressure by contracting the heart and blood vessels in non-habitual users; caffeine changes the electro-physiological activity of the heart, increasing conductivity, even in limited doses (University of Delaware). In regards to the gastrointestinal side effects, the UD study wrote that caffeine stimulates gastric secretion, stating that some individuals are sensitive to caffeine and suffer ill effects such as acid indigestion, heartburn, abdominal pain, gas or constipation to varying degrees. In addition, caffeine inhibits vasopressin, and it acts as a powerful diuretic. Liver metabolism is

Caffeine is a legal stimulant that is consumed worldwide primarily through coffee and energy drinks (Turley, 2014; Graham, Hibbert and Sathasivam, 1998). Due to its ergogenic effect, caffeine is frequently used amongst athletes for improving their exercise performances (Magkos and Kavouras, 2004).

Our findings showed a slight increase in contraction amplitude when the muscle was exposed to 10 mM of caffeine, but a decreased contraction amplitude upon exposure to 20 mM of caffeine (Fig. 6). The duration of contraction did not change at all throughout the experiment. Our results were far from what we expected and forced us to deem our hypothesis incorrect. The results differ from previous studies, which state that exposing skeletal muscle to caffeine increases the duration and strength of contractions by opening calcium ion channels (Olorunshola and Achie 2011). It has also been suggested that caffeine increases contractions be activating the calcium release channels in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of skeletal muscle (Rousseau et al. 1988). In the case of our experiment, it is possible that the muscle was not exposed to caffeine for a duration long enough for proper absorption to occur. Another possible reason for our disagreement with previous studies could be the dosage of caffeine. In the future, the experiment should be performed once more with one or both of these things tweaked in an attempt to find the expected

In general, caffeine alters the way our brain communicates to the central nervous system by imitating or changing the release and uptake of neurotransmitters. Caffeine is consumed to awaken and make people alert, however, there are other effects caffeine has on our body. Adenosine, the neurotransmitter that makes us tired, is just one neurotransmitter that is affected by caffeine consumption. For example, if the transmission of dopamine increases, caffeine improves our mood, and may even protect brain cells against age and disease (Weinberg & Bealer, 2015). In addition, if the activity of acetylcholine increases, caffeine increases muscular activity and potentially could improve long-term memory. And lastly, if the level of serotonin adjusts,

Caffeine currently plays an extremely significant role in the American diet, and is in more foods and drinks than ever before. For most people, coffee is a daily necessity to wake up in the morning, but its consumption holds many potential risks when pertaining to human health. Caffeine is categorized as a stimulant and has the ability to increase heart rate and blood pressure, and can be consumed in many forms as it is found in foods, drinks and medications.

At rest our body’s energy expenditure results from our basal metabolic rate (sleeping metabolic rate) and our arousal (wakefulness). At the onset of exercise, VO2 cannot initially support or new metabolic demands at sub-maximal level, so an oxygen deficit is created and must be compensated by our anaerobic metabolic systems. As exercise continues, for about 3-5 minutes, our aerobic system syncs in and supplements VO2, and a steady state is achieved. Heart rate increases as exercise increases in order to support an increase in VO2 and the metabolic demands required to pump more blood; this represents and linear relationship. Heart rate and VO2 are also linearly related, as the maintenance of a steady state during exercise is largely dependent on the heart’s ability to stimulate the metabolic activities that result in increased ventilation and a subsequent increase in VO2.

Our experiment looked at if caffeine prolongs the time it takes to reach anaerobic threshold. As an ergogenic aid, caffeine is the most widely consumed pharmacologically active substance; with it being found in sports drinks, energy drinks, supplements, coffee and so on. When consumed, it can be distributed quickly in the body after it is absorbed by the small intestine and the stomach where it can have many effects on the body, including crossing the blood-brain barrier. According to the article, The effects of caffeine, nicotine, ethanol, and tetrahydrocannabinol on exercise performance, caffeine could affect the central nervous system and skeletal muscles (Pesta, Angadi, Burtscher, and Roberts, 2013).

Effects of Caffeine Supplementation On Strength and Muscular Performance in Recreationally Trained Males Student Researcher: Gregory Grabowski Allied Health Sciences University of Connecticut Abstract: Pre-workout and caffeine containing supplementation has become very popular for weight lifters to increase focus, strength and muscle growth. There are many side effects from consuming large amounts of caffeine such as anxiety, nervousness and insomnia. The purpose of this study is to determine whether caffeine increases strength in recreationally trained males. The experiment will utilize a randomized, double-blinded, crossover design in which 30 recreationally trained males between the ages of 20 and 34 years will participate in. They will

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of caffeinated beverages (coffee, energy drinks, and sports performance drinks) on an athlete’s quality of sleep, academic success, and athletic performance. Our study will be about how caffeine can affect student athletes sleep which can relate to their academic success, as well as athletic performance. Athletes have a very busy schedule and they use caffeinated beverages to compensate for their lack of sleep. This study is necessary because large amounts of caffeine found in different caffeinated drinks has been said to have a short-lived high of ergogenic effects, which can negatively impact sleep and performance. Focusing on moderate quantities can maximize the effects of caffeine on

Caffeine primarily is a mild stimulant that causes this, that could also have some type of effect on mental performance. Physical performance can be improved with caffeine in the aspect of ergogenic benefit. Endurance exercise is increased along with endurance capacity once caffeine intake occurs. Along with increased performance comes the reduction of perceived exertion rate, making it seem like the individual is doing less work than they actually are. Caffeine is most prevalent in endurance exercises, whether it’s running, biking, or swimming. Various studies in research show that reduced muscle pain is also beneficial to caffeine. Caffeine has increased adrenalin production during exercise, in both inaerobic and aerobic exercises. Caffeine-mediated antagonism effects are exerted and received in the adenosine receptors in the brain, leading to

Caffeine, in doses that might be consumed in a beverage (250 mg), has been shown in normal subjects have shown an increased levels of catecholamines circulating in their system, however, energy drinks are also often consumed in a large quantities or accelerated manner. In addition, there may be also further amounts of caffeine that remained unaccounted for because several of the ingredients from common additives such as kola nut, guarana, and yerba mate, which contain ample amounts of caffeine. As well as, energy drinks have also been shown to accelerate in platelet aggregation and may also diminish myocardial blood flow when consumed before exercise, and significantly increase myocardial oxygen requirements, all of which could result in cardiac ischemia. Hypokalemia, which occurs in a caffeine dose-related manner, could contribute to ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death. Energy drinks may also expose channelopathies by prolonging the QT interval or restraining sodium channel conduction. (Goldfarb, Tellier & Thanassoulis,