Caffeine And Running - How Much Can It Help?

Many of us start the day with a nice cup of coffee. In fact, in the UK, we love it so much, we get through 95 million cups a day. So, it's no surprise that scientists have spent some time researching one of our favorite drinks. There's no doubt that caffeine has its benefits. Lots of us have experienced the energy boost that comes from a kick of caffeine. And scientists have discovered that in moderation, it can be beneficial, but can caffeine help our running? So, caffeine consumption is one of the most widely researched areas in sport with extensive studies looking at the connection between it and performance in running, perhaps it's because so many of us drink it on a daily basis. But bear in mind, there are potential risks or drawbacks for taking caffeine, particularly if you're not used to it. So as always, if you have any questions, ask a medical professional.

Well, there is good news for all coffee lovers out there. Consumed right, caffeine can actually help your running. Apart from being delicious, there are a number of benefits that runners can gain from a cup of coffee. All thanks to caffeine. Ever stumbled through your morning like a zombie before you've had your morning cup of coffee? Well, it'll come as no surprise to you that caffeine can aid concentration and increase mental alertness. So, caffeine stimulates the central nervous system increasing neuronal excitability. It does this by blocking the receptors for a molecule called adenosine.

When adenosine is at work, it can cause a biochemical reaction making us feel sluggish and sleepy, but caffeine helps derail this process. Not only does it help you stay alert, but it can also improve your state of mind. In fact, caffeine increases the concentration of endorphins in the brain. It does this by blocking adenosine, allowing more dopamine to be produced - the chemical that's behind happiness. And this can encourage you to run hard. Now, caffeine has been known as well to increase your ability to burn body fat. And it does this by using fat as fuel. And this can help you to conserve your glycogen. Not only that, but it can also boost your metabolism. Another benefit of caffeine is that it can actually change your perception of effort, and this can increase your power, which in turn can increase your running speed, particularly over long distances.

Caffeine can also cause an improvement in neuromuscular coordination, which leads to greater reaction times and a better performance overall. In fact, in one study, researchers found that caffeine can actually improve your 5K time by around 1 to 1.1%. So that means for somebody running around 20-minute 5K, their time might be 12 to 13 seconds faster just by having a cup of coffee. In fact, before 2004, there was even a legal limit imposed by WADA - who govern the use of drugs in sport - about how much caffeine you could take in a race. Caffeine consumption may also help with brain health too, with some studies suggesting a possible reduction or delay in symptoms associated with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease citing a combination of that adenosine blocking that we mentioned earlier and also the fact that coffee contains micronutrients called polyphenols, which are associated with a number of health benefits. Of course, caffeine consumption isn't all positive.

There are some drawbacks that can come with your daily cup of coffee too. It is, of course, possible to have too much caffeine. In fact, the FDA in America suggests that you shouldn't exceed around 400 milligrams a day. That's around four to five cups of coffee. And if you were to take as much as 1200 milligrams, you would find that you might even have toxic effects, including things like seizures. But of course, everyone's tolerance will vary. Whilst there are many positive things about taking caffeine. For some people there can be some negative side effects, especially if you take it often and in high doses. These can include dizziness, anxiety, heart palpitations, and it can even lead to a raised heart rate and a raised blood pressure.

In the long term, this could lead to things like insomnia or even severe headaches. Now caffeine is a known diarrhetic, meaning it can increase the need to urinate and how often you need to go. Some people also may find that it gives them gastrointestinal issues that could be nausea, it could be cramping, or it could be diarrhea. And some people might find that taking caffeine before a run could give them heartburn. As caffeine inhibits the work of adenosine it can be harder for your body to get into that drowsy mode, which can lead to sleep problems, or even insomnia. There's nothing worse than staying up all night before a race.

 In fact, if you have a cup of coffee at mid-day, it's likely you'll still have the equivalent of half of that cup's caffeine in your body at 6:00 PM, and a quarter of that cup's caffeine at midnight. Now more regular caffeine users might notice that it starts taking more and more caffeine until they really feel that kick. This is because the brain adapts to the caffeine intake and responds by creating more receptors for adenosine. And if that's the case, you need more caffeine in order to feel the effects. Because of that, if someone uses a lot of caffeine and stops suddenly, they can start feeling withdrawal symptoms, things like lower mood, tiredness or headaches. Now, most people think they know something about caffeine consumption. But here are some of the common myths associated with it.

Who needs training says, I can just drink coffee and I can run faster and stronger. Now while caffeine has some benefits, this should never be used to replace smart training. Caffeine isn't magic and using it isn't going to suddenly give you massive benefits. If you've got a goal, you still got to go out and work for it. In fact, although caffeine is a diuretic, studies have shown that it has little effect on your hydration during exercise. In fact, it may be around five cups of coffee before you start to see any effect on the hydration levels. However, it should be noted it is important always to hydrate properly when you're doing a run.

To start with, it could depend how much caffeine you usually take or things like your weight. In fact, some studies have shown that your caffeine metabolism gene can affect how it affects you. So, it may improve your performance, but it could actually hinder it. So now you know the good, the bad and the downright untrue, but where can you find caffeine, when's the best time to have it, and how is it best served? And caffeine comes in lots of different forms.

If you don't like coffee, what about a cup of tea or green tea? And in fact, if you don't like hot drinks, you can find it in dark chocolate, or you can also go sort of more directly and try gels with caffeine in them or caffeine, tablets, caffeine strips, or even caffeine chewing gum. But how should you take your caffeine and how much should you take? When it comes to caffeine before a run, simple is best. Black coffee is where you'll find the caffeine and all the additional things you can add to that could end up playing habit with your stomach as you run. Also bear in mind that energy drinks contain other things like sugar, which could also affect your performance as well as the caffeine. So how much caffeine should you take? The recommended dosage based on research is around three to six milligrams per kilogram of body weight.

So, for someone weighing around 150 pounds or 68 kilograms, that's around three cups of coffee. But of course, it does depend how your body reacts to it and how much you're used to taking it. So when can you have caffeine and when is it most effective? Well, caffeine absorbs extremely quickly into the bloodstream. It can be in there within five to 15 minutes after it's ingested. You get the effects of caffeine for between three and five hours. And the peak performance time is between 40 and 80 minutes after ingested. This means you can have a cup of coffee an hour before a run and still reap the rewards. Some runners swear by abstaining from coffee, right the way in the lead up to race day to maximize the benefits of having one on the day itself. The quick absorption time means that there can also be benefits to taking caffeine during a run. One of the benefits of taking it with gels is you'd never have to wait too long for that caffeine hit. Caffeine can also be useful in the recovery from your workouts, especially when paired with carbohydrates.

This is because caffeine helps to rebuild glycogen stores, especially following hard, long vigorous workout sessions. There's even a study that suggests having a drink with the addition of caffeine can help rebuild glycogen stores 66% more than if you had a carb-rich drink by itself. But remember, don't try anything new on race day. After hearing all this, I'm sure you'll be keen to try out the effects of caffeine on your run. But remember, it's really important to try it in training first. No one wants to be halfway through a marathon and having to dash off to the loo.