For Athletes, caffeine is more than just a morning pick-me-up. Strategically adding caffeine to your nutrition plan before and during exercise can help keep your mind sharp, decrease perceived effort, boost your endurance, and delay fatigue.
Mental benefits: The mind is a powerful muscle when it comes to endurance sports performance!
- Caffeine can boost your mental clarity to keep you focused on the task at hand.
- Caffeine can decrease your perceived effort meaning hard efforts can feel easier.
Physical benefits: It’s not just in your head…
- When training or racing, caffeine can help you utiliSe fat as fuel, which spares your glycogen and extends your endurance.
- During longer efforts, caffeine can delay fatigue, meaning you’ll feel fresher, longer.
Okay… But How Much & When?
- The short answer is that consuming caffeine both before and during exercise has benefits. More is not necessarily better. Research suggests that even a small amount of caffeine (70 mg) during exercise can improve performance.