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Caffeine Boosts Muscle Rebound After Exercise
By Crystal Phend, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: July 02, 2008
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
BUNDOORA, Australia, July 2 -- Caffeine may help muscles recover quickly after a major workout or competition, a small trial showed.
Muscles regained 66% more glycogen -- their primary fuel -- in the four hours after intense exercise when athletes took the equivalent of five or six cups of coffee with carbohydrates than when they ate carbohydrates alone (P<0.05), reported John A. Hawley, Ph.D., of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University here, and colleagues.
Caffeine normally impairs glucose metabolism during rest in nonathletes, but the opposite appeared to be true after exercise in endurance-trained athletes, they said online in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
The rate of glycogen recovery with caffeine was the highest ever reported for humans under real life conditions, the researchers noted.
However, further research is needed to see if smaller doses could be as effective because caffeine can disturb sleep and cause jitteriness, they said.
Dr. Hawley's group studied seven endurance-trained cyclists and triathletes in the randomized, double-blind trial. The evening before an experiment, they came in to the laboratory to cycle until exhausted then ate a low-carbohydrate dinner.
The next morning subjects again rode until fatigued to maximally deplete muscle glycogen stores, mimicking race conditions.
They were then randomized to consume carbohydrates -- sports bars, gels, and sports drinks conforming with current sports nutrition guidelines -- alone or with 8 mg of caffeine per kg of body weight during four hours of passive recovery.
The same experiment was repeated about 10 days later with the opposite randomization. Participants did not have a caffeine habit and did not eat or drink caffeine-containing substances for two days before the trials.
Blood glucose levels increased in both groups when they ate after exercising. Glucose concentrations gradually decreased over the next 60 to 90 minutes during recovery with carbohydrates alone (P<0.05) but not with caffeine, which was associated with higher levels at three and four hours as well (P<0.05 versus levels at exhaustion).
After exercise, muscle glycogen levels were depleted similarly between groups (74 versus 76 mmol/kg dry weight for control and caffeine, respectively) and recovered to a similar degree after one hour of recovery (133 versus 149 mmol/kg dry weight).
However, caffeine intake boosted glycogen accumulation over the next three hours such that glycogen levels were significantly higher at the end of the four-hour recovery period (313 versus 234 mmol/kg dry weight, P<0.001) for a higher overall resynthesis rate (57.7 versus 38.0 mmol/kg dry weight per hour, P<0.05).
The authors wrote that "the overall (4 h) rate of resynthesis observed in the present investigation with caffeine ingestion is, to the best of our knowledge, the highest reported for human subjects under physiological conditions."
Muscle metabolites showed no impact from the addition of caffeine during recovery, but signaling proteins thought to play roles in skeletal muscle glucose transport were higher with caffeine at the end of the recovery period for phosphorylation of CAMKThr286 (P<0.05) and AktSer473 (P=0.06).
Primary source: Journal of Applied Physiology
Source reference:
Pedersen DJ, et al "High rates of muscle glycogen resynthesis after exhaustive exercise when carbohydrate is co-ingested with caffeine" J Appl Physiol 2008.
Medical News: Caffeine Boosts Muscle Rebound After Exercise - in Primary Care, Exercise & Fitness from MedPage Today
Hypertrophy (muscle building) and Recovery:
The ability of caffeine to increase glucose storage post workout by as much as 66% when compared to just consuming solely carbohydrates (14) would be beneficial to any athlete, especially endurance athletes to aid recovery and performance.
Athletes using sarcoplasmic (structural) hypertrophy rep ranges (8-15+) and a TUT (time under tension) protocol of between 40-70-sec such as bodybuilders, would also benefit from increased glycogen to aid performance and recovery. The increased glycogen would create a fuller looking muscle also.
The increased strength (7,8,9,10), catecholamines output (13) and endurance (4,5,6,14) would facilitate a possible increase in motor unit recruitment and TUT of them, thusly improving a hypertrophy response.
From the above we can see that coffee, through different mechanism can improve strength, endurance, fat loss and hypertrophy. Drinking coffee will not result in the improvement of these physical qualities if you sit around all day watching Judge Judy and having Ben and Jerry as your only eating partners. Coffee is an ergogenic aid, a drug, a compliment to an already good diet, training regime and lifestyle, not a compensator for a bad one.
Coffee: A Personal Trainer’s Perspective Part 2
By Crystal Phend, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: July 02, 2008
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
BUNDOORA, Australia, July 2 -- Caffeine may help muscles recover quickly after a major workout or competition, a small trial showed.
Muscles regained 66% more glycogen -- their primary fuel -- in the four hours after intense exercise when athletes took the equivalent of five or six cups of coffee with carbohydrates than when they ate carbohydrates alone (P<0.05), reported John A. Hawley, Ph.D., of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University here, and colleagues.
Caffeine normally impairs glucose metabolism during rest in nonathletes, but the opposite appeared to be true after exercise in endurance-trained athletes, they said online in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
The rate of glycogen recovery with caffeine was the highest ever reported for humans under real life conditions, the researchers noted.
However, further research is needed to see if smaller doses could be as effective because caffeine can disturb sleep and cause jitteriness, they said.
Dr. Hawley's group studied seven endurance-trained cyclists and triathletes in the randomized, double-blind trial. The evening before an experiment, they came in to the laboratory to cycle until exhausted then ate a low-carbohydrate dinner.
The next morning subjects again rode until fatigued to maximally deplete muscle glycogen stores, mimicking race conditions.
They were then randomized to consume carbohydrates -- sports bars, gels, and sports drinks conforming with current sports nutrition guidelines -- alone or with 8 mg of caffeine per kg of body weight during four hours of passive recovery.
The same experiment was repeated about 10 days later with the opposite randomization. Participants did not have a caffeine habit and did not eat or drink caffeine-containing substances for two days before the trials.
Blood glucose levels increased in both groups when they ate after exercising. Glucose concentrations gradually decreased over the next 60 to 90 minutes during recovery with carbohydrates alone (P<0.05) but not with caffeine, which was associated with higher levels at three and four hours as well (P<0.05 versus levels at exhaustion).
After exercise, muscle glycogen levels were depleted similarly between groups (74 versus 76 mmol/kg dry weight for control and caffeine, respectively) and recovered to a similar degree after one hour of recovery (133 versus 149 mmol/kg dry weight).
However, caffeine intake boosted glycogen accumulation over the next three hours such that glycogen levels were significantly higher at the end of the four-hour recovery period (313 versus 234 mmol/kg dry weight, P<0.001) for a higher overall resynthesis rate (57.7 versus 38.0 mmol/kg dry weight per hour, P<0.05).
The authors wrote that "the overall (4 h) rate of resynthesis observed in the present investigation with caffeine ingestion is, to the best of our knowledge, the highest reported for human subjects under physiological conditions."
Muscle metabolites showed no impact from the addition of caffeine during recovery, but signaling proteins thought to play roles in skeletal muscle glucose transport were higher with caffeine at the end of the recovery period for phosphorylation of CAMKThr286 (P<0.05) and AktSer473 (P=0.06).
Primary source: Journal of Applied Physiology
Source reference:
Pedersen DJ, et al "High rates of muscle glycogen resynthesis after exhaustive exercise when carbohydrate is co-ingested with caffeine" J Appl Physiol 2008.
Medical News: Caffeine Boosts Muscle Rebound After Exercise - in Primary Care, Exercise & Fitness from MedPage Today
Hypertrophy (muscle building) and Recovery:
The ability of caffeine to increase glucose storage post workout by as much as 66% when compared to just consuming solely carbohydrates (14) would be beneficial to any athlete, especially endurance athletes to aid recovery and performance.
Athletes using sarcoplasmic (structural) hypertrophy rep ranges (8-15+) and a TUT (time under tension) protocol of between 40-70-sec such as bodybuilders, would also benefit from increased glycogen to aid performance and recovery. The increased glycogen would create a fuller looking muscle also.
The increased strength (7,8,9,10), catecholamines output (13) and endurance (4,5,6,14) would facilitate a possible increase in motor unit recruitment and TUT of them, thusly improving a hypertrophy response.
From the above we can see that coffee, through different mechanism can improve strength, endurance, fat loss and hypertrophy. Drinking coffee will not result in the improvement of these physical qualities if you sit around all day watching Judge Judy and having Ben and Jerry as your only eating partners. Coffee is an ergogenic aid, a drug, a compliment to an already good diet, training regime and lifestyle, not a compensator for a bad one.
Coffee: A Personal Trainer’s Perspective Part 2
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