Alternative Health Blog

Oh, it’s going to be hard to convince coffee drinkers that the results of a new University of Illinois study is anything but cause for a refill. The research suggests that caffeine helps to reduce muscle pain during exercise, allowing a longer, more intense workout.

The U of I scientists evaluated 25 fit males and put them through various trials on stationary bikes, ranging from longer and slower to short, intense bursts of effort. All of the volunteer subjects abstained from coffee or other sources of caffeine 24 hours before the experiment. Then were either supplied with a caffeine tablet (equivalent of two to three cups of coffee) or placebo before the workouts. Roughtly half of the men recruited for the study were all cateogorized as heavy coffee drinkers, consuming three to four cups daily, equaling 400 milligrams. The other half were males who drank little to no coffee.

Lead author Robert Motl wrote that “we’ve shown that caffeine reduces pain reliably, consistently during cycling, across different intensities, across different people, different characteristics.” Oxygen consumption was monitored, along with heart rate and effort.

Another important measurement was the men were quizzed about their perceptions of pain in the thighs during the workouts. How we consider pain is the X factor in how we tolerate muscle “burn” during exercise. The study was published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism.

Motl says he was surprised by one result: Both the heavy coffee drinkers and non-drinkers showed the same pain-relief of caffeine. He expected the coffee drinkers to have a less dramatic or lessened effect. He explained the research shows habitual coffee drinkers often feel like they need more to get the same mental lift. Yet the physiological benefits show more is not necessarily more therapeutic.

On the biological side, the U of I researchers explained that caffeine is documented to interact with neural systems in the brain and spinal cord, which are also the nerve centers for pain processing in the body.

So as exercisers we might drink some coffee before a morning ride, run or class, thinking we are boosting our alertness and energy. Possible, but it appears the greatest value might well be cutting down on how fast and furious that pain comes on during a workout.