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Is Caffeine Bad For You? What Are The Benefits And Side Effects? | Myprotein
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Jan 30, 2025
In this beginner guide, find out what caffeine is, how caffeine affects the body, and the performance benefits of caffeine with expert nutritionist Richie Kirwan. It’s probably the most widely used “performance enhancer” out there. You find it in your pre workout, energy drinks and of course your tea and coffee – but what does caffeine actually do and what makes it such a powerful addition to your training routine? Get ready to find out everything you need to know (and probably a whole lot extra) in another video with everyone’s favourite nutrition pro, Richie. *** Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:54 - What is caffeine? 01:31 - What does caffeine do? 02:44 - Its effects on performance 04:33 - Common dosage 05:06 - When should you take caffeine? 05:48 - What are the side effects? 07:25 - Caffeine and The Olympics *** *********************************
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0:00
Caffe. We see it in so many pre-workouts and energy drinks, but does it actually do anything
0:07
In this video, I'm going to tell you exactly what you need to know about the world's most widely used psychoactive drug and how it might help you in the gym
0:18
Today, we're going to talk about the stimulant that almost everyone has taken in some form or another. It's so common that your granny is probably getting her fix right now at this very moment
0:28
Mmm. That's right, caffeine. We'll talk about what it is, how it works, and whether it can help you and your performance in the gym
0:36
Or on the playing field, we'll also talk about some of caffeine's lesser-known benefits in sports
0:41
I want to point out that I am not recommending any particular caffeine supplements. What I am going to do is talk about how it works in general and what amounts people should consider using
0:50
So what even is caffeine? Well, it's a chemical that occurs naturally in a lot of plants we really
0:57
regularly consume or especially drink, like coffee, tea and cacao. A cup of coffee can have from
1:03
100 to 200 milligrams of caffeine and regular black tea can have from 40 to 120 milligrams. In fact
1:10
the variety of coffee beans or tea leaves used and the way you make it can have a big effect
1:14
on the caffeine content of the drink you get. That's why supplements make it getting the right
1:18
amount of caffeine a lot easier. By the way, for comparison, a 500 mil can of some popular energy
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drinks have around 160 milligrams of caffeine and that amount will be pretty pretty much
1:27
standardized. What does caffeine do? Well, quite a lot, really. In fact, next to protein and creatine
1:34
caffeine may be one of the most effective sports supplements or ergodogenic aids on the market
1:40
There are a few ways that caffeine could have an effect on sports performance, but the main one
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is through its role as an adenosine receptor antagonist in the brain and the rest of the nervous system
1:49
Adenosine probably sounds familiar because you've heard of adenosine, trifosate, or ATP
1:54
the energy currency in cells. When we exercise, ATP gets broken down to release energy and some forms of adenosine When adenosine builds up it binds the receptors in our brain which reduces the concentration of neurotransmitters This can cause us to feel tired Adenosine also plays a big role in why we get sleepy at night Caffeine stops adenosine
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from binding to its receptors in the brain and allows the concentration of neurotransmitters to build up
2:18
and makes us feel more alert and energetic. Caffeine also speeds up muscle contraction and increases
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heart rate, meaning blood gets to your muscles faster, something that's essential in intense sport
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On top of that, caffeine can help reduce feelings of muscle pain, reducing how difficult we perceive exercise, known as relative perceived exertion, which can improve motivation and our ability to keep exercising
2:40
Basically, it helps you train longer and harder. Let's go through the list of just how caffeine can improve performance
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Caffeine can improve endurance in sports like cycling, running, and skiing by 2 to 4%
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In fact, the longer the event, the greater the effect caffeine has on improving endurance
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build. Now, 2 to 4% may not sound like a lot, but in competitions where that could mean the
3:03
difference between gold and a silver medal, that's a big deal if you're into jewelry. But for all of
3:08
you more interested in gym performance, a 2018 meta-ysis, that's a combination of the
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results of a lot of studies together, show that caffeine also increases maximal muscle strength
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and upper body muscular power. And while the increase in strength might not be huge, it might be
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enough to help you set a new PR in the gym or on the weightlifting platform. Anything that could potentially
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increase your training volume and intensity over time might help you with muscle growth and
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strength development. You may also have heard that there is some benefit to taking caffeine and carbohydrates together if you train multiple times in a day. Taking them together can help speed
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up glycogen synthesis. Glycogen is the form of carbohydrate we store in our muscles and levels
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drop when we exercise. So if you exercise twice a day, taking some caffeine together with carbs
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after your first session may help top up your muscle glycogen. The only problem with that is the
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research showing this used very high. doses of caffeine, 8 milligrams per kilogram of body weight
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And in reality if you eat enough carbs caffeine might not add any extra benefit As caffeine can increase power it also helps to improve sprint performance and other explosive movements like jumping Coupled with the fact that caffeine improves reaction time and mental acuity
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it means it can also improve performance in a lot of sports like football, rugby, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and even combat sports
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Basically, if you want to fight off the effects of fatigue, if you want to reduce the relative perceived exertion of exercise
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or if you need to think and react quickly. caffeine could help
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The most common dosage ranges for caffeine are 3 to 6 milligrams per kilogram of body weight
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So if you weigh 70 kilos, that's about 210 to 420 milligrams of caffeine
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I'd always recommend starting with the lower end of the range. See how it feels with training or competition
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and gradually increase if you feel you're not seeing an effect. Be careful when you get closer to the upper end
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of the recommended dosage, as above that is when people really start to see
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the negative side effects. And remember, different caffeine supplements, come in many different strengths
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So make sure you check the label to see how much you're taking. What about caffeine timing
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When should you take it? Well, once you take caffeine, it'll start appearing in your blood almost immediately
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But it takes a while to reach its maximum concentration, or in other words, to have its maximum effect
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That usually takes around an hour to happen, which is why it's a good idea to take your caffeine
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45 to 60 minutes before the most intense part of your training session
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which should probably be at the start. So if you ever see someone mixing and downing
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and downing a pre-workout or energy drink right as they enter to the gym, rest assured, they should be getting the full benefits
5:36
of that caffeine when they're walking home. The exception is if you have a really long training session
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or competition that may last hours, in which case taking caffeine during the session may help
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But nothing can be all good, right? Excess caffeine intake is associated with a lot of problems
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and you're probably aware of some of them, like anxiety, jitters, heart palpitations, headaches
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and poor sleep quality, especially if you take it close to bedtime, are after 6 p.m
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And let's be honest, if you take a lot of caffeine close to bed, it's your own fault
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if you can get to sleep Here the thing The half life of caffeine is around 4 to 6 hours That means that it takes four to six hours for the caffeine in your blood to drop by half So think about it If you take 300 milligrams of caffeine at 6 p By midnight you should still
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have half of that in your system, which probably isn't great for a good night's sleep
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Now, everyone seems to process caffeine at different speeds, and there is a big genetic component
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to how caffeine affects individuals. So bear that in mind and learn from experience with how
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you react to caffeine. If you're jittery all the time or feel you need caffeine to get through a
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workout, it's probably a good idea to reduce your intake for a while. But in healthy adults
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moderate caffeine consumption, around 400 milligrams per day, or the equivalent of two to four
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cups of coffee, depending on how you brew it, is not associated with any adverse health
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effects. Bear in mind that those numbers are for total caffeine. So that means that caffeine you
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get from coffee, tea, and supplements. So if you can time the majority of your caffeine intake before
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your training early in the day, it should be just fine. One final thing to mention is that it is
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possible to build up a tolerance to caffeine if you use it regularly. While we don't have a lot
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of good evidence on caffeine cycling strategies, it might be a good idea to not use high doses
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of caffeine at every training session. Perhaps save it for particularly heavy sessions or
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competitions, where you really need the extra boost. From 1984 to 2004, caffeine was actually a banned
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substance according to the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency
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I guess a lot of athletes missed their coffee and complained because since 2004, caffeine is
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permitted by the IOC and water, but is still controlled. That means you can't have a certain
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level in your blood, 12 milligrams per milliliter of urine, which means you would need to take
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huge amounts of caffeine, much more than research recommends, to get levels that high. Did that
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clear up the confusion around caffeine? As always, if you have any questions, let me know
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in the comments below and remember to like and subscribe to the My Protein YouTube channel
8:00
for more great evidence-based nutrition information
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