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Caffeine and Exercise Performance

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Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#101

Post by melagonster »

droobles wrote: post #94
gumby wrote: post #74

I have long been fascinated by the degree to which WWII was fought on caffeine and nicotine (on all sides and all theatres). Other drugs (e.g. amphetamine and Benzedrine) get some press but we’re minor factors. I did a few experiments decades ago with nicotine, enough to notice its nice resonant behavior with coffee, but not enough I guess to notice any real benefit myself. I did relish the social habits associated w…

I feel you on the social elements. I find keeping a tin of breath mints and sharing them creates a similar social atmosphere with friends and colleagues, that shared time to mull over thoughts or chat, similar to a smoke break. Morning walks/runs also create this I find.

ah, I like this advice

Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#102

Post by pengaru »

SpaceInvader wrote: post #33

I'm an avid runner (50-70km/week) and I've been running for 5 years. I run long distances on trail. Seems that although it increases performance and stamina for me it also brings my heart rate up, which is not desirable in most cases since I'm training ~80% of the time in zone 2 (aerobic). At given pace I can have few bits higher HR when caffeinated (between 5 and 10 bpm) which means that I need go go slower in order…

I've noticed that the psychological effects of caffeine disrupt my ability to pace myself, but I like to use heavy doses when I'm using it at all. I just become so eager/impatient on the drug, it's all go-go-go and my discipline is out the window.

It's great for getting shit done in a sprinty bulldozer, potential wake of destruction kind of mode. But I can't imagine it working well for me in a distance running context where managing my cadence and cardio/breathing is key.

Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#103

Post by gumby »

lostlogin wrote: post #79
gumby wrote: post #74

I have long been fascinated by the degree to which WWII was fought on caffeine and nicotine (on all sides and all theatres). Other drugs (e.g. amphetamine and Benzedrine) get some press but we’re minor factors. I did a few experiments decades ago with nicotine, enough to notice its nice resonant behavior with coffee, but not enough I guess to notice any real benefit myself. I did relish the social habits associated w…

Regarding your WW2 comment a Reading Spike Milligan and his descriptions of making tea under fire is excellent. But as for coffee just being a habit, no way. I’m not sure how you did it so cleanly, but the headaches on stopping can be terrible.

> I’m not sure how you did it so cleanly

I was hospitalized, pumped full of drugs and didn't eat anything (except via IV) for a week -- the absence of caffeine thing was kind of a random side effect. Not an approach I would recommend!

I was pumped full of antibiotics and took more after being discharged so pretty well wiped out all the bacteria in my gut, which I replaced by eating yoghurt. My diet has changed fairly radically since then (zero interest in sweets, for example) so I wonder how much of my coffee and other food desires were actually my gut symbionts' desires.

Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#104

Post by reducesuffering »

hammock wrote: post #84
kick_in_the_dor wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you use for micronutrients? I recently started using a Green Powder, and I think I'm getting great results, but they are quite expensive...

On the cheap you can take a random ZMA and Vit D supps. For full multivitamin, I recommend Thorne, which uses the most bioavailable chelated versions of vitamins and minerals. Once you learn how in-bioavailable the vast majority of ingredients in a standard MV are, you will feel sad

You can't just take a random ZMA. With combinations, you're more likely to get a poorly bioavailable form, like L-threonate, oxide, or hydroxide.

You should be looking for citrate or glycinate.

PSA: 48% of people have magnesium deficiencies, the highest of any vitamin/mineral, I'm pretty sure.

https://examine.com/supplements/magnesium/#dosage-informatio...

Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#105

Post by jack_pp »

lostlogin wrote: post #85
jack_pp wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

have you tried modafinil? might not be the best solution for long drives except if you plan well ahead, like say if you have a late 4h drive after which you will sleep maybe take modafinil 6-7h before the drive so you can actually sleep when it's over

Modafinil might make you smarter too. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16140369/

personally I've tried to use it for work and it's hit or miss, if I have some frustrating bugs I'll be more irritable on modafinil or caffeine because while on them I want to achieve things fast and I'll be more easily irritated if I'm blocked by long running tests or other long periods where it's not clear how to proceed.

Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#106

Post by amelius »

kick_in_the_dor wrote: post #67
DavideNL wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> fixed that and I did not even get common cold for a long time, also no longer random days with no energy. To state the obvious; Since there are so many things changing in our lives, it's impossible to know whether the "improvements" you mention were specifically caused (/only) by taking more vitamin D.

Sure, while you can't prove a direct cause-effect, the anecdotal evidence seems rather strong. I also experienced this same effect after moving to London (from California) in the winter (very cloudy). I felt so low energy for a solid month, and was constantly feeling unwell. Moreover, I had the strangest "cravings" to bask in the sun (such a weird thing to explain, I've never had such an urge before). The week that I…

You can also see a doctor and get vitamin D injections.

Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#107

Post by tomalaci »

DavideNL wrote: post #60
tomalaci wrote: post #19

Caffeine combined with L-Theanine does seem provide slight boost for focus to me. That said, I think biggest mood/focus/energy difference (besides a nice workout which is also important) for me was getting vitamins and other micronutrients in order. I highly suggest you to do a blood test or two per year for all the common vitamins/micronutrients to see which you need to fix. For men, I think it is especially importa…

> fixed that and I did not even get common cold for a long time, also no longer random days with no energy. To state the obvious; Since there are so many things changing in our lives, it's impossible to know whether the "improvements" you mention were specifically caused (/only) by taking more vitamin D.

Sure thing. You should always be aware of anecdotal evidence.

In my particular case when I did initial blood test, vitamin D was the only thing critically low. There were few other micronutrients that were just slightly low. I was prescribed high-dosage D-vitamin supplements and was told to touch some grass while out in the sun (computer screen time did not count). In just a month after doing that my overall noticeably improved.

After the wake-up call with vitamin D efficiency I paid more attention to my diet and also having some regular exercise. Improving combination of those gave me my next jump in health improvement. Afterwards, I started using few supplements such as L-theanine with my usual cup of coffee in the morning, I'd like to believe it has given me just a slight boost in focus but it could still just be plain old caffeine. However, I know that some people respond to it a lot stronger so there is certainly variation and is quite anecdotal.

Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#108

Post by tomalaci »

kick_in_the_dor wrote: post #68
tomalaci wrote: post #19

Caffeine combined with L-Theanine does seem provide slight boost for focus to me. That said, I think biggest mood/focus/energy difference (besides a nice workout which is also important) for me was getting vitamins and other micronutrients in order. I highly suggest you to do a blood test or two per year for all the common vitamins/micronutrients to see which you need to fix. For men, I think it is especially importa…

What do you use for micronutrients? I recently started using a Green Powder, and I think I'm getting great results, but they are quite expensive...

For the past few months I am trying out Performance Lab's NutriGenesis Multi and Prebiotic products (https://performancelab.com/) for a mix of all micros but I will probably switch it down to some local multi-vitamin solution with a separate 4000 IU / 100 mcg vitamin D supplements that you can get locally (I live in Stockholm, Sweden).

I would, however, recommend improving your diet before loading yourself up with too many supplements. Just add various vegetables and you likely won't need to care about things like zinc, magnesium, iron and few more. I think vitamin D was one of the few micros you usually want to supplement as it's hard to get it high naturally. I am sure HN has some dieticians that know more.

Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#109

Post by tomalaci »

idontwantthis wrote: post #38
tomalaci wrote: post #19

Caffeine combined with L-Theanine does seem provide slight boost for focus to me. That said, I think biggest mood/focus/energy difference (besides a nice workout which is also important) for me was getting vitamins and other micronutrients in order. I highly suggest you to do a blood test or two per year for all the common vitamins/micronutrients to see which you need to fix. For men, I think it is especially importa…

Was your diet deficient in those vitamins for some reason?

I am a person who does not like seafood and I usually sit inside most of the day (software engineer). I guess there are egg yolks or dairy products like cheese that also contains some but it seemingly wasn't enough for me.

Resulted visiting a doctor who did a blood test, saw I had critically low vitamin D level (~5 ng/ml). Gave high-dose supplements of 20 000 IU to take every day for up to a month and to touch some grass under the sun :D

After fixing vitamin D I did improve my diet more as well (added more vegetables that fixed few other micronutrients that were just slightly low). Combining that with more exercise gave my next big jump in health improvement. I think my diet is pretty close to typical paleo-type diet excluding fish.

Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#110

Post by bheadmaster »

fegu wrote: post #21
bheadmaster wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I stopped taking L-Theanine because I would experience a noticeable comedown of apathy two days later. This was also my experience, but not two days later - the same day. I'd take L-Theanine, feel okay for a few hours, then feel extremely irritable and anxious for the rest of the day. More L-Theanine didn't help.

Is there any statistics on whether women drink more green tea than men? It certainly seems that way.

> It certainly seems that way.

What makes you think that?

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