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Caffeine and Exercise Performance

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Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#111

Post by umangsh »

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…

Besides Magnesium, Vit D and Zinc, Potassium and Calcium are other micro-nutrients that affected general well-being for me. Both have relatively high daily RDIs (Potassium - 4700mg/day, and Calcium - 1300mg/day for adults) which can be difficult to hit without supplements, unless your diet includes servings of vegetables and dairy.

Potassium: https://www.famnom.com/nutrient/1092/

Calcium: https://www.famnom.com/nutrient/1087/

Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#112

Post by umangsh »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #80
300bps wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

taking a multi vitamin would make me feel _much_ better than normal the next day My first comment is that I think this is why we have placebo-controlled double-blind studies. My second is that I took a multi-vitamin for many years and I recommend caution in their use. For much of that time, when I went to the doctor for my yearly physical I would have elevated AST and ALT liver enzymes which is a marker of liver dama…

Everyone should use a nutrition tracker like Cronometer for at least one day while they go about their normal diet. It will show you nutritional holes in your diet like insufficient magnesium, vitamin C, zinc, etc that you can then fill with dietary solutions. You also get to see what foods have what, it’s interesting. Like how one little prickly pear has 200% of your vitamin E needs.

> You also get to see what foods have what, it’s interesting. Like how one little prickly pear has 200% of your vitamin E needs.

Do you have a source for this (USDA FDC data and google-fu don't concur)? I'd love to have alternate options for Vit E besides almonds :). It's a fat soluble vitamin, available from nuts and nut oils - vegetable sources are harder to find.

https://www.famnom.com/my_food/294b1d1d-6ca3-47ac-9cd4-bfbd6...

https://www.google.com/search?q=prickly+pear+nutrition

Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#113

Post by pmontra »

aqme28 wrote: post #53
pmontra wrote: post #27

One data point: I can drink 3 espressos at midnight, go to bed and fall asleep. Apparently I'm immune to caffeine which is both good (I can have a coffee at any time of the day) and bad (if I'm sleepy and I have to drive a coffee won't wake me up.) Maybe I also won't get any of those exercise performance effects.

What happens if you quit caffeine for a while? Have you tried to measure your tolerance? I've found that caffeine tolerance is a huge factor in how it affects me, but tolerance changes quickly. A month off of caffeine for me is a complete reset and a few weeks do a lot to drop my tolerance.

Sometimes I don't have a coffee for weeks or months because it's good but it doesn't have any effect on me. I never had problems at getting asleep in either case.

Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#114

Post by pmontra »

datacruncher01 wrote: post #59
pmontra wrote: post #27

One data point: I can drink 3 espressos at midnight, go to bed and fall asleep. Apparently I'm immune to caffeine which is both good (I can have a coffee at any time of the day) and bad (if I'm sleepy and I have to drive a coffee won't wake me up.) Maybe I also won't get any of those exercise performance effects.

Have you been diagnosed with ADHD? Caffeine has a similar affect on one of my children who does have ADHD. Not that we're giving him espressos at midnight, but during the day a caffeinated beverage will slow him down similar to a small booster dose of adhd medication.

I'm afraid that I can't help you with this. ADHD didn't exist or wasn't known as such when I was little. I wasn't like somebody with ADHD tough.

Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#115

Post by Ancalagon »

Another anecdote: I do a lot of powerlifting with heavy weight for a natural lifter (600+ lb deadlifts). I've noticed caffeine really helps me get through the days of extreme soreness, especially when I've had to wake up early or just generally had a poor night's sleep so my recovery is sub-optimal. I found this out around age 23 and have been pretty much drinking coffee most for the last 7 years. Granted its only 1 or two cups but it works for me.

Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#116

Post by brailsafe »

nonameiguess wrote: post #97
brailsafe wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean you work out for 2h literally every day?

Common response to a midlife crisis, honestly. I was hit hard by spine injuries in my mid-30s and, frankly, almost ready to end shit if not for my wife and the hope of treatment. Years after recovering from all the surgeries, now in my 40s, I've bounced back hard in the other direction. I take Sundays off, so not literally every day, but I lift 6 days a week for 60-90 minutes, walk for 30-60 minutes every morning and…

Ya I think that's pretty reasonable, but it sounds to me like you're driven to do that for the benefits and fun, rather than a metric. That's why I was wondering what he meant by working out. Like I probably do 1-2 hours a day if I include everything that is a workout, but I'm not listing "2hrs/365 athlete" in my HN description, and just have a series of athletic hobbies that get me going. I like pushing myself, but not arbitrarily, and I wouldn't want to waste time just ruthlessly persuing a number every day, but everyone needs a hobby.

It's strange to me when people list their stats more than they list the part of the process that's interesting.

Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#117

Post by brightball »

kick_in_the_dor wrote: post #73
brightball wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I switched to half-caff coffee and don't personally experience caffeine withdrawal anymore when I go without. I think it weened me off the need. I still drink it in the morning just because I enjoy it.

Nice, i should try that out. Is half-caff decaf, or is it a third class?

Folgers makes and sells a “half caff” canister but you can make your own by just 50/50 mixing regular and decaf.

Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#118

Post by hammock »

reducesuffering wrote: post #104
hammock wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

ZMA would be aspartate. (And oxide)

Re: Caffeine and Exercise Performance

#119

Post by pgt »

fredgrott wrote: post #7

Note, From my ADHD way of controlling my ADHD the ideal way to stack caffeine with other stimulants is to take 70mg or less daily with the ECGC component of green tea in the form of Cacao to get both Caffeine and Theobromine !. Theobromine is a weaker stimulant that has a lot longer half life than caffeine. 2. ECGC from green tea changes the conformation of the adenosine receptor, i.e. blocks it thus raising dopamine…

Dude, thanks for this! Been taking 3 blocks of 90% Lindt chocolate with EGCG the past two mornings and totally stopped espresso intake. Thoughts are less erratic, more stable with improved planning capabilities and lots of energy.

Current hypothesis: something in coffee causes or worsens ADHD.

Please share any other nootropic nooledge.

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