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The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

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Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

#51

Post by drcharris »

walrus01 wrote: post #32
personlurking wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The timing can also play into it (not sure if by 'plan' you mean down to the hour as well). https://i.imgur.com/1IyKjSg.jpg As I get older, my tolerance has lowered. I used to be able to handle a Starbucks 'tall' cup, but now I can only drink two espressos at most, if spaced out by two hours or so. If I go over my limit, it's 7-9 hours of lying still in a dark room with a migraine-like headache. For more on cortisol…

Starbucks drip coffee contains a lot more caffeine per serving than espresso... I have seen figures that a venti size medium roast can be 280mg total, while single espresso shots might be as little as 70mg. https://www.kickinghorsecoffee.com/en/blog/caffeine-myths-es...

Full details of caffeine amounts are here for those who are interested.

https://globalassets.starbucks.com/assets/94fbcc2ab1e2435985...

Recommended daily caffeine limit is usually quoted at around 400mg for an adult, although there's not a lot to back that number up.

Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

#52

Post by Amezarak »

ethbro wrote: post #43
chiefalchemist wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make a good point. Sure, caffeine provides a quick, easy and relatively safe (and legal) boost. But ultimately, you have to balance that short term solution with a slightly longer term view of sleep quality and other recovery efforts. For example, what do they eat / drink as soon as the game is over to optimize recovery (so caffeine is less necessary the following night). Put another way, you can alert the body a…

From the article, "'The half-life of caffeine is five to seven hours,' says Brian St. Pierre, director of performance nutrition at Precision Nutrition." So if they drink some 30 minutes before a ~2.5 hr game, they've got 3 hours post-game. Which seems reasonable: an hour for interviews / meetings, some travel, settling in, then normal sleep. At the NBA level, they're definitely not deficient on post-game recovery and…

A half life of six hours means that half the amount of caffeine is still in their body, so it would be affecting sleep six hours later.

Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

#53

Post by walrus01 »

drcharris wrote: post #51
walrus01 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Starbucks drip coffee contains a lot more caffeine per serving than espresso... I have seen figures that a venti size medium roast can be 280mg total, while single espresso shots might be as little as 70mg. https://www.kickinghorsecoffee.com/en/blog/caffeine-myths-es...

Full details of caffeine amounts are here for those who are interested. https://globalassets.starbucks.com/assets/94fbcc2ab1e2435985... Recommended daily caffeine limit is usually quoted at around 400mg for an adult, although there's not a lot to back that number up.

Wow, a venti is up to 340mg caffeine. Anecdotal sample size of one, anything more than 300mg in one serving crosses the threshold from 'super alert and productive' to 'jittery, nervous and feeling uncomfortable'.

Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

#54

Post by [deleted] »

jly wrote: post #10

> Office workers, sleepy truckers, hospital nurses on 10-hour shifts, cabbies, students, cops? They're not the only ones who benefit from a cup, or a few, Harkless pointed out. Don't get me wrong, I love coffee. However, it may be more accurate to say that all of these people (including the athletes) are using caffeine to medicate their chronic sleep deprivation, which may be at least partly caused in the first place…

[deleted]

Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

#56

Post by chiefalchemist »

ergothus wrote: post #40
chiefalchemist wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make a good point. Sure, caffeine provides a quick, easy and relatively safe (and legal) boost. But ultimately, you have to balance that short term solution with a slightly longer term view of sleep quality and other recovery efforts. For example, what do they eat / drink as soon as the game is over to optimize recovery (so caffeine is less necessary the following night). Put another way, you can alert the body a…

(gross simplification below) I've done a little research on caffeine, and as far as wakefulness goes (not touching the other effects here), it works by binding to the same protein receptors the body uses to decide if it is tired. Body unable to get signals that should trigger a feeling of tiredness == Body not conscious of being tired. BUT the body responds by producing more of those receptors, making it more likely…

Did you notice any other side effects from dropping caffeine? For example, weight loss (or at least less likely to gain)? That is, I've read that stress increases cortisol. I could think (too much) caffeine can have similar effect.

I ask because I tend to feel that less caffeine makes me feel "lighter" (so to speak). But I haven't tracked it closely. It's more a general pattern that I think I'm seeing, but perhaps it's wishful thinking plus some bias?

Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

#57

Post by ergothus »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #56
ergothus wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(gross simplification below) I've done a little research on caffeine, and as far as wakefulness goes (not touching the other effects here), it works by binding to the same protein receptors the body uses to decide if it is tired. Body unable to get signals that should trigger a feeling of tiredness == Body not conscious of being tired. BUT the body responds by producing more of those receptors, making it more likely…

Did you notice any other side effects from dropping caffeine? For example, weight loss (or at least less likely to gain)? That is, I've read that stress increases cortisol. I could think (too much) caffeine can have similar effect. I ask because I tend to feel that less caffeine makes me feel "lighter" (so to speak). But I haven't tracked it closely. It's more a general pattern that I think I'm seeing, but perhaps it…

Not that I recall, but I was surprised at the notable effects overall. Caffeine is so prevalent and people so knee-jerk defensive of it that we don't notice the powerful effects (be they good or bad). Unfortunately, it's been several years and I don't recall any specific reactions other than the sleep and that overall impression.

Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

#58

Post by hopler »

rue wrote: post #47
chiefalchemist wrote: post #14

> "WHEN IT COMES to the toll of travel, the NBA is in a league all its own. NBA teams, according to ESPN Stats & Information's Vincent Johnson, average 43,534 miles per season, nearly 7 percent more than..." Not to get too far off topic but couldn't it be possible for the NBA (or any league) to optimize for this? Along the same lines, I have to wonder if there's a way to incorporate such signals into a betting algori…

Not sure what you mean by optimize, but MLB teams often play several games against each other in a row. But that’s slightly different because it could be seen to change the dynamic form performance over a season to fewer best out of N events.

Baseball is a bit different because they play 2x as many games per season,so they need to bundle up.

Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

#59

Post by hardatwork »

bliblah wrote: post #27
chiefalchemist wrote: post #14

> "WHEN IT COMES to the toll of travel, the NBA is in a league all its own. NBA teams, according to ESPN Stats & Information's Vincent Johnson, average 43,534 miles per season, nearly 7 percent more than..." Not to get too far off topic but couldn't it be possible for the NBA (or any league) to optimize for this? Along the same lines, I have to wonder if there's a way to incorporate such signals into a betting algori…

If you need extreme data points you should look into the Russian Premier League for Football. While sports in the USA use Eastern/Western Conferences to lower travel requirements, the Football leagues enforces 2 matches per teams regardless of location. In the 2017-2018 season the farthest two teams were 5,000+ miles apart! [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017%E2%80%9318_Russian_Premie...

True wrt the distance, but in the RPL there is less than one league match per week per team, whereas each NBA team plays around 3.5 games per week.

Re: The game-day caffeine routine that powers the NBA's most frequent flyers

#60

Post by [deleted] »

biohax2015 wrote: post #19
chiefalchemist wrote: post #14

> "WHEN IT COMES to the toll of travel, the NBA is in a league all its own. NBA teams, according to ESPN Stats & Information's Vincent Johnson, average 43,534 miles per season, nearly 7 percent more than..." Not to get too far off topic but couldn't it be possible for the NBA (or any league) to optimize for this? Along the same lines, I have to wonder if there's a way to incorporate such signals into a betting algori…

> Along the same lines, I have to wonder if there's a way to incorporate such signals into a betting algorithm That is already done. Vegas accounts for every conceivable variable under the sun.

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