City marathon recharge, can caffeine-containing sports supplies work?

On April 18, the Shanghai Half Marathon, which had been suspended for a year due to the epidemic, finally returned, with 6,000 runners participating, with a completion rate of 99.15%. On April 24, Beijing will also usher in this year's half marathon, which is expected to exceed 10,000 runners. At present, the domestic epidemic control is stable, the city marathon has been rekindled, and the runners have returned to the track, extremely excited, excited, and saved more than a year of energy, and finally came in handy. Will caffeinated sports supplements work?

It was once a banned substance for athletes

Caffeine's journey in sports was tortuous, with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banning the use of high concentrations of caffeine in all Olympic events between 1984 and 2004. At the time, caffeine was on the list of banned drugs, and athletes whose urine samples contained more than 12 μg/ml of caffeine (equivalent to the caffeine content of 6 cups of coffee) were disqualified or even banned.

After 2004, the organization reassessed the effects of caffeine on the human body and decided not to put it on the list of banned drugs.

In 2020, the World Anti-Doping Regulations International Standard Ban List kept caffeine on the list of monitored drugs and continued to monitor athletes' use of caffeine – much like a "bail pending trial" in the judicial community. It is important to note that not disabling does not mean that it can be abused.

It can really improve athletic performance

Caffeine is a natural compound that can be extracted from more than 60 different plants such as coffee beans, cocoa beans, tea leaves, etc. Caffeine bioavailability is very high, can pass through the blood-brain barrier, the concentration in the brain can rise as soon as 5 minutes after oral administration, and the plasma and brain peak concentrations can be reached after 60 minutes.

Caffeine can cause central system excitation and slight myocardial excitation, and also has effects such as bronchial muscle relaxation and diuresis.

Studies have shown that caffeine can enhance the body's endurance and physical fitness. Some scholars have found through tests that taking 5mg/kg and 10mg/kg caffeine respectively can reduce muscle pain intensity and subjective force sensory scores in men and women, and confirmed that caffeine intake (4mg/kg) can increase the exhaustion time of high-intensity cyclists under moderate hypoxia by 12%.

In one study of constant-speed cycling training, cyclists were required to complete a 2-hour ride and receive three intervention modalities, namely caffeine, glucose polymer, and placebo. The results showed that the motor capacity of the caffeine group was 7.4% higher than that of the control group and 5.3% higher than that of the sugar group, and the fat oxidation decomposition in the caffeine group after exercise was significantly higher than that of the remaining 2 groups.

Although caffeine is not a banned substance in domestic marathons, the use of caffeine in large doses still requires caution. Studies have confirmed that when the dose is used in excess of 10 mg/kg or the daily dose exceeds 600 mg, the exercise capacity does not show a corresponding dose effect, on the contrary, the chance of side effects is greatly increased.

Tips

Depending on how sports supplement merchants provide, proper use of caffeinated energy gels prior to a race may help improve an individual's athletic performance. But if you are a runner who is very sensitive to caffeine, such as the heart that usually drinks some coffee, you must pay attention to the composition of the energy glue, do not choose the energy glue containing caffeine.

Source: Medicine Gourd Baby