Coffee enhances Cycling performance in men and women, finds study

Another good news for coffee lovers -Coffee may improve sports performance in men and women a new study has revealed. The study of 38 participants (19 men, 19 women) found that drinking caffeinated coffee was related to the improvement in the speed of cycling. The findings of the study have been published in Nutrients.

Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages around the world. Coffee contains caffeine, polyphenols, and diterpenes, which have been shown to influence cardiovascular disease. Drinking coffee is also known to the sensitivity of myocardium to calcium that can affect heart rhythm. Caffeine is a well-established ergogenic aid, although research to date has predominantly focused on anhydrous caffeine, and in men.

The study found that coffee ingestion had a positive effect on the 5 km cycling time trial performance of both sexes. The study's findings suggest that both men and women respond similarly to coffee and that coffee ingestion may be a practical source of caffeine prior to exercise to improve performance.

Participants restricted coffee consumption for 12 hours before drinking either: coffee providing 3mg.kg^-1 of caffeine, a placebo in water or nothing as a control. In a 5km cycling time trial, following coffee ingestion, the performance of both men and women improved by approximately nine seconds and six seconds compared with placebo and control, respectively. No differences in performance were observed between the placebo and control.

The study contributes to the growing body of research that highlights the ergogenic benefit of coffee ingestion. To date, much of the research on this topic has focused only on anhydrous caffeine and on men.