Study: Benefits of Caffeine PWO

Nutrition
1

…increases carbohydrate uptake 66% to muscle

what do you guys think?

I was always under the impression caffeine increase blood glucose by increasing hydrolysis of glycogen in tissues(namely the liver, I believe).

2

Spike Surger! Seems interesting. “Athletes who ingested caffeine with carbohydrate had 66% more glycogen in their muscles four hours after finishing intense, glycogen-depleting exercise, compared to when they consumed carbohydrate alone, according to the study”.
This exact study and question was asked to Thibs in his locker. Heres his response: “Caffeine can be glycogen-sparing because it increases the release of free-fatty acids. If more FFA are available to be used for fuel, then the body will not need to rely on carbs as much.”
So it seems, that caffeine doesn’t increase carb uptake, yet spares glycogen as fuel during anarobic activity.

3

Participants in the study ingested 8 mg of caffeine per kilogram of body weight. That equals to 670mg of caffeine for a 185 pound guy. That is a lot of caffeine for one serving.

The study also mentioned:

  • one hour after exercise, muscle glycogen levels had replenished to the same extent whether or not the athlete had the drink containing carbohydrate and caffeine or carbohydrate only
  • four hours after exercise, the drink containing caffeine resulted in 66% higher glycogen levels compared to the carbohydrate-only drink
  • throughout the four-hour recovery period, the caffeinated drink resulted in higher levels of blood glucose and plasma insulin
  • several signaling proteins believed to play a role in glucose transport into the muscle were elevated to a greater extent after the athletes ingested the carbohydrate-plus-caffeine drink, compared to the carbohydrate-only drink

Based on what Thibs said: “Caffeine can be glycogen-sparing because it increases the release of free-fatty acids. If more FFA is available to be used for fuel, then the body will not need to rely on carbs as much.” If that is the only factor, I would think the one hour after exercise muscle glycogen levels should be higher with the caffeine group, since less glycogen was used while working out. But the level was the same between the two. So there might be more at play then just more FFA was used for fuel.

The study mentioned they planned to run more study using less caffeine to see if the results will replicate. That would be an interesting follow-up.

4

I’d be very interested to see the results from that study.

5

So would this effect last even as you establish a tolerance for the caffeine?

Usually I finish my workouts by 9PM, so this doesn’t sound terribly appealing, especially with me having to wake up early for class.