Coffee: A Personal Trainer’s Perspective

by Michael Hannon
(London, England)

Can the worlds of coffee drinking, physical performance and health coincide?

The purpose of this article is to investigate coffee and the possible physiological effects of its consumption. I’ll be examining coffee and its relative physiological effect so as to come to a conclusion and provide optimising guidelines on its possible consumption for improved physical performance and physical aesthetic.

Note: I’ll be using caffeine and coffee synonymously and all recommendations of coffee consumption are without milk.

Where did this extremely popular beverage come from?

The History

(Circa A.D. 800)

A goat herder in Ethiopia saw his goats eat coffee beans and observed how much more they were moving than usual. The story goes that a Monk joined the Herder in consuming the coffee beans and noticed “they were uncannily alert to divine inspiration.”(1)

Around the same time other Africans were wrapping the beans in animal fat and eating them as a primitive power bar. Yummy!

(Circa 1000 to 1600)

In Arabia Muslims roasted and brewed the beans to make what we know today as coffee. This process soon spread into North Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, and India.

(1615 to 1700)

Coffee spread to Europe with the Dutch taking the lead in importing and having the first European owned coffee estate in Colonial Java which now forms part of Indonesia.

(Circa 1727 to 1800)

The Brazilian government sent Colonel Palheta to France to acquire coffee seedlings so that Brazil could take part in the booming coffee market. This trip was no doubt successful and Brazil, to this day, remains one of the major players in the coffee market.

(1946 to 1971)

In 1946 the first espresso machine was invented and first used in the Gaggia Coffee Bar in Italy.

In 1971 the first Starbucks opens in Seattle. (1)

Coffee has become a modern mainstay of the industrialised nations. In fact, 4 of the top 5 countries with the highest consumption of coffee per capita are European, with Finland being the highest at 11.4kg per capita. (2)

What used to be a beverage reserved in the West for the social and intellectual elite, is now the preferred choice of beverage for an eclectic mix of the population.

The total integration of coffee into our daily routine has lead to two camps divided by the pros and cons of coffee consumption. One camp believes coffee to be a dangerous substance (25) and one that should be avoided at all costs whilst the other camp believes a good cup of coffee to be a health giving substance. (26)

"Black as the devil, Hot as hell, Pure as an angel, Sweet as love."~Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord: Recipe for coffee

However, what effects does coffee have on performance and physical transformation?

So now let’s now delve in and see what we find.

Coffee and Physical Performance:

Coffee has been consumed by fitness enthusiasts for its stimulatory effect for decades.

Coffee is not only recognised as a physical enhancer by fitness enthusiasts but is so much so that it is also deemed a prohibited substance by the International Olympic Committee. An athlete can be disqualified if tested urine caffeine reaches 12mg or above. It would require approximately 3 cups of coffee to reach this limit. (3) Though this is subjective to an individual’s caffeine tolerance, caffeine consumption experience, physical state and environment. In a hot and humid environment an endurance athlete who is dehydrated would have concentrated levels of caffeine in their urine, even at low ingested levels. (4)

Coffee and Endurance:

A study found combining caffeine with carbohydrates post training resulted in a 66% increase in stored glucose. (14) Can you imagine having a 66% increase is glycogen? This would result in an increased resistance to fatigue in your next training session.

Caffeine ingestion of 3-9g per kg of body weight before an event can lead to increased performance in prolonged endurance events and short term intense exercise lasting less than 5 min. (5)

Peter Jansen in his book “Lactate Threshold Training” recommends that ingestion of 300mg of caffeine (equivalent to 3-4 cups of coffee) before an event can sustain an athlete 25-85% longer in an effort requiring 85% of the athletes VO2 max. (4)

A study conducted at the Department of Sport, Exercise and Biomedical Sciences, University of Luton, England, recorded improvements in endurance capabilities after ingestion of caffeine. Especially noted was its effect on improved time to exhaustion. (6)

It should be noted that most studies do not distinguish between habitual caffeine consumers and the abstainers. The endurance effects of caffeine on regular coffee drinkers were found to be negligible in a study conducted at Mcmaster University in Canada. It was concluded that 6mg of caffeine to every 1kg of body weight administered to athletic subjects (Varsity level runners) 60 minutes before testing, did not alter previously recorded heart rate, perceived exertion, and plasma levels of glucose or lactate after 90 minutes on a treadmill at 70% of VO2max. (23)

There certainly is a mountain of empirical evidence supporting caffeine as an aid to endurance activities, specifically in non regular coffee drinkers performing distances from 800m to 10k and time to exhaustion.

The fact that the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) have limits on their athlete’s caffeine consumption should propound the legitimate use of caffeine as an ergogenic aid for the amateur endurance athlete.

Coffee and Strength:

I consume a caffeine based product 10-15min before a neurally demanding (strength, power) training session. I have found it to be helpful in motivation, concentration and have noted improvements in endurance (+1-2rep) and small increments of weight lifted.

A study conducted in 1992 at the Oklahoma State University found improvements in the strength of knee flexion and extension at differing angles, velocities and rep ranges from 3 reps to 21 reps in male collegiate athletes when administered with 7 mg of caffeine per kg of bodyweight. (7)

Improvements in sprint speed and multiple tests of speed and accuracy during sport specific (rugby) circuits were noted when competitive rugby players ingested 6mg of caffeine per kg of body weight. (8)

Charles Poliquin, a world renowned Olympic strength coach recommends a strong cup of coffee when preparing for an “ultimate workout”. (9)

Bill Crawford, a two time medal winner at the Arnold WPO Bench Press Championships, is said to consume a cup of coffee before “benching some serious iron”. (10)

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