Caffeine and Distance Running

Caffeine may have ergogenic effects on a broad range of exercise modalities. It has been found to have small to moderate benefits on muscular endurance, movement velocity, muscular strength, anaerobic power, aerobic endurance, power, jumping performance, and exercise speed. Caffeine’s erogenicity is not fully understood, but it is thought to involve increased myofibrillar calcium availability, optimized exercise metabolism and substrate availability, as well as stimulation of the central nervous system. Some ergogenic effects of caffeine appear to result from antagonistic interactions with adenosine receptors in the central and peripheral nervous systems which would in turn reduce pain and delay fatigue, hence may improve performance in endurance exercise. Specifically, caffeine seems more ergogenic for time-to-exhaustion runs than for time trials, suggesting that this substance may be more useful for prolonged running events where time to exhaustion is a performance factor. Indeed a recent systematic review and meta-analysis found that caffeine intake increased the time to exhaustion in running trials (Wang et al., 2023). So perhaps before you head out for a long one this weekend, grab your java then go!