Legend has it that coffee was "discovered" around 850 AD in upper Egypt by a goat herder named Khaldi. One day Khaldi noticed that his goats were eating red berries (coffee beans) from a shrub and noticed the goats were acting very strange. The goats were jumping around and acting more energetic than usual.

After watching this, Khaldi mustered up the courage to try some of the berries himself and reported an unusual increase in energy after consumption of the beans. Khaldi then spoke with some monks who decided to cook the berries to make a drink and...coffee was born! Little did Khaldi know that his discovery would help millions of athletes for generations to come. Coffee is a good way to start the day, but some guys who lift weights may want to consider functional foods for better results.

For example, functional food coffee such as JavaFit may be better for guys who work out than regular coffee. JavaFit coffee contains caffeine, green tea extract, garcinia cambogia and niacin. It has been reported that JavaFit has significant effects on resting energy expenditure compared to normal caffeinated coffee for 3 hours following ingestion.' JavaFit coffee has also been shown to increase post-exercise energy expenditure as well."

Caffeine has been found to increase alertness via several biochemical pathways.The primary pathways by which caffeine stimulates the central nervous system is by directly inhibiting phosphodiesterases and increasing cyclic AMP, inhibiting adenosine receptors, stimulating adrenaline release and increasing intracellular muscle calcium levels. Many guys who pound the iron may feel like their muscles are "twitching" when too much caffeine is taken; it has been demonstrated that caffeine is able to induce "twitching" of the muscle fibers without contraction and complete muscle contraction in a dose-dependent manner when caffeine is administered."

Adenosine is primarily an inhibitory chemical; caf-feine blocks the actions of adenosine. Several animal studies show that adenosine acts on specific receptors to induce sleep. These adenosine receptors are scattered throughout the body and brain. A recent study on cats... renowned sleepers... pinpointed one arousal network and confirmed that adenosine is a natural sleep inducer. The scientists have found that natural concentrations of adenosine build up in parts of the brain system during the cats' waking periods, causing them to fall sleep." Caffeine works by binding to these adenosine receptors and keeping adenosine from binding with its receptor. That's how caffeine keeps you awake. Adenosine also inhibits the release of most brain excitatory neurotransmitters, particularly dopamine, and may reduce dopamine synthesis. Decreases in dopamine have been linked to fatigue during exercise.

Bring The Pain!

Caffeine ranks along with creative as the one supplement that has consistently been shown to work. In a recent International Journal of Sports Nutrition Exercise and Exercise Metabolism, researchers reported that caffeine decreases pain during strenuous exercise. The researchers had subjects consume 5mg/kg of bodyweight and had them perform cycling exercises at 80 percent of their max V02. Compared with the placebo pill, the caffeine group had a significant reduction in pain during exercise. This study is in agreement with a previously reported study that caffeine ingestion has a dose-response effect on reducing leg muscle pain during cycling exercise (i.e., the more caffeine a person took, the less pain he/she felt during exercise).' Imagine how many more reps you could crank out if you could increase your pain threshold.

It's no coincidence that many over-the-counter pain relievers contain caffeine. Caffeine has also been shown to reduce muscle soreness the next day. Researchers reported in the Journal of Pain that taking caffeine two days after a grueling bout of eccentric exercise reduced post-exercise muscle soreness and enhanced force production.' 4 The other study of interest this month on caffeine will benefit guys who exercise in the heat. It was reported that caffeine, when combined with water and carbohydrate ingestion while exercising in the heat, maintained maximal voluntary muscle contractions despite dehydration. This may benefit those of you who work out in hardcore gyms with no air conditioning or who work out in the sun.

Caffeine, Not Coffee

A huge misconception that many athletes have is the difference between coffee and caffeine. Coffee is not going to give you the same performance effects as caffeine (NoDoz orVivarin). So here's an interesting piece of information for you on coffee vs. caffeine in athletic performance. When runners were tested in time trial in a 10K run, subjects were given pure caffeine (4.5mg/kg/bw) or an equivalent of dose of coffee 1 hour before the time trial.

The plasma caffeine concentrations were similar between the groups, yet the results were dramatically different. Amazingly, caffeine pills resulted in an improvement in endurance by 33 percent, decreasing run time from 41 to 32 minutes, while the equivalent 4 dosage from coffee consumption produced no improvement at all. There are hundreds of chemicals in coffee; some may not be conducive to athletic performance. Don't pay $4 for a cup of Starbucks when you can get a whole bottle of caffeine tablets for the same price that gives you more bang for your buck.

Caffeine Increases Testosterone

Just when you think caffeine can't get any better... it does! A study in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism reported that caffeine caused an increase in testosterone level during exercise. Men were given caffeine dosages of 200, 400 and 800mg of caffeine before resistance exercise.They then performed a 45-minute hardcore workout of squats, deadlifts and lunges, followed by 10-mile sprints. The study reported that caffeine caused a dose-dependent rise in testosterone (the highest dosage caused the greatest rise in testosterone). Increases in testosterone occurred at dosages of 400mg and 800mg within 15 minutes of exercise. The study suggests that 400mg of caffeine before resistance exercise has some potential to increase testosterone.

HOLD ON!! Before you start eating NoDoz or Vivarin to increase testosterone, the study also found that highest levels of caffeine also caused the greatest rise in cortisol that also continued into the post-exercise period. The research group states that caffeine does have some beneficial effects on increasing testosterone, but the beneficial effects may be counteracted by the rise in cortisol that occurs with caffeine use.

So how can you get all the benefits of caffeine while removing the detrimental effects of cortisol? Post-exercise carbohydrates and essential amino acids.The subjects in the study did not receive a post-exercise recovery shake, as most experienced lifters know is essential. A post-exercise workout shake will blunt cortisol responses during exercise and after exercise. For example, men were assigned to resistance exercise and received either a placebo or a post-exercise shake with essential amino acids and carbohydrates. The placebo group exhibited a significant increase in cortisol within 30 minutes of exercise, with a peak increase of 105 percent immediately after exercise and cortisol remained 54 percent above baseline at 30 minutes after exercise.

Conversely, the treatment (EAA+ CARES) groups displayed no significant change in cortisol during the exercise bout, with CHO+EAA finishing 23 percent below baseline at 30 minutes after exercise. After reading that caffeine can increase testosterone, you may be asking...how is that happening? Based on the literature, catecholamines or adrenaline is a possible stimulator of testosterone. It has been reported that men involved in competition (and win) have increased testosterone production, which also takes place with large increases in adrenaline which may be stimulating testosterone secretion.e"9 Robert Sapolsky, a world-renowned endocrinologist who studies male apes, reports that when male apes fight other apes for females, the winning ape has large increases in testosterone, while the losing ape has lowered testosterone.

His reports that apes' testosterone could be increased by a mechanism other than the LH pathways, which may be true in humans as well." He suggested that sympathetic stress enhances the secretion of adrenaline, which has a stimulatory effect on testosterone within minutes, whereas cortisol released from the adrenals also inhibits testosterone production from the testes just as quickly. Thus, he suspects the adrenaline rush of winning increases testosterone, while losing increases cortisol– which decreases testosterone. Researchers put the adrenaline and testosterone theory to the test in young males. The subjects were assigned to a powerlifting group (low catecholamines) or a high-intensity group (high catecholamines).

The heavy weightlifting consisted of 4 sets of six squats at 90 percent to 95 percent of a 6-repetition maximum (RM), while the moderate weightlifting consisted of 4 sets of 9 or 10 repetitions at 60 percent to 65 percent of a 1 RM. The weight and number of repetitions were manipulated such that the total weight lifted for the two sessions was equal. The group who performed 4 sets of 10 reps had greater increases in testosterone, which rose in conjunction with adrenaline levels. The researchers suggested that epinephrine and norepinephrine, which have been shown to increase during exercise to the magnitude of the intensity of the exercise, could have significantly increased testosterone levels in response to the exercise bout."

Caffeine has a number of pharmacological effects that can enhance exercise performance. Recent evifence supports the view that caffeine has the ability to improve short-term, high-intensity exercise and reduce pain. Caffeine's main actions are to block adenosine receptors associated with the central nervous system; this is the most favored mode of action to explain the ergogenic properties of caffeine.

References:

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3. Jones G. Caffeine and other sympathomimetic stimulants: modes of action and effects on sports performance. Essays Biochem, 2008;44:109-23.
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8. Shinohara K,Yanagisawa A, Kagotay Gomi A, Nemoto K, Moriya E, Furusawa Furuya K,Terasawa K. Physiological changes in Pachinko players; beta-endorphin, ,atecholamines, immune system substances and heart rate. Appl Human SC, 1999 Mar;18(2):37-42,
9. Meyer G, Schwertfeger J, Exton MS, Janssen OE, Knapp W, Stadler MA, Schedlowski M, KrugerTH. Neuroendocrine response to casino gambling in probem gamblers. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2004 Nov;29(10):1272-8.
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12. Bird SP,Tarpenning KM, Marino FE. Effects of liquid carbohydrate/essential amino acid ingestion on acute hormonal response during a single bout of resistance exercise in untrained men. Nutrition, 2006 Apr;22 (4):3 67-7 5.
13. Roberts MD,Taylor LW, Wismann JA,Wilborn CD, Kreider RB,Willoughby DS. Effects of ingesting Java Fit Energy Extreme functional coffee on aerobic and anaerabic fitness markers in recreationally active coffee consumers. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2007 Dec 8;4:25.
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