Caffeine

[IAmTheWalrus]

Hey guys, with all the talk regarding nutrition going on in the weight lifting PR topic, I was wondering if anyone could answer a simple question for me. What are the positive a negative effects of caffeine as it relates to a pole vaulter (effect as a diuretic, weight gain/loss, etc.).

If you do not feel comfortable answering this due to its presence on the NCAA banned substance list, you could PM me. I am out of college.

[KYLE ELLIS]

Its on the banned list?? Hmmmm I wonder how much you have to take before it becomes illegal to the silly NCAA (I am guessing a ton). The reason IAAF or whover makes rules for professional track and field doesn't ban caffiene because once you take enough to get the affect, taking more does absolutely nothing... So if Joe Schmo takes 200mg and that makes him feel good, taking 1,200 mg will do nothing except that he will have to pee.

[IAmTheWalrus]

A quote from NCAA.org

"The NCAA bans caffeine because it is found to be a performance enhancer, and because of concern about the effects of stimulant use during intense exercise. Caffeine will produce an NCAA positive drug test if amounts exceed 15 micrograms/mL in the urine sample collected. There is not a formula to calculate the amount of caffeine one can consume prior to a drug test and not test positive. Varying metabolic rates and time of consumption prior to urine collection are among the contributing factors. The 15 micrograms/mL cut-off is designed to allow for moderate caffeine consumption below the positive test threshold. "

So I think coffee drinkers, or late night studiers having an energy drink don't need to worry, nut if you drink red bull like its Gatorade, you might get sidelined for a year.

[KYLE ELLIS]

A quote from NCAA.org

"The NCAA bans caffeine because it is found to be a performance enhancer, and because of concern about the effects of stimulant use during intense exercise. Caffeine will produce an NCAA positive drug test if amounts exceed 15 micrograms/mL in the urine sample collected. There is not a formula to calculate the amount of caffeine one can consume prior to a drug test and not test positive. Varying metabolic rates and time of consumption prior to urine collection are among the contributing factors. The 15 micrograms/mL cut-off is designed to allow for moderate caffeine consumption below the positive test threshold. "

So I think coffee drinkers, or late night studiers having an energy drink don't need to worry, nut if you drink red bull like its Gatorade, you might get sidelined for a year.

I am thinking the equivelent to test positive for this is like 8-10 cups of coffe. Coffee has as much caffiene in it as red bull. Like I said before you don't need that much caffiene anyways to get the affects of caffiene. I think if the NCAA realized this they wouldn't have this rule either, the IAAF did.

[rainbowgirl28]

So I think coffee drinkers, or late night studiers having an energy drink don't need to worry, nut if you drink red bull like its Gatorade, you might get sidelined for a year.

That would be an expensive habit!

[bel142]

Morning,

Penn State's pole vault coach did his PhD dissertation on the effects of Caffeine and athletics... I only have the abstract available but the whole paper is actually a good read... sort of... If your a true nerd... And were studying last night and didn't go out...

http://journals.lww.com/jcrjournal/Abst ... ure.8.aspx


cheers,
bel

[vault3rb0y]

yup, that would be you wouldn't it brad . lol we need a PV movie night sometime soon. We can all drink 8 cups of caffiene and test the effects for ourselves, but instead of vaulting it'll be rockband.

[decanuck]

With one possible exception it should be avoided.

As both a diuretic and a laxative, caffeine has the dual effects of making your body less effective at using the water you drink along with peeing out the water faster. Increasing amounts of caffeine are associated with increased difficulty staying hydrated. If you drink enough coffee, it will literally become impossible to hydrate yourself for a period of time because the water you drink will be going right through you with very little of it actually going to your cells. Furthermore the laxative effect will have food blowing through your digestive system faster than your organs can fully process it. If the body is analogous to a car (food as fuel and water as motor oil), then consuming caffeine is like temporarily poking holes in your gas tank and oil pan--the good stuff drips out faster than it can be replaced, and before the car can use it. End result: you're dead on the road.

Beyond metabolic effects, caffeine disrupts your circadian rhythms and does so well beyond its period of effect. This is ironic, because most people take caffeine to combat tiredness from sleep deprivation. However that cup of coffee in the morning ends up disturbing your sleep later that night. Even if you fall asleep easily and sleep for a long time, not all sleep is equally effective. Sleep studies have shown that any kind of depressant or stimulant (alcohol, weed, coffee, guarana, etc.) adversely impacts the effectiveness of sleep as being restful and rejuvenative. So you might sleep for 8-9 hours but you won't get the same rest out of that sleep as you would minus the caffeine.

I should note that caffeine, in most its forms, caffeine (especially coffee) is fleeting--it absorbs quickly into the bloodstream, gives you a spike in energy, and leaves just as quickly. This is why coffee drinkers often end up having cup after cup every day. Apparently, however, some forms of caffeine--notably that of matcha green tea leaves--is absorbed into the bloodstream over a period of hours and the overall blood level doesn't spike very high. This could provide a way to get some of the benefits of caffeine without the deleterious effects noted above. Matcha green tea is a Japanese variant that, unlike any other form of tea, involves the actual consumption of the entire leaf (which ground into fine powder). It is very rich in antioxidants and has been linked to a number of positive health outcomes. While I'm unaware of any study of its athletic applications, it is extremely high in EGCG antioxidants which have been linked to long term brain health, cardiovascular health, healthy body composition, immunity, and others. It has also been found to be anti-inflammatory, which would obviously have some value in athletic application.

BTW, I'm not sure about the current NCAA rule but I remember that the old WADA doping test threshold for caffeine was ludicrously high and would require the average person to consume something like 2000mg, or 15-20 cups of coffee.

[vault3rb0y]

Very nice caffiene summary! And some information i was unaware of in regards to caffiene and its sources. thanks!

[bel142]

To respond to some of the above, the NCAA specification is specific...

"e. Caffeine if concentrations in urine exceed 15 micrograms/ml."