How much and when you should have caffeine will probably depend on who you ask. Everyone has their own story to tell when it comes to their experience with caffeine and it can be difficult to determine what exactly you should do. Well the truth is, there is no one size fits all approach for the quantity and timing of caffeine and a little trial and error is required to figure out what works best for you. In this blog, we'll go through how to properly use caffeine so you can enjoy the benefits with minimal side-effects.
Determine Where You Sit On The Caffeine Intake Spectrum
Everybody responds differently to caffeine and in most cases more is not always better. Knowing where you sit on the caffeine intake spectrum will take a little trial and error. Start with a low amount (1-3mg/kg eg. 90-250mg for a 90kg person) and note down how it made you feel and perform. Make your way through medium and high doses until you figure out what suits you best.
Fig 1. Caffeine Intake Spectrum
Determine When You Need It Most
Habitual caffeine intake almost always becomes problematic. Getting your caffeine intake wrong could lead to poor sleep followed by ineffective workouts the next day. Or, it can lead to scrambling with more caffeine the next day to rescue the situation, which often spirals into the vicious caffeine cycle.
Check out an extreme example of this where AFL players took caffeine and sleeping tablets to boost performance then offset the effects it had on their sleep: https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/caffeine-pills-face-afl-ban-after-ben-cousins-incident/news-story/9014a11b30a0949bdf91a55eba286756.
Now you might say that you take caffeine at least 8 hours before bed time or you have a caffeine cut-off time to avoid any sleep related side effects. While this may be a good strategy to prevent the overall impact caffeine has on your sleep, it may not be enough. This is because caffeine effects everyone's sleeping patterns very differently and in different ways, no matter what time you take it.
Because of these reasons, you should determine when you need it most and consider limiting your intake to once or twice per week or month. Here are some example scenarios:
Your single most important training session of the week. Like a hard sparring or big lower body session
On the day of your competition. Make sure you have tested caffeine in training first.
To recover performance after a one-off poor sleep.
On the tail end of an intense weight loss phase
There are other scenarios where you might need caffeine. As long as you limit, plan and determine how much is needed and why, you can enjoy the benefits with minimal side effects.
If you'd like some tailored advice on caffeine, feel free to contact me on instagram @walidhouli or via email at mailbox@bodyengineering.info
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