The effect of caffeine on cycling performance 🚴‍♂️

How much does caffeine actually improve cycling?

Effect of caffeine ingestion on cycling performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Study Details

This new meta-analysis compiled data from 20 studies (226 participants) to establish how caffeine can improve cycling performance 🔍

Whilst exploring the roles of…

💊 Caffeine dosage

📈 Training status

🗓️ Athlete age

Here is what they found ⬇️

Key Findings

Results showed that caffeine significantly…

⏱️ Reduces cycling completion time

💥 Increased mean power output

Subgroup analysis showed that a low dose of caffeine (≤ 3 mg/kg) was more effective in reducing completion time compared with a higher dose (4-6 mg/kg) 📉✅

👨‍🦳 Older athletes appeared to experience greater improvements in performance when using caffeine

🚴 Both well-trained and recreational athletes showed similar responses

❌ Caffeine had no significant effect on heart rate or RPE

Conclusion

These findings suggest that lower doses of caffeine (≤ 3 mg/kg) may be more effective than higher doses when taken 1 hr before cycling ✅

Reference

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41601907/

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