FEATURES

Legal & Effective...

Thursday, 22 November 2012 01:10

Caffeine Gives Endurance Athletes A Third And Fourth Wind

by Murray Carpenter, National Public Radio

November 19, 2012

The Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, is an extreme event

She integrates calories and caffeine into her race-day diet using energy gels. Each contains 50 milligrams of caffeine, which Piampiano calls a "shot."

"Before the race, I typically take one gel that has one shot of caffeine in it, and then when I get onto the bike, each hour I take one shot of caffeine," explains Piampiano. In the last half of the marathon, she ups her dose to two shots every 20 minutes.

"Caffeine has been well-known to be a beneficial drug to use during sport. It's been studied for many years over a variety of different types of sports; it will improve your performance," says Matthew Ganio, director of the University of Arkansas Human Performance Laboratory.

But, he says, it is important to take the right dose. READ MORE