Caffeine for better sports performance!
Everyone gets caffeine in some way. It is found in many different products and, of course, in 63 different plants. The best known form of a caffeine-containing product is of course our delicious cup of coffee. But also at BYE we have a number of products that contain caffeine. Our energy shot contains 125mg of caffeine and the Pro isotonic gel contains 50mg of caffeine. With our sports nutrition supplements, we use the caffeine to give our performance a Boost. Fun fact: The energy shot was our first developed product and also had a lot of influence in choosing our name BYE! Boost Your Energy.
But what does caffeine do for your sports performance and when is it best to use it? We'd like to explain more about that in this blog.
What does Caffeine do?
After ingestion, caffeine is quickly absorbed into the body and reaches a peak point after 1 hour. Then after every 2 hours it is halved and is broken down by the body. The broken down product of caffeine either urinates out or comes out of the body through sweat. Before Jan. 1, 2004, a large amount of caffeine was also on the doping list, but this was changed in 2004. The reason it was on the doping list was that it has a performance-enhancing effect and was therefore a sports ethics issue at the time. Back in 1977, it was established by Dr. Costill that caffeine has a performance-enhancing effect on endurance exercise. It has been proven that in efforts of 85% Vo2 max (85% of your maximum power) a 10-20% improvement occurs in time of exhaustion (Doherty et al.,t 2005). The improved effect is enhanced the longer the effort lasts. The greatest performance benefit is explained by the fact that caffeine makes it easier to use fat as fuel and therefore has more energy during endurance exercise. It has also been proven that the influence of caffeine also makes the effort feel less strenuous, which gives a great mental advantage. This is because caffeine stimulates the production of adrenaline and thus temporarily changes the perception of the effort, making it feel less heavy than it actually is.
In addition to endurance efforts, it has also been proven that in short efforts of 100% VO2 max (maximum power) there is a performance-enhancing effect. Trained 1500m runners ran 3% faster after using caffeine (Wiles et al., 1992). The greatest performance enhancing effect is in long efforts where you get more broken down (exhausted), but there is also a performance enhancing effect in efforts of around 5 min. This has not (yet) been established for very short efforts under 2 min.
The BYE! Energy shot
Therefore, as BYE Nutrition, we have designed the energy shot. This energy shot contains 125mg of caffeine, including 100mg from caffeine and 25mg from Guarana extract. Besides the caffeine, the shot contains other ingredients that help you get more energy. Below is a brief explanation of these ingredients.
Vitamin B complex: The various Vitamin Bs help with energy metabolism and protecting cells. Therefore, like caffeine, it provides more energy.
Taurine: Taurine is an important amino acid in the body with many different functions, it especially helps muscles by regulating energy use and protecting muscle cells from deterioration. It aids recovery in both strength and endurance athletes.
L-carnitine: has an important role in fat burning, to convert fat into energy faster.
15 grams of carbohydrates: these serve as the body's fuel.
Peppermint extract: First, because the test panel associated the freshness of the flavor with light exertion and immediate refreshment, making the exertion performed feel less heavy in the moment. In addition, there are several ongoing studies where a correlation has been found between easier oxygen uptake when taking peppermint extract. However, the causal link has not been officially proven (yet).
