By EDDIE GLENN
Researchers have now found that post-workout muscle soreness may be best relieved not by Tylenol or aspirin or Aleve, but by a cup of coffee.
A small study of female college students conducted at the University of Georgia in Athens, found that delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) seems to be lessened by caffeine.
DOMS is the pain that’s common a day or two after a workout that’s more intense than normal. In particular, exercise that included eccentric contraction of the muscles – a contraction that occurs while the muscle is also being lengthened – is less painful when followed by a small dose of caffeine, equal to about two cups of coffee.
The study, published in the Journal of Pain, looked at the effects of a caffeine supplement on delayed muscle pain in nine young women.
In a simulated workout, the researchers gave the subjects electrical stimulation to produce eccentric contraction in their thighs.
The procedure was repeated over two days, but the women were given either a caffeine pill or a placebo, without knowing which one they got each day.
The women reported significantly less soreness during the workout on their caffeine days, as opposed to their placebo days.
The researchers theorized that caffeine blocks the activity of a chemical called adenosine, which is released into the body as part of the inflammatory response to injury.
Victor Maridakis, lead author of the study, told Reuters that – while the caffeine supplement appeared to work better than either acetaminophen (found in Tylenol) and naproxen (found in Aleve), ibuprofen, another popular painkiller (Advil and Motrin), has shown inconsistent results.
According to Noah Christophersen, inconsistency seems to be common with caffeine studies.
“Just in the last month, I’ve seen two studies on that very thing, and they both said different things,” said Christophersen, an occasional weight-lifter. “One said caffeine is good for you because it gets your blood pumping, and the other said it constricts the blood flow to the heart.”
Jack Mackey has doubts about the study, especially considering its limited number of participants.
“I don’t know that you could make generalizations about every person who works out because of results they found in nine college-age women,” said Mackey, who also lifts weights, plus runs and cycles.
“I know some people who live in coffee and can ride [a bicycle] all day without much else in their gut, and some don’t drink coffee at all, eat fairly normal meals, and can still ride all day,” he said. “So what does it all mean? Probably not much.”
Even Maridakis, the lead author of the study, cautions against making a regular caffeine dose a daily part of a workout.
“The negative side effects of caffeine are increased feelings of anxiety, heart palpitations, increased blood pressure, upset stomach, increased urination and disrupted sleep,” he said. “Caution should be used when consuming caffeine so not to exacerbate these side effects.”
But according to cyclist Gabe Speth, even without studies backing up their behavior, a lot of regular exercisers he knows are regular caffeine users – for both its pre- and post-workout effects.
“You’ll see a lot of riders walking around at races with their cappuccino,” he said. “Some guys pretty much live on the stuff.”
