CAFFEINE AND PERFORMANCE

Caffeine ingestion (3-9 mg/kg body weight) prior to exercise increases performance during prolonged endurance exercise and short-term intens e exercise lasting similar to 5 min in the laboratory. These results a re generally reported in well-trained elite or recreational subjects. However, there is a lack of well-controlled field studies to determine the applicability of laboratory results to the athletic world. Caffei ne does not appear to enhance performance during incremental exercise tests lasting 8-20 min and during sprinting lasting less than 90 s, al though research examining sprinting is rare. In addition, the mechanis ms responsible for any improvement in endurance and short-term exercis e have not been clearly established. The ergogenic effects of caffeine are present with urinary caffeine levels that are below the limit of 12 mu g/ml allowed by the International Olympic Committee, which raise s serious ethical issues regarding the use of caffeine to improve athl etic performance. One solution would be to add caffeine to the list of banned substances, thereby requiring athletes to abstain from caffein e ingestion 48-72 hr prior to competition.