Red Bull!!??
Comments
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I don't care what anyone else says, Caffeine is a fantastic, legal performance enhancer. Physiologically the evidence suggests that it helps a lot. Even if it doesn't increase muscle fiber recruitment etc, it helps you mentally. It hits neurotransmitters that increase your sense of wellbeing which helps you feel more alert as well as more positive about what's happening.
However beware when using it.
Don't use too much as it can have a negative effect and make you nervous and jittery.
Don't use Red Bull as it's going to throw your insulin levels out. Just hit some caffeine pills or have a strong coffee without sugar.
Consider also grabbing a flat coke about 30-40 minutes from the end of a race to give you that last good hit.
Also be careful when using too much caffeine when it's hot as it can make you want to p*ss all the time and make you dehydrated.
A tip is to have your caffeine about 45 minutes before the start of the race cos you can do all your p*ssing etc before your race not during.* Check out MyCycling.com
All the cycling training information you'll ever need. No text book regurgitation. Real cycling training programs from ex-professional cyclists.0 -
Funnily enough, I got to the chapter on caffeine this morning...
Not every study shows benefits, there are lots of studies showing that using it is of benefit to both power and endurance athletes. In runners, caffeine can improve performance by up to 40% (Graham and Spreit, 1991), and an analysis of 40 studies showed an average performance boost of 12% for endurance athletes (Doherty & Smith, "Effects of Caffeine Injestion on Exercise Testing: A Meta-Analysis", 2004). It also stimulates adrenaline release and mobilises fatty acid release (i.e. you use more fat for energy release, saving your glycogen reserves).
However, don't forget the potential side-effects: anxiety, trembling, headaches, sleeplessness. It's also a diuretic (dehydrates you by making you pee more), but it seems to be uncertain as to whether this actually affects you during exercise (seems possibly not) or just at rest.
If you do want to use caffeine, "dosage" would be 1-2 strong cups of coffee or cans of energy drink before exercising."And the Lord said unto Cain, 'where is Abel thy brother?' And he said, 'I know not: I dropped him on the climb up to the motorway bridge'."
- eccolafilosofiadelpedale0 -
Why should red bull throw your "insulin levels out" any more than coke,which has just as much sugar and you can get sugar free red bull if you want.Smarter than the average bear.0
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antfly wrote:Why should red bull throw your "insulin levels out" any more than coke,which has just as much sugar and you can get sugar free red bull if you want.
Does caffeine effect insulin levels, or is it just the suger that does that? Also, alot of people talk about flat coke, would flat lemonade do the same job as I dont like coke, and would there be any benefit in adding glucose powder to your drinks?Cycling never gets any easier, you just go faster - Greg LeMond0 -
lemonade doesnt contain caffeien ASAIK, so its not going to have thre same effect."mycycling.com"I don't care what anyone else says, Caffeine is a fantastic, legal performance enhancer. Physiologically the evidence suggests that it helps a lot. Even if it doesn't increase muscle fiber recruitment etc, it helps you mentally. It hits neurotransmitters that increase your sense of wellbeing which helps you feel more alert as well as more positive about what's happening.
However beware when using it.
Don't use too much as it can have a negative effect and make you nervous and jittery.
Don't use Red Bull as it's going to throw your insulin levels out. Just hit some caffeine pills or have a strong coffee without sugar.
Consider also grabbing a flat coke about 30-40 minutes from the end of a race to give you that last good hit.
Also be careful when using too much caffeine when it's hot as it can make you want to p*ss all the time and make you dehydrated.
A tip is to have your caffeine about 45 minutes before the start of the race cos you can do all your p*ssing etc before your race not during.
agree with most of this, except last bit...if you drink it before the diuretic effect kicks in, then you will avoid dehydration just as you start which is not good (and in my experience it does cause sufficient fluid loss), however, once your into exercise mode then I found that our body overrides the desire to pee as its using up fluids to cool you down, so your normal race fluid intake is sufficient. HOwever, agreed its a fine balance of last minute drinking and deperately needing a pee in the hedgerow by the start line....0 -
so if red bull is full of sh!te then what should i drink to get a caffine fix???
i can hardly take a flask of coffee to events!!!_______________________________________________________________________________________
If You Can't Cut It With The Big Dogs, Then Don't Pi$$ Up The Tall Trees!0 -
COKE!! or just shove some pro plus down your throat does the same job0
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ColinJ wrote:
I think that the rules have been changed. I don't think that caffeine is controlled any more. Hang on, (Google)...Jonathan Mcp wrote:Vivid wrote:I have taken caffeine tablets equal to 6 Red Bulls each in competition.
Possibly quite close to the limit for caffeine in competition????
Yes, Caffeine taken off WADA list in 2004.
Bugger, means my health bible "Bucycling Medicine" is out of date. Damn, might buy a new copy then!
Having done a bit of reading it seems WADA have caffeine on a monitoring programme in competition to see if there are any trends in usage,presumably to help evaluate its usage but also whether it returns to a banned status.
http://www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/docu ... 008_En.pdf
The 2009 list of banned substances till describes caffeine as being on the monitoring programme
http://www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/docu ... ept_08.pdf
WADA also has the following info:
25, 2008
• As a result of this process and of the broad consultation carried out
as part of the yearly preparation of the List, stimulants identified as
non-specified substances in the 2009 List (and therefore subject to
a two-year sanction in the absence of aggravating or attenuating
circumstances) include for example amphetamine, cocaine,
bromantan and modafinil.
Why weren’t substances such as caffeine, pseudoephedrine and
sildenafil (Viagra) included in the 2009 List?
• Since 2004, caffeine has been included in WADA's Monitoring
Program. This program includes substances which are not
prohibited in sport, but which WADA monitors in order to detect
patterns of misuse in sport.
• Arguments that led WADA's stakeholders to take caffeine off the
List in 2004 included research indicating that caffeine is
performance-decreasing above the 12 microgram/ml threshold that
was historically used in sport. In addition, caffeine is metabolized at
very different rates in individuals. Many experts believe that
caffeine is ubiquitous in beverages and food and that reducing the
threshold in order to unmask cheaters might therefore create a
serious risk of sanctioning athletes for social or diet consumption of
caffeine.
• With this background, and since no excessive abuse of caffeine was
observed in 2008 as part of the monitoring of this substance,
caffeine was kept off the 2009 List and will remain in WADA’s
Monitoring Program.
So it might not be worth downing unlimited or large quantities as this might worsen performance!!!0 -
I have been using Red Bull for a couple of years now as a recovery drink and find it does this very well.0
