zippetydude wrote:Since caffeine has been shown to change performance levels, what was the reasoning behind allowing professionals to use it?
Oh come on Zip, you can use the word improve instead of change. Be brave!
zippetydude wrote:I mean, I think a lot of the preceding conversation is rather comical since nobody on earth cares if one of us is faster on a given ascent of Skyline after using caffeine...
I only care if the person pretends that it has no effect on their time or performance. Not only on this trail but any trail or anything period! Who do you think yer kidding!? That's why the *
zippetydude wrote:...but if an athlete in, say, the Tour de France, were to win by the slimmest of margins and all other drug usage could be ruled out (har! har!) then caffeine could conceivably be implicated as an undeniable advantage if the winner used it. Hmmm.
You better be careful zip,
any suggestion that the use of caffeine could possibly result either intentionally or unintentionally or be used for any advantage whatsoever will get you in
Big trouble! Remember that! You can think it, but you can't say it! (maybe you can't think it either?) Better check!
zippetydude wrote:Another question: In marathons, ultras, or maybe even in a shorter race like a half-marathon, I've often wondered if caffeine intake for the second half would be more effective than caffeine taken throughout the duration of the race.
For me, the second half is where the perceived exertion moves into the "horrible pain" range. I've generally avoided caffeine at the beginning of races because I'm already jittery with excitement, but something halfway through might be worth considering. Any thoughts?
z
One thought is do you know this stuff is poison? It used to be banned and they are considering banning it again. But beside that, I mean it really doesn't matter if it is or not, I mean if all the drugs that are now banned were lifted would you use them? There are soo many bad things that it does to your body. Anybody drink caffeine regularly and have broken their teeth or bones lately?
Check around kid!
One article I found.
Caffeine in Sport
31 May 2005
First class athletes: they're at the top of their sports through training, perseverance and natural ability. Or are they?
"We have a couple of caffeine tables. I guess enough, equivalent to your body weight and we've been doing that all year." Matthew Pavlich, Docker’s forward
"In terms of the Wallabies and in terms of myself, I've used the No Doz from time to time." George Gregan, Wallabies captain.
Some high profile sports people have recently admitted to taking caffeine pills to boost their performance.
Performance enhancing drugs are banned in sports. And caffeine, even though it can boost performance, is permitted.
It's found in coffee plants, tea leaves, coco and Guarana plants. It's actually a poison the plants produce to kill any leaf eating bugs. Caffeine is found in stuff we drink and eat every day, like coffee, cola and sports drinks and chocolate.
So what's the big deal about sports people taking it? Well it does boost the body's performance. This is how.
Meet Ricki, she's been busy all day and she's exhausted. Her muscle cells are sending messages to her brain to tell her she's tired.
Ricki's brain cells are slowing down and she is feeling drowsy. The caffeine in cola blocks the tired messages getting to the brain. Instead of the brain cells slowing down, they actually speed up.
This tricks the brain into thinking the body is in danger, so it releases an awesome emergency hormone called adrenaline. As you can see, this gives the body strength, speed and energy to get out of trouble.
Breathing tubes open up so the body can get more oxygen, the body produces more sugar - the fuel that gives us energy, it makes the heart beat faster and the muscles tighten. The body is ready for action.
So clearly caffeine improves the body's performance.
But usually performance-enhancing drugs are banned in sport right? Well caffeine used to be. This guy was the first Australian to be expelled from the Olympic games for taking a performance-enhancing drug. The drug detected was caffeine. But early last year The World Anti-Doping Agency that tests athletes for drugs, decided to drop caffeine from its banned substance list.
And Australia's football codes also dropped it from their lists, because they couldn't accurately test for it.
Some drinks containing the drug carry warnings. So how much caffeine is too much? For example consuming three cans of cola, two chocolate bars and one coffee, will provide a hit of caffeine that could cause insomnia, anxiety or an upset stomach.
If someone takes way too much caffeine they can die from dehydration, which is when the body loses too much water.
After relaxing the rules on caffeine many officials are changing their minds. The World Anti-Doping Agency is now considering banning caffeine again and compulsory drug testing on professional athletes looks set to be introduced in the United States.
Some Aussie footy coaches aren't impressed with players who take caffeine and don't want fans to think it's ok to take performance enhancing drugs - even legal ones.
"Extremely disappointed and voiced that disappointment with a meeting with my players." Terry Wallace, Richmond Coach, AFL .
"This is, I suppose, bordering on cheating, if it's not on the list it's not cheating but it's bordering."
David Howman, Anti-Doping Agency Chief.
