Question about caffine

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I'm a fifteen year old junior and before every race (or during, depending on the length) I drink a couple of XS energy drinks. These are loaded with B vitamins, herbs, and caffine. I would geuss each one is like drinking about 3 cans of coke. I just heard that caffine was banned in the pro's and that caffine abuse was prevalent in the juniors in Europe in another thread. Does that count as caffine abuse, is that an unfair advantage, is it possibly harmful? Also as a matter of curiosity, I was wondering how much of a differance it makes compared to other things. I sure this sounds very soft and anyone who has used anything is probably laughing, but I would like to know.

Caffeine in larger amounts will fail you a dope test. No more than 5 cups of coffee or something. A couple of energy drinks should be fine. However, I don't think it's either especially healthy or beneficial.

I have experimented with caffeine during longer races and found my heart beating unpleasantly hard and no noticeable increase in performance. In fact I almost had to stop because I felt unwell.

A lot of guys here (Holland / Belgium) take caffeine tablets like candy before criteriums etc. They are totally hyper on the start line.

Personally I think it is the "thin end of the wedge" and bombing large amounts of caffeine is akin to mild dose of amphetamine, which is most definitely banned.

Incidentally in France the energy drink "Red Bull" is banned because there were several cases of athletes having heart failure during sport after consuming the drink.

I am a 16 yo junior and I have used this technique once of overdozing a coffine, I blinked once per minute it was helpful especially because it was a MTB comp. I am a road cyclist in general so in long races coffine is not smart to do because the coffine fades away in hour at least and the final sprint you will be tired, so the coca cola technique is a classic and good and it is more effective when no coffine and low blodd sugar then it works like a motor.

If you're a 15 year old junior its just so wrong on so many levels for you to be taking some wacked out caffeine drink before a race. You're 15 not some 25 year old euro pro.

Stop even thinking about drinking that crap.

The harmful part of the beverage that you're drinking is the believe that it will actually help you as a 15 year old racer.




I'm a fifteen year old junior and before every race (or during, depending on the length) I drink a couple of XS energy drinks. These are loaded with B vitamins, herbs, and caffine. I would geuss each one is like drinking about 3 cans of coke. I just heard that caffine was banned in the pro's and that caffine abuse was prevalent in the juniors in Europe in another thread. Does that count as caffine abuse, is that an unfair advantage, is it possibly harmful? Also as a matter of curiosity, I was wondering how much of a differance it makes compared to other things. I sure this sounds very soft and anyone who has used anything is probably laughing, but I would like to know.

Caffeine in larger amounts will fail you a dope test. No more than 5 cups of coffee or something. A couple of energy drinks should be fine. However, I don't think it's either especially healthy or beneficial.

I have experimented with caffeine during longer races and found my heart beating unpleasantly hard and no noticeable increase in performance. In fact I almost had to stop because I felt unwell.

A lot of guys here (Holland / Belgium) take caffeine tablets like candy before criteriums etc. They are totally hyper on the start line.

Personally I think it is the "thin end of the wedge" and bombing large amounts of caffeine is akin to mild dose of amphetamine, which is most definitely banned.

Incidentally in France the energy drink "Red Bull" is banned because there were several cases of athletes having heart failure during sport after consuming the drink.
Taking caffiene has been shown to improve endurance performance. However like all things it won't help everyone. I don't think it is a banned substance anymore due to caffeine being available in alot of products.

It's banned in ridiculous quantities. I'm 67kg and can take like 600mg before it gets illegal...and dangerous. Studies show noticeable improvements over 2hrs of exercise.

I used to take about 300mg before a race -- which is a lot of coffee. My HR before most races was about 80% of my MHR and held steady through the race at sub-anaerobic levels.

Eventually I realized that it was hurting me more than helping me. Nausia, headaches, and generally feeling sick.

Try it before your next group ride, but don't try it before your next race.