2 questions--1:coffee, 2:multivitamin

shming123

i have 2 questions.. the first is: do a lot of you drink coffee? how much do you drink and do you put creamer or anything in it? can that affect cycling? (besides the caffine). And the second; what is a good multivitamin to take for good performance? any help/insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

SLS

The best person to ask would be a doctor but, Centrum Performance (more B vitamins) works for me. I drink anywhere from 1 to 5 cups a day of coffee (yes creamer & all). It is a diuretic so I would avoid it just before & after riding - but an hour or so before or after shouldn't be to bad - it depends on you & how you feel. The general rule is all things in moderation - so 1 to 2 cups would be better than the 5 I occasionaly do. I know LA has a cup every morning. Hope this helps

dhk

Yes, saw Lance making his Peets in the motorhome on OLN's "Lance Cronicles". Coffee and cycling seem to go together, but I'm not advocating caffeine to those who are not yet be hooked on it.

Personally, I have a double espresso every morning with breakfast, and another in late afternoon....tea time. No cream or plastic creamers please.....the great creme on the espresso is what makes my day.

Multivitamins....sure, Centrum or Kroger brand daily. I use the "silver" ones now....for the "mature adult" years.

KGnagey

I recently cut back on the leaded coffee, just drinking decaf now - one cup in the AM w/cream and sugar. I honestly haven't noticed a performance difference when riding, I'm just a little less hyped up at work now, which is a good thing. I do try to stay away from coffee before rides because it makes me stop more often to return my coffee rental. I have been taking Centrum Performance for over a year on a daily basis. I feel more energetic and seem to get sniffles or colds much less often. I also take one 500mg vitamin C as well.

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ric_stern/RST

most or a lot of people drink coffee. nothing wrong with that. the caffeine *might* improve performance. Anything else is unlikely to affect performance within the confines of a normal diet.

unless there's something *seriously* wrong with your diet a multivitamin isn't going to increase performance. in other words you'd have to have a vitamin defiency (e.g., scurvy, ricketts, etc) for vitamins to increase performance, and then you'd be better off addressing the issues in your diet.

it maybe worthwhile as 'insurance' to take a multivit, but it aint going to increase performance.

ric

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jcjordan

5-10 cups a day with dash of milk and 1 small sugar. This is good coffee to, plunger or expresso, the stronger the better.

Has no effect on my sleep or performance on the bike.

As for being a Diuretic, i seem to remember reading somewhere that the effect of the caffiene is balanced with the water used in the making of the coffee.

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cuervo

I’m a daily Centrum Performance user too. I feel that really helps me in my energy, I don’t know if it is the Gin Seng or what, but I do feel the difference.

About the coffee, I drink a cup every morning and in week days I drink other 4 or 5, no sugar, no cream, just plain coffee. On weekends, I drink only the morning one. I don’t feel it makes me any difference in my cycling capacity, its more like a enjoyable drink.

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ed073

Do cyclists drink coffee??

Does Snoop Dogg smoke weed?

tafi

Is the pope Polish?

I love a coffee.
I try to stay away from it when I can but to be honest, I have never felt much of a change between staying away from it and having one or two a day.
I have always had tea and coffee since I was very young (5 or 6yrs).
Now that Caffeine is off the banned list you can drink as much of the stuff as you like.
Some argue that since it is a mild diuretic it can cause fluid loss. However, ironically, for many people, cups of tea or coffee forms a large part of their fluid intake, so if you stopped you'd dehydrate. anyway.

However I am not at all one of the "cafe racer" set. I show up just in time for everyone to get up fom the table and get going and I'd rather have a cheaper cup later when I get home. I can't stand sitting around in bike gear.

sheppard

Hi shming,
Just make sure you hydrate a little more than you would normally. Just drink a couple cups more for every cup of java. After all, it can't hurt, right? (Unless you drink multiple gallons and dilute your sodium levels.... just dont' drink gallons!) Dehydration starts occuring before you realize it. Dehydration is a continuum, not just something that's all of a sudden happening. Get the most out of your recovery time by staying fully hydrated, not just partially.... Recovery is just as important as training. This comes straight from a coffee lover. You don't have to sacrifice the joe, but you might have to increase the number of times you use the restroom. Best of luck!

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