Conditioning Research

Coffee is a bit of a two edged sword - there are clear benefits but you have to watch that you do not over do the stimulant. Anyway interesting study here on  coffee polyphenols and how they seem to minimise fat build up.  As ever it is in mice so it might mean lots or nothing at all. Coffee polyphenols suppress diet-induced body fat accumulation by downregulating SREBP-1c and related molecules in C57BL/6J mice. These findings indicate that CPP enhances energy metabolism and reduces lipogenesis by downregulating SREBP-1c and related molecules, which leads to the suppression of body fat accumulation.

Recipe to recover more quickly from exercise: Finish workout, eat pasta, and wash down with five or six cups of strong coffee. Well that is what this particular press release says. Personally I can't think of anything I'd like to do less! Glycogen, the muscle's primary fuel source during exercise, is replenished more rapidly when athletes ingest both carbohydrate and caffeine following exhaustive exercise, new research from the online edition of the Journal of Applied Physiology shows. Athletes who ingested caffeine with carbohydrate had 66% more glycogen in their muscles four hours after finishing intense, glycogen-depleting exercise, compared to when they consumed carbohydrate alone, according to the study, published by The American Physiological Society. Then again it is possible to perform to high levels as an athlete with minimal carbs ...

We have mentioned coffee before with respect to its impact on insulin. Here is another related study. Caffeine makes you insulin resistant? Caffeinated coffee consumption impairs blood glucose homeostasis in response to high and low glycemic index meals in healthy men Background: The ingestion of caffeine (5 mg/kg body weight) and a 75-g oral glucose load has been shown to elicit an acute insulin–insensitive environment in healthy and obese individuals and in those with type 2 diabetes. Objective: In this study we investigated whether a similar impairment in blood glucose management exists when coffee and foods typical of a Western diet were used in a similar protocol. Design: Ten healthy men underwent 4 trials in a randomized order. They ingested caffeinated (5 mg/kg) coffee (CC) or the same volume of decaffeinated coffee (DC) followed 1 h later by either a high or low glycemic index (GI) cereal (providing 75 g of carbohydrate) mixed meal tolerance test. Results: CC with the high G...

Just a few things I've spotted recently that I wanted to highlight but not really to write about in any more detail. Basically coffee might have some good effects and exercise is good for you.... Coffee Consumption and Coronary Calcification. The Rotterdam Coronary Calcification Study - the study suggests a beneficial effect of coffee drinking against coronary calcification, particularly in women. Caffeine Effects on Short-Term Performance during Prolonged Exercise in the Heat. - When combined with water and carbohydrate, caffeine ingestion increases maximal leg force by increasing voluntary activation (i.e., reducing central fatigue). Exercise and diet enhance fat oxidation and reduce insulin resistance in older obese adults - exercise (and potentaily IF ) is good for you - these data show that exercise training improves resting substrate oxidation and creates a metabolic milieu that appears to promote lipid utilization in skeletal muscle, thus facilitating a reversal of insuli...

Just a quick note of a number of things I've been reading in the last day or so: Cholesterol - I'm still a sceptic What’s Cholesterol Got to Do With It? - Gary Taubes looks at the recent news that the drug Vytorin had fared no better in clinical trials than the statin therapy it was meant to supplant. Trial results forced out of drug company support the concept that cholesterol may not ’cause’ cardiovascular disease - Dr John Briffa comments on the same topic Do Cholesterol Drugs Do Any Good? - Research suggests that, except among high-risk heart patients, the benefits of statins such as Lipitor are overstated - similar article from Business Week and on a different subject: Cutting caffeine may help control diabetes - “We’re not sure what it is about caffeine that drives glucose levels up, but we have a couple of theories,” says Lane, who is the lead author of the study. “It could be that caffeine interferes with the process that moves glucose from the blood and into musc...

There is a fair bit written about caffeine intake for athletes. Often it is recommended to increase endurance performance, although I recently put up a post that indicated that caffeine supplementation could enhance the chance of muscle damage in football players. In that post I also noted the potential blood sugar effects of taking caffeine as it can case an insulin spike . What about strength performance? Will a coffee make you stronger or at least more aroused to boost your performance in the squat rack or the deadlift platform? This article says no, it won't: Effect of caffeine ingestion on one-repetition maximum muscular strength Abstract Multiple studies corroborate the ergogenic properties of caffeine (CAF) for endurance performance, yet fewer investigations document the efficacy of acute caffeine intake for intense, short-term exercise. The aim of the study was to determine the ergogenic potential of caffeine during testing of muscular strength and endurance. Twent...

There seems to be ongoing controversy about the use of caffeine and its healthy - or not so healthy - effects. Some say that it can benefit and improve athletic performance. Others are less enthusiastic. I think the jury is still out on this one. On Tuesday this week I O.D.'ed on a strong double espresso and felt really dizzy. That may have due to the fact that some people say that coffee can cause an insulin spike which may have knocked my blood sugar down a bit. Any way, this article seems to indicate that caffeine has some deleterious effect on the body. This was looking at caffeine supplements - not coffee - but in any case it maybe time to cut back a bit..... Effect of caffeine supplementation on haematological and biochemical variables in elite soccer players under physical stress conditions Objective : To evaluate the effect of caffeine on white cell distribution and muscle injury markers in professional soccer players during exercise. Methods : 22 male athletes compl...