Fact or Fiction: Drinking Coffee Improves Workout Performance

Drinking coffee before a workout is often touted to boost performance. Logically, it makes sense. But what does the evidence say?

Both clinical research and meta-analyses show that taking caffeine 2-10 mg/kg as a single dose improves endurance and overall athletic performance. But interestingly, most research has evaluated caffeine as a single ingredient, not as caffeinated coffee – most studies looking at coffee specifically are small and conducted in a lab setting. For example, one small trial shows that drinking caffeinated coffee providing caffeine 3 mg/kg 60 minutes before a timed cycling workout improves performance by 2 minutes compared to decaffeinated coffee. While large-scale studies are limited, the International Society of Sports Nutrition concludes that optimal administration consists of drinking 2 to 4 cups of hot-brewed or instant coffee, providing 3-6 mg/kg of caffeine, about 60 minutes before exercising for improved performance.

As for safety, moderate coffee consumption doesn’t pose the same risks as caffeine in other concentrated forms, such as pure formulations that were banned from bulk sale back in 2018. Tell patients that drinking up to 4 cups of coffee daily, providing 400 mg of caffeine isn’t linked with any serious adverse effects. But advise athletes to be cautious – the NCCA permits caffeine levels within certain limits. Urine concentrations over 15 mcg/mL of caffeine are prohibited. Most people would need to drink about 6-8 cups of coffee (600-800 mg of caffeine) 2-3 hours before an event to reach these levels.

Check out our recently updated monograph to learn more.