Coffee Reduces Post-Work Out Pain
Here’s something for you athletes or sports buffs out there: Drinking about 2 cups of coffee a day can reduce your post-workout muscle pain by up to almost half!
One and two days after an exercise session that caused moderate muscle soreness, the volunteers took either caffeine or a placebo and performed two different quadriceps (thigh) exercises, one designed to produce a maximal force, the other designed to generate a sub-maximal force. Those that consumed caffeine one-hour before the maximum force test had a 48 percent reduction in pain compared to the placebo group, while those that took caffeine before the sub-maximal test reported a 26 percent reduction in pain.
I wouldn’t try this especially prior to a work-out if you experience adverse reactions to caffeine, such as palpitations. However, if you are a coffee drinker anyway, it might be a good alternative to OTC pain killers. If it works, that’s one alibi less for not getting into an exercise regimen this year!
Tags: cardiovascular-disease, cardiovascular-health, coffee, diet, functional-food, health, health-food, Healthy Eating, healthy-diet, heart-attack, nutraceuticals, nutritionRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Healthy Beverages, ~Muscles and Bones, ~Pain Management
2 opinions for Coffee Reduces Post-Work Out Pain
Brad
Oct 23, 2007 at 9:11 am
It’s true, I love coffee at is it and recently began drinking PRIOR to working out and it helps greatly. Although the mid-work-out restroom break can get in the way. ;)
stupid
Sep 13, 2008 at 5:17 pm
so how the hell do you quantitatively measure pain????
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