gsteinb

comes down to intent, for me. if you're popping advil because you think it has a performance advantage, despite the known dangers I thin your priorities are out of whack. If you're taking a half aspirin a day because you have a medical concern it's simply different. Taking too much caffeine is just as likely to screw up your performance than help it. if you drink coffee because you enjoy I say good for you. If you're trying to get utterly jacked up before a raced because you think that's going to be the difference go for it. You're probably wrong though.
supplementation is a wild west of bad data and lack of oversight. you would no doubt do better to save it and buy your coach a christmas gift. or bribe an official.

TMonk

agreed.

Taking "ergogenics" before an event, outside of the context of your normal self (as GC put it), is lame.

Case in point:

Having a cup of coffee before a morning race, like you would any other day: OK
Taking a caffeine pill before a race: Lame

TheKillerPenguin

I wouldn't take caffeine pills, that strikes me as weird. I do use caffeinated gels. I cut back on coffee in race season because I switch from no caffeine on bike to some caffeine on bike and I don't want to be taking in the equivalent of multiple pots of coffee worth of stimulant daily. I don't necessarily think taking gels with caffeine in them is better than taking a pill though. Same intended effect, it just feels less icky to me because cognitive dissonance.

topflightpro

I drink coffee daily. I don't drink a lot - I have the same amount each day. And I often will drink it on mornings I ride or race. That said, caffeine is a diuretic, and while it gives me some energy to get going with my day, it also makes me need to go to the bathroom. So, it's a double-edged sword for racing purposes.

I take a daily multi-vitamin - Flintstones vitamins to be exact - to make sure I am getting all my necessary vitamins. I also take additional Vitamin D and Iron as my blood test results showed I was low in both. Without those blood tests, I'd only be on the Flintstones.

I used to take Ibuprofen like it was candy, in large part because I was always sore, aching or in just downright pain. But after spending a good part of 2015 seeing a physical therapist about my back pain issues, I have been able to reduce the pain by strengthening my muscles.

I also started taking BCAAs a little more regularly. They have done wonders for reducing my soreness and aching, to the point that I really don't find the need for Ibuprofen. The biggest benefit I've found from them is the reduction in DOMS after heavy weightlifting sessions.

Lastly, I do take protein shakes with some regularity, especially on mornings when I am planning a long or hard ride. I find a nice protein smoothie really helps sustain my riding efforts longer.

My team this year has a sponsorship deal through Infinit Nutrition. They let you customize your drink mixes. I just ordered a mix that has a lot of protein, amino acids and calories, and some caffeine, with the idea being I won't need gels or food while riding. The sample I tried a couple weeks ago worked well for providing energy throughout my four hour ride.

topflightpro

One more thing to add, what worries me about those things I take is not that they will have some negative impact on my health, but that I don't really know whether any of them contain or are contaminated with a banned substance. And the fact that I often buy the cheapest option available - some of that stuff is expensive - increases that concern.

For example, the protein powder I buy at Costco comes in a giant bag with a big label that says "No banned substances," and the bag features and NSF logo on the back.

The pre-mixed protein shakes I also buy from Costco - for use on days when I cannot bring a homemade shake with me - do not carry any such labels.

Enthalpic

I figured you would drink these.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qRuNxHqwazs

jsk

IMHO approving of coffee but not caffeine pills is pretty silly, but to each his own. Caffeine pills are actually made with the caffeine that results from decaffeinating coffee, it's the same stuff. Drinking coffee and saying it's because you like it and not because of the caffeine strikes me as pretty hypocritical, unless you only drink decaf. I just don't much care for coffee (or hot drinks in general during most of the year), and most other food/drink sources of caffeine have sugar and other unwanted ingredients. Caffeine pills just give me better control over when and how much caffeine I consume.

In addition to caffeine, I also take beta alanine, sometimes beet root, and creatine (for benefit in the weight room, not on the bike). I also use whey to help get enough protein in my diet, and take a multivitamin and fish oil (since I don't eat any seafood and wouldn't get much omega-3's otherwise).

Ygduf

I push Jet Alert caffeine pills on anyone who asks. Or people who just want to know how much caffeine they are taking in on race day.

TheKillerPenguin

https://youtu.be/Q5QJ9i_o5vo?t=122

dim

if you are going to do drugs, rather smoke a spliff and then go on your ride ....

natural herb, and it will keep you focused :

The Effect Of Weed On Exercise

stay away from laboratory manufactured drugs .... it messes you kidneys and other organs

TMonk

Read @globecanvas' post on the previous page, #48 . Just because it's the same substance metabolized by your body doesn't make it apples to apples; context of use is important to many of us.

misterwaterfall

This thread is so backwards I feel like I'm in bizarro world.

Caffeine from one source is fine but not another? What if I take a Coke with 40 miles to go? Is that against your code? How about electrolytes in pill form? Sure I could get some from a ham sandwich, but that's not very practical in the middle of a RR.

jsk

I read his post, and found the logic about feeling 'not normal' along with references to recreational drugs and alcohol a little hard to make sense of, to be honest. We're talking about caffeine here, not some mind-altering drug. Sorry, but if your 'context' is that drinking coffee just for the pleasure of drinking coffee is OK because you're not specifically drinking it as an ergogenic aid, that's a pretty weak rationalization. Drink some decaf and then at least you aren't being a hypocrite about it.

Wylde06

All the coffee all the time!!


Apparently you can post in all caps?!

gsteinb

I'm a hypocrite because I enjoy a couple of cups of coffee in the morning, but don't want to pop caffeine pills?

That is indeed pretty hard to follow.

grolby

Commenting only to point out that caffeine IS a mind-altering drug. I don't have a problem with that, but it's just a matter of fact that it's a psychoactive substance. Personally I understand how taking caffeine pills feels weird in a way that drinking coffee or taking a gel with caffeine does not, even if it is arguably not rational. @gsteinb has a point about intent, though - taking caffeine pills is probably something one does with the express intent of improving performance. Drinking a daily cup of coffee or even pre-race may be just a matter of normal habit unrelated to performance. Or, in the case of gels, some gels I buy contain caffeine, but it's not really a factor in my decision. I just think those espresso gels are tasty.

caloso

Decaf coffee makes as much sense as nonalcoholic gin.

grolby

Weeellllllll. Overall I guess I agree, but if you want the delicious taste of coffee without the boost, decaf makes sense. It's not as tasty as regular coffee, but maybe better than nothing. Personally if I really want coffee in the evening I just have regular, but I'm fortunate in that caffeine doesn't seem to disrupt my sleep too badly so long as I consume a reasonable amount.

jsk

No, you're a hypocrite if you think ingesting caffeine with coffee is OK but ingesting caffeine in pill form is not. If you don't want to take caffeine pills that's fine, you can do what you want. But the ethical distinction you're drawing between the two is weak.

gsteinb

haha

gsteinb

Mostly people have spoken to their personal sense of what they would or wouldn't take.

The ethical distinction is actually pretty strong, and it goes back to intent. If you have an issue with me doing one and not the other, and having reasons why, that's really your issue to work out. Again, for me it comes down to intent. I would not ingest anything not of food substance nature to improve my athletics. As fancy as I get is chocolate milk. You may choose to do otherwise, and that's your business. I would not take caffeine pills, because I know what they make me feel like, and I don't like it (and I can't see how it would help me perform better). And I wouldn't pop a pill, any pill, to make me a better cyclist.

beatlebee 

I eat a certain diet absolutely hoping that it will confer performance benefits.

Also, this site is a good one:

Independent Analysis on Supplements & Nutrition | Examine.com

TMonk

Again, you guys are getting hung up on the substance, not the intent. For some of us it is the latter that is important, which doesn't make the argument weak at all. From a pure substance persepctive, the argument doesn't work at all, I agree.

To some of us, there is more to it than your body chemistry and blood composition.

TMonk

Can we all agree that this is a huge gray area?

On one side of the spectrum, many of you seem to be OK with taking performance enhancing substances up to the limit of being allowed by WADA and affiliated organizations. Others, like myself, don't like the idea of taking pharmacological agents specifically for the purpose of performance enhancement.

There is no objective truth in between those two extremes, folks.

jsk

Except for globecanvas comments about disapproving of what others do[/quote]

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. IMHO coffee drinkers who think their enjoyment of coffee doesn't have anything to do with liking the way caffeine makes them feel are kidding themselves.