A time and a place: a framework for caffeine periodization throughout the sporting year.: Caffeine periodization
Craig Pickering Nutrition Available online 5 November 2020,
Highlights
• Caffeine is a well-established ergogenic aid;
• However, regular caffeine use may limit the subsequent ergogenic effects experienced;
• Often, this means that the use of caffeine may be limited within training sessions;
• However, this prevents athletes from potentially maximising their within-training performance;
• Periodizing caffeine intake may be an effective means of maximising performance benefits.
Caffeine is a well-established ergogenic aid, with its performance-enhancing effects demonstrated across a variety of sports and exercise types. As a result of caffeine's ergogenic properties, it is widely utilised by athletes at all levels around both competition and training. Caffeine exerts its performance benefits through a variety of mechanisms, each of which may be of increased importance at a given stage of training or competition.
In addition, regular caffeine use may diminish the performance enhancing effects of a subsequent dose of caffeine. Recently, interest in the concept of nutritional periodization has grown; here we propose a framework for the periodization of caffeine through the sporting year, balancing its training and competition performance-enhancing effects, along with the need to mitigate any negative effects of habituation. Furthermore, the regular use of caffeine within training may support the development of positive beliefs towards caffeine by athletes—potentially serving to enhance future performance through placebo and expectancy mechanisms—as well as allowing for the optimisation of individual athlete caffeine strategies. Whilst future work is required to validate some of the suggestions made, the framework proposed here represents a starting point for athletes to maximise caffeine's performance benefits across the sporting year.
