A friend of mine is taking part in the Tour of Flanders this coming weekend. Chap in LBS has suggested to him to cut out caffeine for a week before the event.

I’ve never heard of this before – What is the reasoning, if any, behind this?

To increase his sensitivity to any caffeine consumed during the event.

I’ve heard it’s nonsense.

He’ll have a right bloody headache for a few days.

ha ha. nice idea. is he planning on winning?

in other news, i have some electrolyte stuff with added caffeine froma well reputed manufacturer.

the second i take a swig, it makes me piss out my entire water content of the day, making me drink more, and immediately need another piss.

USELESS…

What is the reasoning, if any, behind this?

bikeshop staff like to act as if they are in a pro team; that’s your reasoning.

There is a report in a sports science journal some where… If I remember right it gives a peak of performance can’t remember how noticeable it really would be, but you can get practically the same result giving it up for three days pre event……basically we all drink a lot if caffeine so it’s performance enhancing effects are negated unless you have a gap.

Can’t remember what the test group was though ie elite or more like myself chubster!! 😉

I grind ‘green tea extract’ (it was cheeper than pro-plus) into my energy drinks for road rides, ’tis rocket fuel!

A bunch of us tried that when running back in the 80’s. One of the guys did do a 2.15 or 2.16 marathon and another 2.25ish. No idea if it affected performance or not. They were clearly quick anyway. Placebo effect?

Idea was that the effect of caffeine would be greater if the body was not used to it.

General consensus is that caffeine is an ergogenic performance enhancer for endurance sport (have a Google for more information, e.g. http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/td_030909p8.shtml) but as stated above, habitual use will reduce the effect. So for maximum benefit, stay off the coffee or Coke and just use it on race day.
No idea if abstaining for a week would be enough to make a difference.

Sounds a bit unnecessary for a sportive, but worth trying for a race. Best to experiment beforehand to make sure it doesn’t have other negative side effects.

I wouldn’t make it to the race.

Wouldn’t the time it takes to stop and have a piss defeat the purpose of it all?

Time to think about giving up caffeine! Two weeks of headaches and then you’ve got more energy and alertness than before. Stay away from coffee, diet coke, pepsi and energy drinks/foods. No more crashing and needing to consume it to feel ‘normal’. Some people here may actually find out they were sensitive to it and it was causing them psychosis.

Shift to green tea. My favourite is this: http://www.melburyandappleton.co.uk/gunpowder-green-tea-grade-1—250g-543-p.asp It’s only £2 from a chinese supermarket though, don’t go by the price on this site. I put white sugar in it to stop it tasting so rough. I’ve yet to find a green tea in bags that tastes full bodied. Leave it in the cup to grow stronger, or filter it out with a small sieve for a mug when it’s right for you. Supposedly drinking 7-8 cups a day increases your metabolism slightly but I dunno about that.