So I've been doing some research and I've found taking caffeine and aspirin in combination has postive effects on speed/endurance on runners.
Caffeine helps increase the users energy if only for a few hours (long enough for a race).
When you take aspirin with it, it helps thin the blood so more caffeine can enter the blood stream as the blood is thinner making it easier to enter into.
Today I took 4 Vivarin (800mg caffeine) at 1 hour before practice and 2 Aspirin (650mg) at 1 hour :45 min ran.
Out of 3 miles, my first two were approx. 2 - 1.5 minutes faster than my average but on the 3rd mile I became extremely dizzy and fatigued and had to take a few minutes of rest. I then continued to run it but at a reduced pace as I was worried for my health.
What my questions are is what is the most efficient combination of dosages of these two drugs for a cross country runner?
How long before the run to do ingest? Is it worth taking the Aspirin to make the caffeine more effective or is the thinning of the blood (does that cause dizziness?) not worth the effect that it gives?
It seems I have trouble breathing properly when I'm running at the increased pace that I'm not used to, do I need to learn how to breathe correctly or is my respiratory not developed (conditoned) enought to run at this speed?
(I probably will think of more questions in the future, there's so many variables please add anything you think would help.) Thanks. People vary a greatly in their response to given dose of caffeine, so some experimentation is needed. In persons of average sensitivity to caffeine, research shows improved endurance at 3mg per kg of bodyweight (about 200 mg for 150lb person), with increased effects at 6 mg per kg of bodyweight (about 400 mg for 150lb person). So, your initial dosage of 800mg is too high. You will probably get the maximum benefit at a lower dosage.
To evaluate on your performance, don鈥檛 aim for such a huge increase, like the decreasing your time per mile by 1-2 minutes. Caffeine will not make you superman! Let鈥檚 apply some common sense, a huge increase in running speed would be a shock; wouldn鈥檛 you expect that you would have to slow to a walk for awhile?
Caffeine鈥檚 effect starts in about 15 minutes, but needs 30-60 minutes to peak. It is near peak for 2 hours or so. Caffeine鈥檚 half-life is 3 to 6 hours. So, taking caffeine one hour before practice is ideal.
How to evaluate your response to caffeine? Run at your normal pace, when there is about 1/3 or 1/4 of the distance left, increase your speed somewhat (10-15 seconds a mile??) and see how you feel at the end of the run. Experiment with the dosage on different runs. Caffeine has been thoroughly studied and has a long history of being safe. So just use common sense, if you begin to feel any unpleasant side effects, cut back on the dosage. One develops a tolerance over time, so the dosage may have to increase. You many need a small dose on days you don鈥檛 run to avoid a headache. A Mountain Dew may be sufficient.
For a reliable summary of medical research on caffeine and guide to use see:
鈥淭he Caffeine Advantage: How to Sharpen Your Mind, Improve Your Physical Performance, and Achieve Your Goals--the Healthy Way鈥?by Weinberg and Bealer.
http://www.amazon.com/Caffeine-Advantage...
My understanding is that Aspirin is not needed to make caffeine more effective. I鈥檓 aware there are various claims on the internet for combining (鈥渟tacking鈥?, but the medical research on caffeine has not found any advantage. Nevertheless, it is still a good idea to take aspirin to aid recovery. Let me quote from a paper written by a Phd. Exercise Science and champion weight lifter, Dr. Fred Hatfield 鈥?鈥淎spirin: a) quells nagging pains associated with the trauma of heavy training, b) assists in reducing inflammation, c) assists in thinning the blood, making it easier for nutrient-rich blood to flow to the muscles you've just stressed, and d) improves your general recuperative/anabolic responses to heavy training.
250 mg. per 50 kg. of lean bodyweight is considered a safe doseage.鈥? So, one aspirin at 325mg is plenty for an average or even a large person.
I never looked into Ephedrine in any depth, because its use is banned by various sports organizations, e.g. NCAA. Plus, Ephedrine is based on Ephedra, which as illegal as a food supplement, after being associated with health problems and has not been clearly shown to be beneficial to performance. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephedra
Caffeine and aspirin have been studied by the medical field for many decades and have been used for generations. They are legal, safe, and a proven benefit for sports. I don鈥檛 consider Ephedrine in the same category at all. My position is that no one in sports should be looking to supplements like this. Taking banned substances that are not proven safe, is well, immoral. My son was the high school state wrestling champion 2 years ago. We would have never considered anything like Ephedrine to win 鈥?No way!
I tried to address all the things in your post, feel free to email me if you need more info. 4 vivarin is nuts! u should only take 1! i think the most common stack is aspirin,caffeine and ephedrine. id be careful with the ephedrine though. 1, you over did the caffeine there. 200-250 will do, unless you did not sleep for 1 day or more.
2, your aspirin dosage is way too high!!!!! I hope you had something in your stomach to buffer that. I use 1 to 2 baby aspirin at most on empty stomach.
3, you are missing one effective ingredient that would make this a crazy fat burning, endurance products. You are almost there.
_.c.a. stack
I take it on empty stomach when I jog in the morning, on empty stomach it should be in your system around 15 minutes mark.
Also when there is caffeine or any type of stim in your system, it is suggested that you take in enough water. |
