How Much Caffeine Do We Actually Need for
Performance? (NEW STUDY)
Caffeine, the world’s most widely used stimulant. And arguably the most crucial element in all
stimulant-based pre-workout supplements for its ergogenic, performance-enhancing effects. But how much caffeine do we actually need? When we consider that some pre-workouts have
caffeine dosages of more than half of the recommended maximum of 500 milligrams, we
have to wonder if such a high dose is even warranted. Well, perhaps a newly published research might
help shed some light on this question: at what dose, if any, can we expect to experience
caffeine’s exercise performance benefits? Let’s get to it. Hey guys, before we start, I do wanna mention,
thanks to your recommendations, hoodies are now available in the PicFit shop. After doing some research, I finally have
the premium quality and super softhoodies that I’m extremely proud of. I guarantee that you’ll enjoy it as well. And I do wanna quickly thank everyone that
have already made a purchase, it really does mean a lot to me knowing that people do wanna
support my work. If you enjoy these videos as well and believe
in what I’m trying to do here, giving as objective of information as I possibly can,
then please support me through the PicFit Shop or else I have to start selling myself
out with some random protein pre-workout ebook blend or something. I also wanna make more videos, hopefully two
videos per week rather than one, and your support would definitely help with that. That’s picfitshop.com! 15% off on hoodie preorders are going on right
now until November 18th, so take advantage of that. And maybe even check out some of the shirts. Thank you, now back to the video. In this new study by Grgic et al, 28 resistance
trained men were tested in four different areas: Upper-body strength, lower-body strength,
upper-body endurance, and lower-body endurance. They were done via a one-rep max test for
strength and with as many reps possible at 60%1RM for endurance. Five difference experimental trials were performed,
three of which tested the effects of three different caffeine doses: 2, 4, and 6 milligrams
per kilogram of bodyweight one hour before training. For the average 80-kilogram individual, that’s
160, 320, and 480 milligrams of caffeine respectively. The remaining two experiments were controls,
one with and one without a placebo. Now for the fun part, the results:
Improvements were indeed seen with caffeine, but not in all tests. In terms of strength, upper body strength
needed the higher dosages of 4 and 6 milligrams per kilogram to see statistically meaningful
benefits. But even with those higher doses, the bench
press maxes only went from about 106 kilos in the control to roughly 108 kilos in the
higher caffeine dosages. That maybe worthwhile for some, like strength
athletes pushing their limits, but it isn’t much for most others. More importantly, this was only in comparison
to the NO placebo trial. Against an actual placebo, all three doses
did not have a statistically significant benefit. Lower body strength, on the other hand, did
have moderate improvements, but it’s a bit reversed. In this case, ONLY the 2-milligram dose observed
statistically significant improvements, increasing squat 1RM to 132.2 kilos versus BOTH control
trials at 129 kilos. A 3+ kilo 1RM increase is definitely better,
although not mind-blowing. Plus, since the 4 and 6 milligram dosages
did nothing, this suggest having TOO much caffeine might potentially blunt strength
benefits. Now, for endurance, it’s a bit of a mixed
bag. For upper body muscle endurance, caffeine
did… pretty much nothing. All five trials hovered around 20.5 to 21
reps in the 60%1RM bench press. The only place we see a much clearer and meaningful
caffeine benefit is with lower body endurance. The no placebo and placebo trials observed
21.7 and 21.1 reps respectively in the 60%1RM squat. Although there were no statistical differences
for the three caffeine trials, they all set about 4 to 5 reps above the controls, with
25 to 26 reps. But since they did not see any difference
between the three trials, this suggests that having a low caffeine dose is enough to exhibit
lower body endurance benefits and more won’t do you better. So now taking all of this great data into
consideration, what does it mean for you? First, we gotta point out again that this
study was done in resistance trained men, which luckily should apply to the majority
of you following this channel. But generalization of the findings outside
of this population wouldn’t be rational. With that being said, when it comes to caffeine’s
performance benefits, it might not be something worthwhile for strength. Or at least don’t get your hopes up thinking
that it will boost your 1RM any more than a few percentage points. Endurance is a bit trickier. To keep things simple, let’s just say that
if it’s leg day, then yes, it might be worth taking. And if you do choose to use it for either
performance reasons, then taking 2 milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight is all you need. Now one limitation of this study I do wanna
point is the matter of caffeine tolerance. The majority of participants were low habitual
caffeine users, consuming no more than 100 milligrams of caffeine per day. Some, if not most of us, generally take in
more. And the lowest dose of this study was also
higher than 100 milligrams. It’s likely that the higher caffeine dose
than the subjects were used to might explain the effects they observed, but not entirely. Whether we’ll see benefits in users with
habitually higher intakes is up in the air. Maybe something like cycling your caffeine
if you’re a high-caffeine user might be a good idea. But that’s about it. Caffeine might help but you certainly don’t
need too much of it. If you wanna check out the study yourself,
I’ll link it in the description. Let me know about your caffeine experiences
in the comments below. Has it helped you and if so, how much do you
take? If you enjoyed this video, don’t forget
to give it an ergogenic thumbs up and share it with your caffeine-loving friends. As always, thank you for watching and GET
YOUR PROTEIN!
Discord Squad Where are you at ?
It s really remarkable that the tolerance levels weren't considered, maybe because they were low caffeine consumers?
I think that caffeine is more indirectly beneficial due to the focus you get from it so your work out goes better 🙂
I’ve taken 400mg at once and then fell asleep, and it was the 2nd time i tried caffeine. (1st time was a year earlier)I still don’t understand the effects of why it doesn’t work on me.
Been sober from preworkout for about a year. That shit gets addicting. 🤔Might get back into it after football season.
I only drink coffe for pooopi 🙂
Is taking one tablespoon coffee regularly before workout is good for long term or should i cycle it?
👍👍👍👍👍👍
I T D E P E N D S
For personal experience, I believe reducing the consumption-excercise time to just 30 minute would prove to be much more effective, especially in low doses.
If a gym bro hits legs in the woods and no one is there to see it, does he still hit legs?
Uh, humans don't need Caffeine by a long shot to stay healthy… Caffeine Addiction is also not fun…
best pre workout is warm up…..who tf drinks coffee or use pre workout supplements??
thanks very helpful
I FARTED
I find caffeine makes getting into the workout mindset easier, don't think it actually helps doing more on the exercises themselves. But I guess that depends though 😁
Stimulant? You mean the most widely used drug. Yes coffee is a drug just as much as cannabis, both should be legal and widely available.
I was going to point out caffeine tolerance plays a factor right when you said it! Excellent point. Also, I thought this study’s methodology seemed a little lacking for what I was hoping to learn. I think measuring the effects of caffeine on enhancing the full workouts’ performance and enjoyment may yield different results (as a supplement rather than a recreational habit). If it was a longitudinal study comparing a caffeinated Mesocycle of 8 weeks vs no caffeine beforehand, I would be more interested to see those results on hypertrophy and performance.
3:00 This means there is just no effect. Some significance is just coincidence.
Thank you a lot 🙂
Can you make it also for tea ?
any pre workout I get always has the lowest caffeine, glad i've been doing that
Waiting on the "it depends" shirt
Watching this while drinking my 2nd cup of coffee ☕
Also still waiting for the jeff nippard triangle animation collab 😆😆
Thanks for everything I’m glad I don’t buy that caffeine supplements and only got PROTEIN
Caffeine doesn't give you direct muscle growth, but it sure gets you jazzed to lift! And the studies on lifting, look pretty good!
Would like a shirt with the pic fit guy and the quote "it depends…"
What’s your favorite color?
PictureFit: It depends.
None at all
Off topic but I just realized how simple the sketches and animations of this channel yet they look really good.
How much coffee do you drink?
Yes
You are amazing💓
Does caffeine affect cardio training?
OMG A HAND REVEAL
Love the channel. Could we get some running(sprint or endurance) focused episodes.
Any body got some tips for a brotha. I was 245 and im 207 just cant break this seven punds. HeLp mE pLs. Alsp im 16 and 5'10.5 if that matters 😪
How much caffeine you need?
me with my espresso shots, thinking bout my next 5 coffes
Nope, it hasn't significantly impacted my performance.
I prolly consume about 500mg of caffeine a day… and I’m starting to think that’s it’s not great for my body ☠️
I'm 168 pounds and have 200mg of caffeine in my preworkout. For me, it just keeps me focused at the gym and not worrying about ramping up the weight
those hoodies look great, those who know you understand and those who don't, just can appreciate the design
Are you buff or just a skinny douche hiding behind a animation character
I find that I have more energy if I go to the gym immediately after having a coffee and breakfast, usually a bowl of oatmeal.
0:44 Left-Hand Reveal !! I thought your fingernails would be triangle shaped
NEW STUDY!!!!!!! WE IN IT
Imagine being so dumb you OD and die of caffeine pills like some guy did recently… Thank you darwin and natural selection, more oxygen for me.
I usually workout in the evening and taking caffeine would fuck up my sleep later at night, so I just eat enough food and take my creatine.
I'd buy your tshirts but it depends
Face reveal plzzz
I Take caffeine when u do strengh personally give a nice boost / other day dont take it. U will Feel a very Huge feeling when u do that
Strength on a good day without caffeine vs strength on a normal day with caffeine, same strength but more consistent with regular caffeine consumption(minus the toleration over time)
You're the best bruv, thanks for sharing such useful information.👏
chut
You don't need caffeine at all dumbasses.
This is really interesting and kind of proves a ritual that I have isn’t 100% placebo! I’m a rower and every month we have to do 30 minute rowing machine tests – see how far we can row in that time at a preset, slow tempo (20 strokes per min), which is both cardiovascular fitness and muscular endurance. Before every test I always drink an energy drink (roughly 2.5mg/kg caffeine for me) and I always feel I am performing at a higher level compared to when I don’t have the energy drink. Maybe it is just placebo but in the end, if it works, it works?
A video on pre workout supplements pls pls
Could you make a video on beet juice?
Today, I drank 2 cups of coffee 45 minutes before my arm workout, and it was one of the best workouts in my life. I was energized and motivated through the entire workout, and was able to hit a new PR.
i drink coffee to survive, i am moved by coffee and hate in my heart
More.
Neat! Thanks for featuring my selfie rocking the PicFit brand! Always loved the channel. I think I'll snag a hoodie as an early Christmas present for myself.
P.S. Happy to see us Patrons featured at the bottom of the video again. Some fierce competition in the Patreon video poll this time. Hope to see the next one soon. : ) I like thinking up cool topics for new videos.
Can you do a video on pre workout? Whether it's safe and worth the money
So caffeine is basically useless and we're addicted to a drug
Zero is the answer. It raises Cortisol levels which is a stressor. So, cut all caffeine
Stim junkies, what's the best pre I can buy ?
Heard that caffeine might be more beneficial post workout because it speeds up recovery through refueling muscles with glycogen and thus your recovery will be better, can you please address this one in one of your videos? Thanks brother.
Main cliff note: 2mg per kg of bodyweight on leg days. Upper body, caffeine does not help much. Caffeine tolerance should be tested for those who do not take much.
It’s simple as this. I can’t squat 80% of my max unless I have 250 mg of caffeine in me
I take 35 mg of caffeine per day on average and I thought it was too much.
Caffeine should effect the total workout volume in a workout and not just the one tested rep or sett shown in the studie.
Is there a studie show the effect on total volume increase in a workout due to caffeine?
I understand that this is hard to studie due to the many variables, but this is the interesting part.
The time you can workout goes up when taking caffeine and therefore workvolume increases, and there is the argument for using caffeine. Then a studie should show how volume changes with different dosage of caffeine.
picture fit… is there any lowering effect of caffeine if you take it at the same time as yesterday (ex.mon4pm,tue4pm) does our body resist caffeine if it knows when we will take it?
Drinking coffee is one thing I'll never start doing or I'll literally never sleep
U need 0 caffeine u hyperactive motherfker
I'm a bit surprised by these findings mentioned in this video, but I have to keep in mind that it's only a single study.
I used to go with 500mg(!) caffeine (per Examine's old "recommendation") until the sharp intestinal pain became too worrying, so now I'm down to only 250mg. The effect is clear: Since I'm more mentally determined, I rest less between sets, and can push myself harder. This often makes me gas out before I'm done with the sets, but training this meta-endurance is the whole idea.
caffeine causes you to bloat, right?
What about early morning workouts?
None
hey man, while its true that caffeine boosts performance, it doesn't help with strength or muscle gain. what builds strength and muscle is progressive overload, meaning even if you're a little stronger each workout with caffeine, it wont build strength faster. in fact, caffeine slightly hinders strength and muscle gain from hindered recovery.
In one of your videos you said something about citrulline malate as a potentially beneficial supplement. Any new info on that?
A video on how to grow taller in adulthood would be nice.
And a video on how to accelerate muscle gain
Let's review Now Beet Juice 😂
👀
What about for cardiovascular endurance? I’m curious on the performance benefits endurance athletes can have from caffeine and what dosage is best for that.
Make video on stamina and agility
Do i have to choose between weight training and agility
If you’re not used to it, 100 mg just for training is perfect. If you’re used to it, you’re f*cked anyway! 😛
I take a lot of caffeine and set a lot of PR’s so idk
Hey, i dont have much knowledge about workout, exercise types, and fitness in general and how to choose right exercise and its types, im currently reading Body for Life by Bill Phillips, can you suggest some more books on workout for beginners which explains how exercises works and its types, body types which i wanna acquire after workout and how to improve other things like stamina, agility etc
Imagine being able to tolerate caffeine ah haha, weak circulatory system gang
Didn't know the recommended intake was 2mg/bw, this is news to me. thank you kindly!
How much caffeine do I need? Yes
Ey does anyone else get anxiety after pre-workout? Im feeling it pretty hard
This was extremely relevant to my interests and actually helpful. Thank you!
Well , that confirms the earlier studies, in some running studies it is even negative. But I am drinking the coffee to wake up and drag myself to the gym not for the training itself.
Is protein fast okay for strength and hypertrophy
Benefit not significant enough to overcome going through caffeine withdrawal for me if you have to cycle. 😁
Eric Bugenhagen has enterd the chat.
Answer: Much less than I consume daily. Seriously. I need help
In my experience, Caffeine combined with motivational music helps me get through a whole workout. Without it I find myself wanting to leave around 20min in. Personally, I suggest taking a strong cup of coffee and a non-stim pre before a workout. Try it, you will sleep better and actually get a good 1hr's workout in.
With regards to the non-stim pre, try NPL Black Series Vaso Pump.
Just enough to not die.
Never had any in my whole life.
"Hoo-dies?"