Drink coffee with a carb diet 'to recover faster after sports'

An advice for sportspersons looking for an edge over their competitors -- sipping a cup of coffee while grabbing a bite of a burger can help you recover more quickly after a strenuous workout, a study has revealed.

A team at RMIT University has found that glycogen, the main fuel source for muscles, replenishes faster when athletes consume both caffeine and carbohydrates after exercising, the 'Journal of Applied Physiology' reported.

Lead author Prof John Hawley said their study found that athletes who added caffeine to their post-exercise meal had 66 per cent more glycogen in their muscles than those who ate only carbohydrates.

"If you have 66 per cent more fuel for the next day's training or competition, there's no question you'll be able to go further and faster.

"While it's been established that carbohydrates and caffeine improve a variety of athletic performances, this is the first study that has revealed that combining caffeine with carbohydrates after you've exercised can actually help your muscles refuel more rapidly," he said.

The study involved four assessment trials with seven endurance cyclists, who were given either a plain carbohydrate drink or one with caffeine (the equivalent of five to six cups of coffee).

The cyclists rode a cycle ergometer until exhaustion and four hours later, those who had the caffeine-containing drink had 66 per cent higher glycogen levels in their muscles compared to those who had the carbohydrate-only drink, the researchers found.

According to Prof Hawley, it's not clear how caffeine helped to facilitate glucose uptake from the blood into the muscles, however higher circulating blood glucose and plasma insulin levels were likely to be a factor.

"We think caffeine may also increase the activity of several signalling enzymes that play roles in muscle glucose uptake during and after exercise," he said.

However, Prof Hawley has a word of caution. "Because caffeine can potentially have negative effects like disturbing sleep or causing the jitters, athletes who want to incorporate it into their recovery routines should experiment and see what works for them well before any serious competitions."