Caffeine could help lessen soreness after a workout

By Carolyn Susman
January 23, 2007

A study suggests that caffeine can help reduce the
post-workout soreness that discourages some people
from exercising.

In a study to be published in the February issue of The
Journal of Pain, a team of University of Georgia
researchers finds that moderate doses of caffeine,
roughly equivalent to two cups of coffee, cut post-
workout muscle pain by up to 48 percent in a very small
sample of volunteers.

Lead author Victor Maridakis said the findings might be
particularly relevant to people new to exercise, because
they experience the most soreness.

The researchers studied nine female college students who
were not regular caffeine users and did not engage in
regular resistance training. One and two days after an
exercise session that caused moderate muscle soreness,
the volunteers took either caffeine or a placebo and
performed two different quadriceps (thigh exercises, one
designed to produce a maximal force, the other designed
to generate a lesser force.

Those who consumed caffeine one hour before the maximum
force test had a 48 percent reduction in pain compared
with the placebo group, while those who took caffeine
before the less-strenuous test reported a 26 percent
reduction in pain.

Researchers think that caffeine likely works by blocking
the body's receptors for adenosine, a chemical released
in response to inflammation.