Beat Muscle Pain With Caffeine

Having a caffeine supplement, equivalent to about two cups of coffee, an hour before exercise may reduce muscle pain afterwards by almost 50 percent, say researchers [1].

"This experiment found that caffeine (equal to about two cups of brewed coffee) could produce a large reduction in pain resulting from eccentric exercise–induced, delayed-onset muscle injury," wrote lead author Victor Maridakis from the University of Georgia.

But the researchers warned that the study, which only involved nine women with low caffeine intake, may not be applicable to the more general population, particularly regular caffeine users.

Writing in the Journal of Pain, the Georgia researchers report the results of their experiment with nine university-age women with regular low caffeine consumption. The volunteers were assigned to receive either caffeine or placebo 24 and 48 hours after exercise session that caused moderate muscle soreness in their thigh muscles (quadriceps).

The volunteers than performed two different quadriceps exercises, one designed to produce a maximal force, the other designed to generate a submaximal force.

The researchers report that the women who consumed caffeine one hour before the maximum force test had a 48 percent reduction in pain compared to the placebo group, while those that took caffeine before the submaximal test reported a 26 percent reduction in pain.

"This experiment found that caffeine (equal to about two cups of brewed coffee) could produce a large reduction in pain resulting from eccentric exercise–induced, delayed-onset muscle injury," write the researchers.

Maridakis said in a statement that the findings may be particularly relevant to people new to exercise, since they tend to experience the most soreness. "If you can use caffeine to reduce the pain, it may make it easier to transition from that first week into a much longer exercise program," he says.

Co-researcher Patrick O'Connor says that caffeine might even be more effective in relieving post-workout muscle pain than several commonly used drugs. O'Connor says that previous studies have reported that the pain reliever naproxen produced a 30 percent reduction in soreness, while aspirin produced a 25 percent reduction, and ibuprofen has produced inconsistent results.

"A lot of times what people use for muscle pain is aspirin or ibuprofen, but caffeine seems to work better than those drugs, at least among women whose daily caffeine consumption is low," he says.

Comment: Caffeine is one of the most versatile "drugs" in the world. Not only does it raise your metabolic rate, boost muscle strength, improve performance during short-term, high-intensity exercise and increase the number of fat calories you burn during and after exercise, caffeine has also been shown to reduce the perception of pain both during and — as this latest study shows — after exercise.

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About the Author

Christian Finn holds a master's degree in exercise science, is a certified personal trainer and has been featured on BBC TV and radio, as well as in Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Fit Pro, Zest and other popular fitness magazines.

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Reference
1. Maridakis V, O'Connor PJ, Dudley GA, McCully KK. (2007). Caffeine attenuates delayed-onset muscle pain and force loss following eccentric exercise. Journal of Pain, 8, 237-243