First of all, how does caffeine affect your body? Caffeine blocks two different brain receptors which are the A1 and A2A receptor. The A1 receptor is blocked to avoid sleepeiness and increases endurance. The A2A receptor is blocked and adrenaline levels increase; in return, focus and power increase. Knowing this bit of how caffeine biologically works in the body can definitely help a specific group of athletes.

Caffeine works best for endurance activities such as running, cycling, swimming, or high repetition performance. A study on trained athletes found that times show a 4.2 second difference versus the athletes that had decaf. The dosage doesn’t matter for power athletes. They don’t see a difference in lifting heavier weights, but they noticed a difference in how they are able to focus longer doing more repetitions.

You should eat your coffee at least 30-60 minutes before you start your activity. Having a cup or a bar immediately seconds before you start an activity doesn’t give it enough time to process in your system so your performance could be inconsistent.

Take the recommended dosage based on your size and body weight only before your games. The downside to using caffeine is that you could build a tolerance to it and it would have no effect on your workouts. Keep in mind what else you consume such as a pre-workout, vitamins, or other supplements that you are regularly taking before increasing your coffee intake.

Pocket Lattes are a good option because it has the same amount of caffeine as a regular coffee (which is about 90-150mg), but the fats from the cocoa butter helps the caffeine release in a slow, stable manner in a way that prevents caffeine crashes after a game. You can still enjoy the award ceremony and after-party without feeling groggy!