Caffeine Chills Workout Pain

Anyone interested in less pain, same gain? Try a cup of joe before hitting the gym. Science Daily reports that new research conducted by former competitive cyclist and University of Illinois kinesiology and community health professor Robert Motl supports a small body of earlier work suggesting that coffee helps dull the pain of intense physical exercise. Motl worked with 25 fit, college-aged males who he divided
into two groups: those whose everyday caffeine consumption
was extremely low to non-existent, and those with an average caffeine
intake of about 400 milligrams a day, the equivalent of three to four
cups of coffee. After completing an initial exercise test in the lab for determination of maximal oxygen
consumption or aerobic power, subjects returned for two monitored
high-intensity, 30-minute exercise sessions. An hour prior to each session, cyclists – who had been instructed
not to consume caffeine during the prior 24-hour period – were given a
pill. On one occasion, it contained a dose of caffeine measuring 5
milligrams per kilogram of body weight (equivalent to two to three cups
of coffee); the other time, they received a placebo. During both exercise periods, subjects' perceptions of quadriceps
muscle pain was recorded at regular intervals, along with data on
oxygen consumption, heart rate and work rate. Motl and his team found something they didn't expect: caffeine-naïve individuals
and habitual users have the same amount of reduction in pain during
exercise after caffeine consumption. They also found something they did expect:caffeine reduces pain reliably, consistently during
cycling, across different intensities, across different people,
different characteristics. 
Read more in Science Daily.