When it comes to enhancing athletic performance, many athletes turn to caffeine for its energy-boosting benefits. Among the various forms of caffeine, cold brew coffee has emerged as a favorite, and offers unique advantages for athletes striving for peak performance.

At 25GRAMS, our mission is to energize and inspire passionate people to reach their peak performance, and join them along their journey of achieving their goals. With a mindset where performance and passion go hand in hand, we very quickly picked up on a connection between high performance athletes and cold brew.

Our own journey began with a passion for specialty coffee, so beyond the fact that the chemistry of cold brew makes it a perfect ally for athletes, we want to create something that is more than just another source of caffeine. We're setting out to build a community—one driven by ambition, dedication, and the pursuit of peak performance. Through cold brew, we've discovered a powerful tool that helps athletes and enthusiasts alike push their limits and achieve their goals. In this blog post, we will dive deeper into the synergy between sports and cold brew and embracing a culture of relentless passion, where every step of the journey matters.

Cold Brew as a Source of Caffeine for Athletes

Many of us use caffeine as a way to wake ourselves up in the morning, but caffeine is actually also one of the most studied supplements in the world of sports. Caffeine, which naturally exists in our cold brew (as you can read in our blog post about caffeine contents in our cold brew), also acts as a natural stimulant that boosts physical and mental performance - all could have a positive impact on ones athletic performance .

The Science Behind How Caffeine Affects the Body

Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant that has several effects on the body and the brain. There are many studies exploring the impact of caffeine on the human body, but the three main effects applicable to athletes are its ability to promote wakefulness (eugeroic), enhance physical performance (ergogenic), and improve cognitive function (nootropic).

Caffeine enhances the activity of the nervous system and brain, which is why it often leads to increased alertness and a sense of wakefulness that many people commonly associate with its effects. In the brain, one of the most researched effects of caffeine is its ability to temporarily inhibit a molecule called adenosine. As we go about our days physical and mental tasks, adenosine levels gradually increase in the brain, attaching to specific receptor sites. This buildup contributes to feelings of fatigue, drowsiness, and even a heightened sensitivity to pain. Caffeine's structure closely resembles that of adenosine, which allows it to bind to the same receptor sites and thereby block adenosine's effects. As a result, mental fatigue and the perception of pain are lessened. When it comes to sports, this means that an athlete's reaction times, concentration, task switching, and motor coordination can be improved. At the same time, the perception of exertion can be reduced which can in turn increase endurance - if consumed in the right amounts, at the right times, for specific purposes of exercise.

Caffeine also has an effect on muscle fibers, although this area requires more research to determine whether it truly can enhance athletic performance. The performance-enhancing effects of caffeine are thought to depend on several other factors, including individual genetics, gut microbiome, nutrition, interactions with other substances, and the specific type of performance. Muscle contractions require calcium to move within the fibers, and in simple terms, caffeine can accelerate this movement. In theory, this could enhance the force of each contraction. While research on this effect is robust, much of it has been conducted using isolated muscle fibers in laboratory settings. These studies often involve caffeine doses significantly higher than what humans typically consume. As a result, further research is needed to determine whether this effect translates to practical benefits in real-life scenarios - but it definitely needs to be taken into consideration when discussing the effect of caffeine on an athlete's body!

Lastly, caffeine can stimulate the breakdown of triglycerides into fatty acids that the body can use for energy. By utilizing more of these fatty acids for fuel, the body may conserve glycogen—the stored carbohydrate in muscles—potentially extending endurance and delaying fatigue during exercise. Additionally, caffeine triggers the release of catecholamines, a group of hormones that includes adrenaline, which also contribute to the breakdown of triglycerides. However, although there is an effect, it appears to vary from person to person, possibly due to genetic differences. This is why it's important to tailor caffeine intake to the specific athlete and their form of exercise.

Caffeine's effect on athletic performance

A change of less than 1% in average speed can be sufficient to influence medal standings in high-intensity Olympic endurance events. Studies have consistently demonstrated that caffeine can enhance endurance performance by 2–4% when consumed in doses of 3–6 mg per kilogram of body weight. Therefore it is quite common to find athletes using caffeine as a tool to improve their overall performance, both professionally and recreationally.

As a meta-analysis of a wide range of studies has shown, the greatest benefits of caffeine supplementation are most likely seen in endurance-based activities of longer duration, followed by shorter-duration aerobic sports, such as running, swimming, or cycling. In contrast, sports that rely heavily on explosive strength, such as power-lifting or High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), may experience a smaller impact.

Sports (team or individual) are not just physical - they require significant cognitive function and mental endurance as well. Much of the research on caffeine's impact in these areas comes from military studies, where maintaining focus and alertness under conditions of sleep deprivation and high stress is critical. Caffeine gives concentration and wakefulness a boost in such scenarios, although it needs to be said that it does not replace the benefits of quality sleep.

Trail runner and organizer of the Vienna Trail Run, Matthias Stiedl, elaborates on the fact that after a long work day, cold brew gives him the boosts he needs to feel energized for a run:

'When doing a trail run, I love to have some cold brew right before, to get ready, and it's especially refreshing for doing longer runs in summer. As an athlete it's also important to have something that is convenient and ready to drink, that also tastes amazing, and gives you the boost and recovery that you need.'

Shared Culture: Overlap in Coffee and Sports

Our mission is to energize and inspire a community of passionate people so that they can reach their peak performance. With our passion for specialty coffee, we found that cold brew offers a great way into achieving this mission, for athletes especially, who can use it as a tool to achieve their goals. However, we care about much more than simply providing them with caffeine. Although cold brew packs a good amount of caffeine, and on top of that has undetectable amounts of carbs, sugar, and fats, caffeine supplements for athletes can also be acquired by means of caffeine pills, gels, energy drinks, and more. Beyond the caffeine, we care about being part of the journey, sharing a culture of simply being so passionate about something that it can't be ignored, and pushing ones boundaries.

More than the benefits of caffeine which can boost athletic performance, the cultural overlap makes the connection between cold brew and sports effortless. Coffee and sports have historically already been naturally going hand in hand - think about running and cycling clubs that use cafe's as break, meet up, and refuel stops.

It's these shared sub-cultural values ​​that have tied coffee and sports together, and it means that we have the opportunity to bring our worlds even closer together. Carina Wenninger has described this natural chemistry:

'As passionate individuals, we pursue our dreams despite the odds because our inner drive leaves us no other choice, and in both coffee and sports, this relentless commitment not only pushes us to achieve what seems impossible but also ensures we deliver it with a high level of quality.'

Incorporating Cold Brew into Work-Out Routine

Individual genetic make up plays a bit role in the impact of caffeine on a human body. One key factor is the individual genetic make-up of athletes, which determines how quickly or slowly their bodies metabolize caffeine. Some people process caffeine rapidly and may require a higher dose or more frequent intake to experience its effects, while others break it down more slowly, meaning even a small amount can have a strong impact. Therefore when incorporating caffeine into your work-out routine, you have to tailor your approach to your own body's experience with caffeine, and mind the dosage and the timing.

Timing plays a crucial role. To maximize the benefits, it's best to enjoy your cold brew about 30 to 60 minutes before your workout. This gives your body enough time to absorb the caffeine, allowing you to perform at your peak when you need to. Professional footballer Carina Wenninger shared her preferred way of incorporating 25GRAMS into her routine:

'I have my cold brew in my locker and drink a bit of it when I'm getting ready, roughly 30 minutes before a game, and sometimes if I need to be re-energized I have some during the break too.'

 

Interestingly, what is important to Carina as well, more so than the caffeine, is the ritual of incorporating cold brew into her routine:

'For me, of course I feel cold brew helps with endurance and feeling energized throughout a game, but I love to incorporate it because it is nice ritual that gets me in the right headspace, and ready for a game. I wouldn't say that I absolutely can't play a game without it, but it's a ritual that gets me energized and focused, and I feel I can perform at my best this way.'

Trail runner Matthias agrees that the mental aspect also plays a role, and is a key reason why he opts for cold brew to fuel his runs:

'It helps me to concentrate, when I drink it I feel more ready for a race. This mental aspect of it is very important for my performance as an athlete.'