I recently learned that coffee is a vaso-restrictor, which maks it a natural cure to headache, but how does that affect the body if you do some sport after drinking a few cups of coffee?
I mean when you're doing sport your veins widen to allow your heart to pump more blood towards your muscles, so won't drinking coffee make it harder, and lower your performance?
There are studies that have shown a marked increase in performance compared to a placebo in athletes who drank coffee before a workout. Both strength and endurance exercises saw improvement. As to the diruretc and constructive effects, it would seem that staying hydrated (which you should do anyway when exercising) is an effective way to combat the nominal downsides. Below are the studies in question.
al., G.M.S.e., Effect of caffeine on sport-specific endurance performance: A systematic review. . Journal Strength and Conditioning Research, 2009. 23(1): p. 315-24.
Astorino, T.A., R.L. Rohmann, and K. Firth, Effect of caffeine ingestion on one-repetition maximum muscular strength. Eur J Appl Physiol, 2008. 102(2): p. 127-32.
