Ep. 290 - Is Caffeine an Overrated Supplement for Lifters?

Caffeine is incredibly popular among lifters and non-lifters alike. In a variety of cultures all across the globe (including the iron culture), caffeine is a daily staple. While most people use caffeine for a morning boost of energy, lifters have long used caffeine as a performance-enhancing supplement. There is a tremendous amount of evidence reporting acute ergogenic effects from a single dose of caffeine, but there is a surprising lack of research addressing critical questions about caffeine's utility as an "everyday" pre-workout supplement. In today's episode, Eric Trexler reviews a new study suggesting that caffeine improves performance when consumed in the morning, but not in the evening. This is followed by an in-depth discussion about when caffeine may (or may not) be effectively used as a performance-enhancing supplement, and how to balance potential tradeoffs between acute performance enhancement and sleep disruption.

Om Podcasten

Iron Culture was started by Eric Helms and Omar Isuf, now currently hosted by Eric Helms and Eric Trexler with Omar as a returning guest, as a means of exploring the world of physical culture and attempting to distill a unified philosophy of lifting and to help listeners find greater meaning from the iron. The lifting community has become fractured over the last ~70 years and this Podcast will attempt to explore the fundamental threads that unite these different tribes. The Podcast focuses on dispensing practical, useful information to the listener, bouncing from history, to philosophy, to contemporary lifting culture issues, to science. This can range from teaching the audience about lifting, programming, nutrition, supplements/PEDs and the history of lifting culture. The format includes casual conversations between the two hosts on a variety of topics, discussions with a panel of experts and interviews with authoritative figures in the lifting community.