Research

Hormonal

Habitual caffeine consumption attenuates the ergogenic effects of pre-exercise caffeine, requiring higher doses or a washout period to maintain performance benefits.

If you drink caffeine every day, your body builds a tolerance, making pre-race caffeine less effective. To get a performance boost, your pre-exercise dose should be significantly higher than your daily habitual intake, or you should consider a short washout period before competition.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Beaumont et al. [59] illustrated that regular intakes of 3 mg/kg of caffeine daily attenuated the ergogenic effects of a pre-exercise dose of 3 mg/kg.
Craig Pickering et al. · Sports Medicine · 2017

Why this rating

Based on specific studies cited (Beaumont et al., de Souza Gonçalves et al.), but findings are described as 'equivocal' in some contexts.

Source

Are the Current Guidelines on Caffeine Use in Sport Optimal for Everyone? Inter-individual Variation in Caffeine Ergogenicity, and a Move Towards Personalised Sports Nutrition

Craig Pickering et al. · Sports Medicine · 2017

DOI 10.1007/s40279-017-0776-1

narrative_reviewCited 201×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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