Caffeine: The Coach-Facing Protocol Reference

Caffeine is a methylxanthine — a naturally occurring stimulant found in coffee, tea, and a wide range of supplements and beverages. It works primarily by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain, which reduces the perception of fatigue and produces broader stimulant effects on the central nervous system.

It is, without much competition, the most well-studied ergogenic aid in sports science. Decades of controlled research support real performance benefits: improved endurance performance, reduced perceived exertion at a given intensity, and improvements in power and sprint output with appropriate dosing. This is…

For adult athletes, individual dosing decisions belong with your RD or physician. This is not appropriate for minors without direct medical guidance — caffeine sensitivity, cardiac risk profiles, and appropriate limits vary enough between individuals that a generic protocol is a starting point for a clinical…

The dosing range most commonly studied for a performance effect is 3 to 6 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, taken approximately 30 to 60 minutes before competition. For a 140-pound (64 kg) athlete, that translates to roughly 190 to 385 mg — a wide range, and doses at the higher end are associated with more side…

Notably, the low end of the performance-effective range overlaps closely with the adolescent daily safety ceiling. The European Food Safety Authority's adolescent safe upper limit is 3 mg/kg per day — meaning the bottom of caffeine's researched performance window and the top of the adolescent safety ceiling sit close…