If you were following the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games over the past couple of weeks, you had the opportunity to witness the world's greatest athletes compete after years of dedication and training. But could a cup of coffee be the secret to success for some of these gold medalists? A review from the latest published research by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee has shown the impact coffee has on participants' performances in sports.

Research now suggests that caffeine intake can improve athletes' muscle strength, endurance, and various aerobic and anaerobic sport-specific benefits. Analysis of 21 studies suggests that caffeine has a positive effect on a range of exercise tasks. Dr. J. W. Langer, a nutritional expert of medical pharmacology at the University of Copenhagen, states, "Many studies show that athletes who consume caffeine before a race or sports event can go faster, last longer and recover more quickly than athletes who do not have the extra boost."

The International Society of Sports Nutrition, known as the ISSN, reviewed recent research and updated its conclusion that caffeine can enhance various aspects of exercise performance. The ISSN now claims that small to moderate amounts of caffeine can improve movement velocity, muscle strength, muscle endurance, sprinting, jumping, throwing performance, and aerobic and anaerobic sport-specific actions.

The results from a 2019 study on a group of runners showed the positive effects caffeine has while running a 5km race. The findings showed that a moderate dose of caffeine produced noticeable gains in comparison to a placebo. Additional research showed how consuming a strong cup of coffee an hour before a one-mile run can improve a male runner's performance by 2 percent. The evidence of this study concluded that participants who drank coffee were five seconds faster than runners who got a placebo---and four seconds quicker than participants who drank decaffeinated coffee.

The results of the research don't just end at running. Another study showed that drinking caffeine 50-60 minutes before playing football can produce valuable athletic improvements in performance, including jumping, repeated sprinting, and running distance.

Although further research still needs to be conducted to confirm and validate these findings, it's encouraging to see the benefits of coffee in real-life situations and its ability to enhance our lives. From our morning cup of coffee to the afternoon pick-me-up we crave or sometimes need, specialty coffee from SunriseCoffeeLA can not only lift our spirits but possibly add to the quality of our lives.