1 Title: A time and a place: a framework for caffeine periodization throughout the sporting year.

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3 Running Head: Caffeine periodization

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5 Submission Type: Review Article

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7 Authors: Craig Pickering1, Jozo Grgic2

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9 1. Institute of Coaching and Performance, School of Sport and Wellbeing, University of Central

10 Lancashire, Preston, UK

11 2. Institute for Health and Sport (IHES), Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia

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13 Corresponding Author:

14 Craig Pickering

15 Institute of Coaching and Performance, School of Sport and Wellbeing, University of Central Lancashire, Fylde

16 Road, Preston, PR1 2HE, UK.

17 Email: craigpickering1014@[Link]

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31 A time and a place: a framework for caffeine periodization throughout the sporting year

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33 Abstract

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35 Caffeine is a well-established ergogenic aid, with its performance-enhancing effects demonstrated across a

36 variety of sports and exercise types. As a result of caffeine’s ergogenic properties, it is widely utilised by

37 athletes at all levels around both competition and training. Caffeine exerts its performance benefits through a

38 variety of mechanisms, each of which may be of increased importance at a given stage of training or

39 competition. In addition, regular caffeine use may diminish the performance enhancing effects of a subsequent

40 dose of caffeine. Recently, interest in the concept of nutritional periodization has grown; here we propose a

41 framework for the periodization of caffeine through the sporting year, balancing its training and competition

42 performance-enhancing effects, along with the need to mitigate any negative effects of habituation.

43 Furthermore, the regular use of caffeine within training may support the development of positive beliefs towards

44 caffeine by athletes—potentially serving to enhance future performance through placebo and expectancy

45 mechanisms—as well as allowing for the optimisation of individual athlete caffeine strategies. Whilst future

46 work is required to validate some of the suggestions made, the framework proposed here represents a starting

47 point for athletes to maximise caffeine’s performance benefits across the sporting year.

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49 Key Words: Ergogenic aid, supplementation, training

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61 1. Introduction - The ever-broadening role of periodization in sport and exercise.

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63 Sports coaches have long understood the inherent value within the concept of periodization, broadly defined as

64 the systematic planning of long- and short-term training programs aimed at optimising performance-relevant

65 adaptations [1,2]. Whilst the underpinning scientific rationale [3] and study methodologies [4] suggests that

66 traditional periodization concepts are not the panacea they are often held up to be, there is clear evidence that

67 variation in imposed training demands can enhance performance [1]. Whilst previously limited to the exercise

68 domain, the concept of periodization has expanded, with the underlying principles explored within altitude

69 training [5], body composition [6], heat adaptation [7], recovery [1], and psychological skills [1]. One area in

70 which periodization principles are of increased interest is sports nutrition [1-2, 8-10], with periodized nutrition

71 defined as “the planned, purposeful, and strategic use of specific nutritional interventions to enhance the

72 adaptations targeted by individual exercise sessions or periodic training plans, or to obtain other effects that will

73 enhance performance longer term” [9]. Periodized nutrition has been primarily studied in terms of carbohydrate

74 utilisation within aerobic endurance athletes, whereby carbohydrate availability is manipulated to drive desired

75 molecular and physiological adaptations to exercise [8,10]. Interest in nutritional periodization techniques has

76 grown, with the principles applied to strength athletes [2], and a general framework in the scientific literature

77 has been recently proposed [10]. Here, we expand the concept of nutritional periodization by applying it to

78 caffeine, a widely-used, effective ergogenic aid [11], exploring how manipulation of caffeine’s use may support

79 athlete performance across the training year.

80
81 2. Caffeine - a potent performance enhancer

82
83 Caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine) is a popular ergogenic substance, widely utilised by athletes [12] and non-

84 athletes [13] alike. The performance-enhancing effects of caffeine have long been established, with the first

85 known study exploring caffeine’s use during exercise published over 100 years ago [14]. A recent umbrella

86 review [11] reported a clear ergogenic effect of caffeine on muscle strength, muscular endurance, anaerobic

87 power, and aerobic endurance. Whilst caffeine has significant acute ergogenic effects [11], it also has wider

88 effects that are currently underexplored within sporting contexts. For example, caffeine has the potential to

89 significantly harm sleep [15], but may also enhance post-exercise glycogen recovery [16]. Across a training

90 block that occurs within a traditional exercise periodization model, caffeine may also reduce the sensation of

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 91 Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness (DOMS) [17], mitigate feelings of fatigue [18], and potentially even enhance

92 specific training adaptations [19]. However, regular caffeine use may reduce the subsequent ergogenic effects of

93 a given caffeine dose [20,21]. As such, there is a clear scope for exploring the structured, periodized use of

94 caffeine across the training year, with caffeine utilized to support performance or specific adaptations at a given

95 time, and exposure varied to guard against possible habituation. Whilst much of the focus in research is directed

96 towards exploring acute ergogenic effects of caffeine on different exercise tasks, such data provide little insight

97 into methods that can be utilized by athletes interested in long-term supplementation with caffeine. In this

98 manuscript, the first to our knowledge to examine caffeine in this way, we discuss how caffeine intake might be

99 periodized across the training and competitive year, and provide some tentative recommendations to athletes,

100 coaches and practitioners who are interested in getting the most out of their caffeine supplementation practices.

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102 3. Caffeine use in sport – a time and a place?

103
104 3.1 Acute Caffeine Use – Implications for Training & Competition

105
106 Caffeine’s performance-enhancing effects are well-established and well-replicated, and are overwhelmingly

107 acute in nature [11]. Evidence suggests that caffeine enhances aerobic endurance [22], high-intensity efforts

108 [23], muscular endurance [24], sprint performance [25], and maximum strength [26]. Caffeine also acutely

109 enhances sporting performance, with ergogenic effects of caffeine on sport-specific endurance [27], power-

110 based sports [28], as well as performance in volleyball [29], rugby [30], soccer [31], basketball [32], and

111 swimming [33]. Given these broad ergogenic effects—both in terms of general physical abilities and sport-

112 specific performance—caffeine itself is widely utilised by sportspeople, with research suggesting that 75-90%

113 of athletes consume caffeine prior to, or during, competition [34,35].

114
115 Caffeine also has the potential to exert other beneficial effects that may enhance acute sporting performance,

116 such as enhancing cognitive performance [36]—especially when sleep-restricted [37]—and mood, supporting

117 sporting performance when sleep deprived [38], enhancing skill execution [39], and reducing sensations of pain

118 and soreness [40]. Given these benefits, caffeine is widely utilised by athletes as performance-enhancer at

119 different stages of the sporting year.

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121 3.1.2 Caffeine use in competition

122 During the competition phase of the sporting year, the athlete is focused first and foremost on enhancing

123 physical performance. Given caffeine’s ergogenic effects, it would appear sensible to recommend that athletes

124 utilise caffeine either directly before, or during, competition. There are, however, some side effects to be aware

125 of. Caffeine has the potential to increase feelings of anxiety [41]. Increased anxiety can be positive if the athlete

126 requires an increase in arousal pre-competition, but may become performance-limiting prior to competitions

127 when the athletes arousal and anxiety levels are already high, such as the Olympic Games [42]. Additionally,

128 because caffeine has strong stimulant properties, it can increase sleep latency and decrease sleep quality [15,43].

129 Whilst caffeine’s stimulant effects may be positive during competition due to increased performance and

130 wakefulness—especially if the athlete is jet lagged—it also seems that caffeine has the ability to significantly

131 harm post-competition recovery. Clearly, a pragmatic approach would be required here; is the subsequent loss

132 of sleep and impaired recovery a worthwhile price to pay for enhanced competition performance? Many athletes

133 would likely argue that it is, although further research is required to understand how this might affect

134 competitive bouts in close duration—in terms of days—such as within a sporting championship [44,45].

135
136 Another area where caffeine ingestion may be beneficial is within repeated competitive bouts that occur on the

137 same day [44,45]. For example, at the recent 2019 World Athletics Championships, the semi-finals and finals of

138 the women’s 100m were separated by just 2 hours. A number of issues here require further elucidation; if the

139 second competitive bout takes place within a period of time in which plasma caffeine concentrations are

140 maintained, what effect—if any—does a secondary caffeine dose have? Does the increased work rate afforded

141 by caffeine supplementation [46] cause increased fatigue and/or muscle damage that may harm a subsequent

142 performance bout? An initial study [47] demonstrated no negative effect of caffeine supplementation on

143 exercise bouts on consecutive days, and Bell and McLellan [48] reported that 6 mg/kg of caffeine consumed

144 prior to an exercise bout still exerted an ergogenic effect on a second exercise bout taking place 6 hours later,

145 with no additional performance-enhancement with a second dose of caffeine (2.5 mg/kg). Conversely, Negaresh

146 and colleagues [49] reported increased efficacy of repeated dosing (5x) of caffeine at 2 mg/kg compared to a

147 single caffeine dose (10 mg/kg) during a wrestling tournament of multiple competitive bouts. As future research

148 allows us to better understand the influence of repeated competitive bouts on caffeine ergogenicity, more

149 targeted guidelines may be developed.

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151 3.1.3 The use of caffeine in training

152 During the general training phase—often termed the “off-season”—the athlete is focused on building

153 performance capacity through the accumulation of training volume (i.e. total workload) and/or intensity (i.e.

154 effort or load). As detailed above, caffeine is a potent performance enhancer [11], which is why athletes utilise

155 caffeine prior to competition. However, caffeine’s acute ergogenic effects will also enhance performance in

156 individual training sessions; as a result, athletes also use caffeine pre-training as a performance enhancer [50].

157 However, caffeine supplementation during training phases may be efficacious for a variety of further reasons.

158 Research suggests that caffeine may attenuate post-exercise DOMS and perception of soreness [51,52], and

159 caffeine can enhance mood and alertness [53], as well as alleviate feelings of fatigue that may be associated

160 with increased training loads [51] and the lack of sleep often associated with early morning training sessions

161 [38]. Caffeine has also been shown to alleviate mental fatigue, enhancing endurance [54] and skill [36]

162 performance. There is the potential that caffeine may enhance post-exercise recovery, with some data suggesting

163 that caffeine, and other ingredients in coffee such as cafestol and caffeic acid, may enhance muscle glycogen

164 recovery [16]. Finally, when an athlete is experiencing soreness in the form of DOMS, caffeine appears to

165 mitigate the pain associated with subsequent exercise [17], enhancing performance within the subsequent

166 training session.

167
168 Can caffeine enhance training adaptations?

169 Caffeine primarily serves to acutely enhance exercise performance, with its effects typically only lasting for 3-4

170 hours [55]. However, if caffeine acutely enhances performance in individual training sessions, do these acute

171 increases combine to deliver greater adaptations to the training program as a whole, when compared to athletes

172 who do not utilise caffeine supplementation [44]? Very few studies have explored this; however, Malek and

173 colleagues [56] randomised subjects to receive either a placebo or caffeine-containing supplement (201mg of

174 caffeine) prior to each training session within an 8-week aerobic training program, with no significant

175 differences in peak oxygen consumption reported between the groups. In another study, participants performed

176 resistance training three times per week for six weeks [57]. One group ingested 3 mg/kg caffeine 60-minutes

177 before each session, whilst the other ingested a placebo. After six weeks, both groups increased maximum

178 strength in the bench press and squat; however, the improvement was greater in the caffeine ingestion group.

179 This group also had a higher volume load (sets x load x repetitions), suggesting that long-term improvements in

180 strength are likely explained by acute improvements in exercise performance following caffeine ingestion

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181 before every session. Whilst this study requires replication, the results suggest that regular pre-exercise caffeine

182 ingestion may enhance training adaptations.

183
184 Caffeine may modify the molecular signals that occur post-exercise. At supraphysiological doses (e.g. 5 mM),

185 caffeine appears to inhibit mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)—a key intracellular enzyme associated

186 with resistance exercise-induced muscle hypertrophy—activity [58,59], although these results are equivocal

187 when physiological levels (e.g. 0.3 mM) of caffeine are applied [60]. To our knowledge, there are only

188 unpublished observations examining the acute effects of caffeine on anabolic signaling in humans. Here,

189 caffeine intake prior to resistance exercise did not have any effect on p70S6 kinase or muscle protein synthesis

190 following exercise, possibly because the study also did not find an overall ergogenic effect on caffeine on

191 performance [61]. Similarly, prolonged exposure of muscle cells to high concentrations of caffeine appears to

192 enhance mitochondrial biogenesis [62], although further research is required to explore the effects of caffeine,

193 when consumed as an ergogenic aid, on various muscle signaling pathways. Nevertheless, caffeine has a

194 theoretical ability to enhance training adaptations in athletes, either by increasing workload or augmenting post-

195 exercise adaptive signaling, although substantially more research in humans is required in this area.

196
197 3.2 Chronic Caffeine Use – A need for periodization?

198
199 3.2.1 Habituation

200 Regular exposure to caffeine is associated with physiological adaptations that may reduce its future ergogenic

201 effects [63,64]. As a result, caffeine habituation is often reported as a potential modifying factor of the acute

202 response to caffeine [21,42,64], although there are a surprisingly small number of studies exploring the

203 influence of caffeine habituation on exercise performance, with conflicting findings reported [20,44]. In general,

204 studies either report no negative influence of regular caffeine intake on its subsequent ergogenic effects [65-67],

205 or a reduced—but not eliminated—subsequent ergogenic effect [21,68,69]. The specific mechanisms driving

206 this loss of ergogenic effects with regular use are poorly understood, but may include increased metabolisation

207 speed, along with increased adenosine receptor densities [20].

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209 If regular caffeine use blunts the subsequent ergogenic effects of caffeine, then there are some potential

210 strategies athletes could utilise to ensure they derive the maximum benefit from caffeine supplementation at the

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211 time it matters most—prior to competition. Short-term caffeine withdrawal has been proposed as a method of

212 becoming re-sensitised to caffeine’s ergogenic effects [70], which again has been relatively poorly studied [20].

213 In studies conducted on this topic, short-term (i.e. ~4 day) caffeine withdrawal did not significantly improve the

214 subsequent ergogenic effects of a dose of caffeine [71,72]. Longer periods of caffeine withdrawal have not, to

215 our knowledge, been studied; furthermore, short-term caffeine withdrawal is associated with negative side

216 effects such as fatigue, irritability, muscle pain, sleep disturbances, and nausea [72-74]. From a biological basis,

217 this caffeine dependence is proposed to be because of the increased functional sensitivity to endogenous

218 adenosine [74]. Whilst typically mild, and reversible upon caffeine ingestion [55,75], such sensations are likely

219 to be undesirable in elite athletes prior to competition.

220
221 A second potential option is for athletes to consume a greater pre-competition dose of caffeine relative to their

222 habitual, pre-training and daily life caffeine intakes [20]. This pragmatic approach, which balances the daily,

223 non-sporting consumption of caffeine (primarily via caffeinated beverages such as coffee) and the targeted pre-

224 training use of caffeine widely utilised by athletes [50] with the need to maintain an optimised ergogenic

225 response to caffeine pre-competition [20]. In this case, regular consumption of low-to-moderate doses of

226 caffeine (~2-3 mg/kg/d) and a pre-competition caffeine dose of ~4-5 mg/kg would likely suffice, although there

227 is considerable inter-individual variation in the optimal caffeine dose, and this approach has not yet been studied

228 in the literature [20,42].

229
230 3.2.2 Building beliefs

231 A small number of studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of placebo caffeine in enhancing performance

232 [76-80], such that, if an athlete believes they have consumed caffeine, and they believe that caffeine is

233 ergogenic, they likely will experience an ergogenic effect following caffeine supplementation, regardless of

234 whether caffeine has been consumed. As a result, cultivating a belief in the ergogenic effects of caffeine, and the

235 athlete recognising—through taste or physical sensations—that caffeine has been consumed, may be important

236 in maximising the ergogenic response to a pre-competition caffeine dose. Regular caffeine intake may therefore

237 be important in allowing the athlete to both have positive prior experiences following caffeine ingestion, as well

238 as recognise the taste, and other physiological responses, associated with caffeine [81,82]. Finally, ritualistic

239 behaviour—such as consuming caffeine in a set routine and method—supports positive outcomes of placebo

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240 [83]. As such, the regular consumption of caffeine, as part of a pre-training routine, may support ergogenic

241 effects when caffeine is consumed prior to competition.

242
243 3.2.3 Optimising individual practice

244 Whilst there are well-established guidelines suggesting that ingestion of 3-6 mg/kg of caffeine, consumed

245 around 60-minutes prior to exercise, is ergogenic [84], there is considerable variation in both the optimal

246 caffeine dose, and the timing of that dose, between individuals [42]. This individual response appears to occur

247 due to genetic variation between individuals (for example, a common polymorphism (i.e. genetic variation)

248 within CYP1A2 appears to influence caffeine ergogenicity [85], although the findings on this topic are equivocal

249 [86,87]), along with common environment differences such as habitual caffeine use [21,68-71], age [88], time of

250 day [89-91], training status [89,92], along with caffeine-related beliefs and expectancy [76,79]. As a result,

251 developing an optimised caffeine strategy for individual athletes may require considerable trial and error [42];

252 by experimenting with caffeine during training periods, athletes can perhaps better develop and refine their pre-

253 competition caffeine strategies, increasing their confidence of success on the day of competition.

254
255
256 4. Practical Implications – Building a caffeine periodization framework

257
258 As detailed above, caffeine has clear and well-established performance enhancing effects [11], and, as a result, it

259 is widely used by athletes in training and competition alike [12,50]. The regular use of caffeine during

260 prolonged training phases may lead to caffeine habituation and reduced subsequent ergogenic effects [21,68],

261 although this finding is equivocal [66]. If long-term caffeine ingestion indeed attenuates its ergogenic potential,

262 this adaptation may suggest that athletes might be unable to maximally harness caffeine’s ergogenic effects

263 during the competition period. One way to potentially mitigate these effects is to avoid caffeine use during

264 training periods; however, doing so may:

265 a) Harm performance during individual training sessions, either directly through physiological changes,

266 or by influencing mood and/or perception of effort;

267 b) Minimise the time available for self-experimentation of optimised caffeine strategies;

268 c) Minimise the athlete’s exposure to caffeine, potentially reducing the capacity of that athlete to build

269 positive beliefs around caffeine use pre-exercise.

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270 Accordingly, it appears that athletes and their support staff—including the coach, sports nutritionist, or

271 Registered Dietician—should balance the use of caffeine across the training year using the principles of

272 periodization (i.e. the use of strategic temporal nutritional interventions in line with the training demands and

273 required adaptations across days [microcycles], weeks [mesocyles], and months [macrocyles] [10]), with the

274 positive and negative adaptations expected following regular caffeine use outlined within this article.

275
276 In their recent paper, Stellingwerff and colleagues [10] developed a framework for the periodization of nutrition,

277 in which nutritional interventions are utilised to support the bridging of performance gaps in athletes across

278 macro-, meso-, and microcycles in a strategic manner. As an example, for an elite middle distance athlete

279 preparing for the Olympic Games, the training year could (very broadly) be broken up into an accumulation

280 phase, in which the athlete accumulates lower-intensity aerobic training volumes interspersed with less frequent

281 high-intensity anaerobic training sessions, followed by an intensification phase, in which the relative volume of

282 low intensity training decreases, and high intensity training increases, followed by the competition phrase. Each

283 phrase may also be punctuated by training camps and periods of travel, potentially involving the crossing of

284 multiple time zones.

285
286 During the accumulation phase, the aim would be to keep overall daily caffeine intake sufficiently low to

287 mitigate long-term habituation affecting the pre-competition caffeine dose [20]. Therefore, in this phase, the

288 athlete may decide to consume lower doses of caffeine (< 3 mg/kg) before and during their longer sessions,

289 targeted to mitigate sensations of physiological and psychological fatigue [93,94]. Prior to higher intensity

290 sessions, the athlete may decide to consume a relatively greater dose of caffeine (~3 mg/kg) to optimise

291 performance in their “key” sessions, and mediate some of the general fatigue and soreness that may be

292 accumulating [24,51]. Caffeine may also be utilised to augment other nutritional interventions, such as training

293 with low carbohydrate availability [95,96]; here, caffeine may support performance when training a

294 carbohydrate-depleted state [97,98].

295
296 As the athlete gets closer to the competition period, they may begin restricting energy intake as a means of

297 reducing body fat and enhancing power-to-weight ratio [95]; during this period, caffeine ingestion may again

298 alleviate feelings of fatigue [18], and, when consumed before a meal, may suppress acute energy intake [99].

299 Middle-distance runners may also utilise periods of altitude exposure to drive favourable physiological

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300 adaptations. Endurance performance is acutely harmed upon altitude exposure; here, acute caffeine ingestion

301 prior to training may support performance [100] and hence drive positive training adaptations. Depending on

302 their home base, athletes may have to travel across multiple time zones for both training camps and

303 competitions, becoming subjected to both travel fatigue and jet lag. Caffeine has been demonstrated to be

304 effective in mitigating daytime sleepiness following trans-meridian travel [101], and so its use may support

305 subsequent performance in athletes following travel. During this phase of training, the athlete may wish to

306 undergo some caffeine strategy self-experimentation prior to sessions that most mimic the competitive demands,

307 varying caffeine dose, timing, and source to optimise performance [42,102,103].

308
309 During the competition period, athletes will primarily be utilising caffeine as a means of enhancing their

310 competition performance. The use of caffeine in this way is subject to nuance, including consideration of:

311 a) Whether the dose of caffeine is sufficient to both mitigate any negative effects of habituation and

312 deliver an optimised performance benefit [20, 104]; from a pragmatic perspective, during competition

313 the athlete should utilise a caffeine dose that provides the greatest ergogenic effect whilst

314 simultaneously being tolerable in terms of side-effects.

315 b) The state of arousal and/or anxiety of the athlete, with caffeine having the potential to increase both

316 [41], potentially harming performance.

317 c) The contexts of the current competition; does the athlete have a more important competition or

318 competitive bout in the coming hours/days in which acute caffeine ingestion may harm the preparation

319 for, either by increasing workload—and hence fatigue and/or muscle damage in the current competitive

320 bout—or harming post-exercise recovery by reducing sleep quality and quantity.

321 d) Whether caffeine is being consumed alongside other ergogenic aids that may enhance or ameliorate its

322 ergogenic effects [45,105,106].

323
324 4.1 Caffeine Source

325 There are a variety of ways by which athletes could consume caffeine before and during both training and

326 competition, including through caffeine anhydrous, sports drinks, energy drinks, carbohydrate bars and gels,

327 gum, and coffee [103,107]. Coffee is likely a poor way to obtain caffeine pre-exercise; it exhibits substantial

328 variation in caffeine concentrations both between brands/brews, but also within the same brand/brew across

329 time [108-110]. As such, it can be difficult to accurately quantify the dose of caffeine consumed, which, given

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330 the potential for under- and over-dosing, increases the risk of making an error. Additionally, coffee tends to be

331 consumed hot [107], which may harm performance in hot environments, and coffee also has the potential to be a

332 gastric irritant [111]. Furthermore, a large volume of coffee may be required to deliver an ergogenic dose of

333 caffeine, which may increase feelings of fullness and discomfort [107]. Due to these limitations, coffee might be

334 an option for caffeine supplementation in the accumulation and intensification phases. However, given the

335 importance of competition, athletes should seek to ensure that, during the competition phase, caffeine is

336 obtained through a medium with limited dose variability, such as caffeine anhydrous, although other forms of

337 caffeine supplementation, including with additional ergogenic substances such as carbohydrates, may be useful

338 [103]. Caffeine sources and supplements with limited dose variability may also be useful during the regular

339 training phases as a way of tightly monitoring caffeine intake.

340
341 5. Conclusion

342
343 As outlined within this manuscript, caffeine is a potent and well-established ergogenic substance [11], used

344 regularly by athletes around both training [50] and competition [12]. Caffeine has a broad mechanism of action,

345 and elicits its ergogenic effects through a variety of supplementation approaches; knowledge of these

346 approaches can lead to a more nuanced use of caffeine to support specific outcomes across the sporting year.

347 Maintenance of caffeine’s ergogenic effects during competition is crucial [20], and so caffeine should be utilised

348 in training in a way that maintains those benefits, possibly through limiting the habitual intake of caffeine to

349 around 3 mg/kg per day, and utilising larger doses prior to competition [20]. During training phases, more

350 moderate caffeine doses (1-3 mg/kg) can be used to acutely support performance during key sessions, and

351 minimise attenuation of caffeine’s ergogenic effects associated with chronic caffeine ingestion. Hypothetically,

352 this approach would maximise performance benefits from acute caffeine ingestion at the competition.

353
354 The use of caffeine always comes at a cost, be that a gradual reduction in ergogenic response to a given dose

355 [21], increased muscle damage and soreness due to enhanced workload [47], or reduced recovery due to sleep

356 disturbances [15], or, in some cases, attenuated effectiveness of other consumed supplements [112]. In contrast,

357 by not utilising caffeine, athlete performance may be lower than what is possible in both competition and

358 training, and, in the latter case, this may reduce the magnitude of adaptations accumulated during a training

359 phrase. As a result, the pragmatic use of caffeine across the sporting year in a way that supports the necessary

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360 performance whilst reducing any negative outcomes associated with its use—commonly termed “nutritional

361 periodization”—represents perhaps the best approach to caffeine use over time. As we better understand some

362 of the nuance around regular caffeine use, including the question of habituation, the effect on repeated

363 competitive bouts, and training adaptations [20,44,45], we will be better able to provide more tailored advice. In

364 the meantime, we encourage coaches, athletes, and their support staff to consider three key questions:

365 a) What am I hoping to achieve in this particular session or competition?

366 b) How might the use of caffeine support me in achieving these goals?

367 c) What are the potential costs of utilising caffeine during this session or competition, and how can I

368 mitigate these side-effects?

369 In doing so, we hope that caffeine’s ergogenic effects can be optimized by all, supporting the athlete in their

370 performance goals.

371
372 Compliance with Ethical Standards

373 Funding

374 No sources of funding were used to assist in the preparation of this article.

375 Conflicts of Interest

376 Craig Pickering and Jozo Grgic declares that they have no conflict of interest relevant to the content of this

377 article.

378 Author Contributions

379 CP: Conceptualization, Writing – original draft

380 JG: Writing – review & editing

381
382
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