- Aug 15, 2018
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Caffeine is still one of the most reliable performance tools we have, but the details around timing and whether daily use blunts it keep coming up.
A 2018 review by Grgic and colleagues in Sports Medicine concluded that caffeine improves both maximal strength and muscular endurance in resistance exercise, with doses in the 3–9 mg/kg range taken about 60 minutes beforehand generally effective. More recent work, including a 2025 trial in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, showed that 3 mg/kg improved mean velocity and power at moderate-to-high loads in the squat and helped offset the normal morning dip in performance.
On habituation, the picture is mixed but not as negative as some people assume. A meta-analysis discussed by Stronger by Science (covering many studies) found that habitual caffeine intake did not significantly reduce the ergogenic effect across endurance, strength, and power outcomes. Acute doses still worked whether they were higher or lower than someone's usual daily amount. That said, other work (Lara and colleagues, and Beaumont et al.) has shown that the size of the benefit can shrink with continuous daily use over a couple of weeks, and short withdrawal periods can restore some of the response. Timing still matters for sleep: a 5–6 hour half-life means afternoon doses can cut into sleep quality even if you fall asleep fine.
Practically, most of the resistance-training data supports a dose around 3–6 mg/kg 30–60 minutes before the session, with the understanding that daily heavy users may get a smaller bump and that late-day use trades off against recovery sleep.
Do you notice a clear difference between using caffeine only on training days versus every day, and have you tried short breaks to reset the effect?
A 2018 review by Grgic and colleagues in Sports Medicine concluded that caffeine improves both maximal strength and muscular endurance in resistance exercise, with doses in the 3–9 mg/kg range taken about 60 minutes beforehand generally effective. More recent work, including a 2025 trial in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, showed that 3 mg/kg improved mean velocity and power at moderate-to-high loads in the squat and helped offset the normal morning dip in performance.
On habituation, the picture is mixed but not as negative as some people assume. A meta-analysis discussed by Stronger by Science (covering many studies) found that habitual caffeine intake did not significantly reduce the ergogenic effect across endurance, strength, and power outcomes. Acute doses still worked whether they were higher or lower than someone's usual daily amount. That said, other work (Lara and colleagues, and Beaumont et al.) has shown that the size of the benefit can shrink with continuous daily use over a couple of weeks, and short withdrawal periods can restore some of the response. Timing still matters for sleep: a 5–6 hour half-life means afternoon doses can cut into sleep quality even if you fall asleep fine.
Practically, most of the resistance-training data supports a dose around 3–6 mg/kg 30–60 minutes before the session, with the understanding that daily heavy users may get a smaller bump and that late-day use trades off against recovery sleep.
Do you notice a clear difference between using caffeine only on training days versus every day, and have you tried short breaks to reset the effect?