Drinking strong coffee before exercising increases fat-burning, new study finds

I’ve always avoided caffeine before exercise because I’ve worried about overexerting myself and getting an injury from going all out. I wonder if there’s research on this factor?

Caffeine is the main ingredient in most pre-workout drinks

I do too for the most part. It seems too risky and I am not a professional athlete, so there is no need to push it too hard.

https://aaptiv.com/magazine/pre-workout-drinks "Are Pre-Workout Drinks Healthy or Harmful?" > The caffeine and creatine that most of these drinks contain can also have harmful effects on the body. “Excessive caffeine can increase your heart rate and blood pressure, causing cardiac issues,” Woeckener notes.

This is the last thing I'd be worried about. It's coffee, not some kind of anabolic steroid/cocaine mixture.

I know a lot of people who spend way too much time trying to optimize supplements and other tiny details instead of throwing down and getting on with your life.

Edit: after reading other comments yours makes more sense, but I'd still be more worried about what's actually in a pre-work out beverage than over-exertion.

I'm objectively very high performing at aerobic exercise, since high school and have kept it up. I have seen quantitatively higher performance when taking 3-5 mg/kg of caffeine before exercise and regularly during. This includes anything high intensity aerobic, from swimming to running to cycling.

This is the best collection of research I have seen on the topic and where I arrived at my 3-5 number above many years ago, perhaps it will be useful and seems to speak to the broader topic at hand: https://fellrnr.com/wiki/Caffeine

The only reason I've found to avoid it is that 1 time in 10, coffee before a long ride means that I'll urgently need to pee every few miles -- way more often than I can find a legal place to do so.

Anecdotal, but I find the exact opposite to be the case. The more alert and "strong" I feel during intense training, the less likely I am to let my form slip. When you're dog tired and slouching over, that's when the injuries happen.

haha, this has happened to me during a half marathon. It cost me 10-15 mins as there was a big line outside the toilet

This is incredibly anecdotal, so please take it with a grain of salt- I have a personal history of hitting the gym 5 days a week for ~2 hours for roughly 5 years. I've probably taken every caffeine supplement known to man, ranging in caffeine levels from 50mg->550mg and loaded with many other supplements (beta-alanine, creatine). I've never sustained an injury that could be described as over-exertion (Luckily, I hear it is exceptionally common with long term gym-goers).

For comparison, an old friend (let's call him Dave) started hitting the gym with me and confessed after 6 months to starting his first cycle of steroids. He developed muscle much quicker than he expected, and so his expectations rose significantly. He sustained a major injury from attempting a bench-press that he was, in every sense, muscularly abled to do- but his tendons weren't. His wrist hasn't been the same since, and he can't bench press anymore.

Anyway- coming back to the original point.. I don't believe caffeine has any effect on someone's judgement for "Can I lift that, safely?". The result of hormone abuse might give a false sense of capability, though.

Thanks. I specifically am thinking of running. Sudden speed increases can be a source if injury (at least have been at least once for me). I associate being caffeinated with being more driven in my running to hit some speed goal.