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

From the study:

> This began with the same warm-up protocol, followed by increments of 50 W every minute until self-reported exhaustion

Am I wrong to think that this is simply "caffeine gives you energy to push yourself harder"? They controlled calorie intake, so simple CICO would suggest a longer exercise period needs to dig into fat reserves.

Based on my personal anecdote, drinking caffeine before athletic activities gives me the energy to more consistently work at the edge of my physical limits. When I'm sleepy, I just don't care to push myself as hard.

I suppose you would need to ask, scientifically, what do you mean by "give you energy". Do you mean purely a kind of psychological energy, a will, motivation?

There's many things at play with caffeine. You have increased heart rate and bp, increased concentration/focus, appetite suppression, etc.. I don't think you can point to one effect and say 'this is the one that makes the difference' in a cause and effect kind of way. They are all too related. I personally don't think it matters in this study. You would need another study to pinpoint factors down even more I suppose.