Can Coffee Rev Up Your Workout? It May Depend on Your Genes
Whether athletes can enhance their performance with caffeine may depend on their genes.
According to a new study of the genetics of caffeine metabolism, athletes with a particular variant of one gene show notable improvements in their endurance performance after swallowing caffeine. But those with a different variant of that gene may perform worse if they first have caffeine, raising questions about who should be using the drug to bump up performance and about the broader interplay of nutrition, genetics and exercise.