High rates of muscle glycogen resynthesis after exhaustive exercise when carbohydrate is coingested with caffeine

Caffeine coingested with carbohydrates increased muscle glycogen accumulation by 66% during recovery from exhaustive exercise.

• Muscle glycogen levels were similar at exhaustion, approximately 75 mmol/kg dry weight.
• After 1 hour of recovery, glycogen increased by about 80% for both carbohydrate and carbohydrate plus caffeine conditions.
• After 4 hours of recovery, muscle glycogen accumulation was significantly higher in the caffeine group (313 mmol/kg dry weight) compared to the carbohydrate group (234 mmol/kg dry weight).
• The overall rate of glycogen resynthesis over the 4-hour recovery period was significantly higher with caffeine (57.7 mmol/kg dry weight per hour) than with carbohydrates alone (38.0 mmol/kg dry weight per hour).
• Caffeine levels increased significantly in plasma, reaching 77 microM by the end of the recovery period.
• Phosphorylation of a specific protein related to muscle metabolism was higher after 4 hours in the caffeine group compared to carbohydrates alone.

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