Drinking a cup of coffee before exercising could make your workout easier, say U.S. scientists.

They studied the effects of caffeine on two groups of male exercisers: those who usually consumed little caffeine and those with an average intake of four cups a day. Both groups were asked to perform 30-minute workouts on an exercise bike while the amount of pain they felt in their leg muscles was monitored. Painkiller? People who had a cup coffee felt less pain in their legs during an exercise test The scientists, based at the University of Illinois, found that those who had consumed caffeine felt less pain.

It’s thought that caffeine helps stop the pain processing nerves in the brain and spinal cord from working. Robert Motl, a professor in community health who lead the study, said that, in theory, drinking caffeine could also boost your sports performance and encourage weight loss.

‘If you go to the gym to exercise and it hurts, you might stop,’ he says. ‘So if a little caffeine reduces the pain, it might help more people stick with it and achieve their fitness goals.’

CALORIE COUNTER

How many calories can you burn in ten minutes of walking?

SLOWLY: 23

WITH A HEAVY RUCKSACK: 40

POWER WALKING: 47

UPHILL: 70

UP STAIRS: 89

美國科學家說：在運動之前先喝一杯咖啡可以讓你鍛煉起來更輕松。

他們研究了咖啡因對兩組男性鍛煉者的作用：一組是通常很少飲用咖啡的，另一組則是保持著平均每天四杯咖啡的吸收量。這兩組測試者都被要求在一個鍛煉用車上做30分鐘的運動，與此同時對他們在腿上所感覺到的疼痛感進行觀察。止痛藥？飲用過一杯咖啡的人在鍛煉測試中會感覺到較少的腿部疼痛感�；�本來自于伊利諾斯大學的科學家們發現那些喝過咖啡的人會感覺到較少的疼痛感。

一般認為咖啡因可以幫助阻止大腦和脊髓中疼痛處理神經的工作。一個公共衛生領域的專家羅伯特．莫托領導了這次研究，他說，理論上，喝咖啡可以改善你的運動效果也有助于減肥。

“如果你去一個健身房鍛煉然后感覺到疼痛，你可能就會停止了，”他說，“所以假若一點咖啡就能減少疼痛感，那它就可能幫助更多的人忍受得了那種疼痛從而達到他們的健身目標。”

能量計算器

在十分鐘的行走中你能消耗掉多少能量呢？

緩慢地：23

背著一個很重的帆布背包：40

競走：47

上坡：70

上樓：89