It’s easy to judge when you spot someone cruising out of your local coffee shop with an extra-caffeinated beverage in hand. The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal knows this all too well. He raised eyebrows earlier this year after paparazzi snapped a photo of his Starbucks order: a quad espresso with two extra shots, a drink Jimmy Kimmel later dubbed a “methaccino.”
But Pascal is far from the only person to use high levels of caffeine to kickstart the day—or to enhance performance. Research suggests that about 74 percent of elite athletes use caffeine as a performance-enhancing tool before or during a sporting event. Endurance athletes are the most likely to do so. Studies also conclude that caffeine has positive effects on endurance (by up to four percent, according to a 2021 study), on reactive agility time, and on both alertness and attention.
As a former cross-country runner in college, I get the allure. Several of my teammates and I regularly drank coffee before meets in an attempt to rev ourselves up and maybe get a competitive edge.
