Does using stimulants for cardio have any longer-term benefits?

[Vastness]

I am curious about whether using stimulants before engaging in cardiovascular exercise has any long term benefits. Just to be clear, I am talking about the milder stimulants, like caffeine... not harder ones like cocaine or meth.

I know that taking caffeine in some form before resistance training is very common, and even advisable, and I understand the rationale behind this, that if the goal of your workout is to stress your muscles as far as possible, then taking something that can help you push that little bit harder is probably only a good thing.

However, I am curious if there is any benefit to taking caffeine before, for example, going for a long run, or some other kind of aerobic conditioning. I could reason that essentially the aim of cardio exercise is to strengthen your heart muscle and apply some stress to your entirely circulatory system (without, obviously, pushing it to breaking point) and on that basis, if you can take something to enable you to push yourself that little bit harder, then these benefits should transfer to your training WITHOUT any additional chemical aids... but is this actually correct?

Obviously there is a line beyond which you are potentially pushing yourself too far and at risk of harming yourself, which is a more significant danger when the primary muscle you are working is your heart, but there is a line with any substance enhanced exercise so I am wondering where does it fall with cardio and stimulants?

Does anyone know if there are any studies regarding whether stimulant-enhanced cardio can deliver increased benefits (over non-enhanced cardio) to overall health and endurance that transfer to exercising without stimulants?

 

[CFC]

There's actually a fair bit of research mate. I'd suggest going through Ergo-log's impressive archives, but you could start at their collection of caffeine-based studies >>here<<.

In some situations, even weak stimulants and cardio are a bad combination, especially if you have pre-existing heart/cardiovascular conditions or are using AAS. But generally mild stimulants may be beneficial depending on objectives.

 

[watermelon14]

I find that when I want to get back in shape cardio-wise after being a couch potato for awhile, using adderall really helps to give me that extra boost during the first few days/weeks of getting back into it. I'm not sure if adderall counts for you as being a "milder" stimulant, but it is definitely more "mild" than cocaine or meth, at least in my opinion.

 

[Intense]

I find that when I want to get back in shape cardio-wise after being a couch potato for awhile, using adderall really helps to give me that extra boost during the first few days/weeks of getting back into it. I'm not sure if adderall counts for you as being a "milder" stimulant, but it is definitely more "mild" than cocaine or meth, at least in my opinion.

It's quite a jump to go from caffeine to amphetamines.. I think he was meaning more along the lines of DMAA, modafinal, etc.. But you are right I love working out on adderall lol.



If you're going to be doing cardio I would avoid stimulants all together, but for lifting they can help push you a little harder.

 

[Vastness]

Thank you all for your reponses, and especially for that link CFC, that is very interesting, especially the study about taking caffeine and lactate possibly leading to increase muscle gain.

Amphetamine I would consider a little "hard" as far as workout aids goes, personally the "hardest" I have go up to is probably Armodafinil and Phenylpiracetam - the latter of which I find really potentiates the post-exercise high to the point of actual euphoria at times. I think both raise body temperature to sometimes concerning levels however and all 3 (caffeine being the third one) do make me sweat a lot more (perhaps as a consequence of the increased body temperature).

Armodafinil for me probably has the greatest acute benefits, in my experience, it seems to improve my balance, focus, speed and stamina all at once, with minimal downsides, and if I exercise hard enough on such a day the usual sleep-inhibition effects of Armodafinil are mostly negated by the fact that I do end up pretty well drained at the end of the day.

In my own anecdotal experience, taking stims like these in order to push through say 2-3 hours of hard cardio training (conditioning, kickboxing, some supplemental stuff maybe), does seem to end up that I do get fitter, faster, and when I stop taking them, although I do fatigue more easily, and my speed, balance and focus is effected, my ability to perservere remains although it is definitely more of a struggle and the day after I do feel considerably more drained. I agree also that they can be used to kick start getting back into an exercise routine after a week or so of slacking.

I have not had any cardiac scans of any kind but I do own a blood pressure monitor and try to track my responses to exercise and stimulants and have no reason so far to think I am in any danger or at risk but I guess I am still concerned I might be doing myself some damage I can't see by using these substances as training aids.

In some situations, even weak stimulants and cardio are a bad combination, especially if you have pre-existing heart/cardiovascular conditions or are using AAS. But generally mild stimulants may be beneficial depending on objectives.

I am about to start a 6-8 week Anavar-only cycle with hopefully lifting 4-5 days a week and one day or 1 hours intensive cardio thrown in just to keep myself at a reasonable level of flexibility and endurance while focusing primary on resistance training. I was thinking about using caffeine as a pre-workout aid on occasion, is this likely to be a problem?

 

[CFC]

is this likely to be a problem?

Not really. I mean, I like to discourage excessive stimulant use, especially while using AAS, and most definitely if there are pre-existing heart issues. But the reality is caffeine is so widely used by so many guys who use AAS as a pre-workout without dropping dead that, as long as you're sensible and don't abuse it, you should be fine, particularly as you're only using anavar and not a highly CNS/PNS-stimulating steroid like tren.