Although initially the caffeine gum was used in military situations, it soon made its way over to sport. Amongst the literature, doses of 200-300 mg caffeinated gum have been shown to improve cycling time trial performance, maximal cycling efforts and running time to exhaustion. An advantage of using caffeinated gum is that the majority of caffeine bypasses the gut, which may be useful if you suffer from gastrointestinal discomfort.

There is a substantial body of literature demonstrating that caffeine, delivered in any form, can improve various aspects of performance. Most notably perhaps endurance performance, but there are also studies that show effects on power, strength and cognitive performance. For a review read Spriet (3) and a recent meta analysis (4).

When considering caffeinated chewing gum it is essential too consider the exact dose that is required to see and effect and the timing of intake. If the dose and timing is optimised caffeinated gum can be used to improve performance in a wide variety of sports settings. As always it is important to try a new strategy in training first.