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Caffeine and target shooting

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bryan123:
How long do you avoid caffeine before you target shoot?  I think it makes a difference. What say you?

Thanks.

Lt. Dan:
I'm a hugh coffee drinker.  You'll probably see a coffee mug on every picture I post showing my  rifle on my table. I actually think I do better while drinking my coffee but my body may be immune to the adverse effects of caffeine.
 
But I don't really know if I would do better without the caffeine because I can't remember ever shooting without a cup or three while shooting. 

ac12:
As Dan said, I think it is individual.
I won't drink coffee or any caffeine drink before shooting, nor sugar (the sugar spike).
But you do need food/energy, to get you through the match.
If I shoot in the late afternoon or evening, a morning cup is OK.

Today a pulse meter is cheap and easily available, so you can easily tell when you have a raised heart beat rate.
Test the pulse rate a bit after you get up, just before you have your morning coffee, and in 30 minute increments after your coffee.  This should give you an idea of how the coffee affects YOUR heart rate, and how long it takes YOUR heart rate to get down to pre-coffee rate.

Firewalker:
I have 2-3 cups of Joe a day and am always shooting with caffeine so it's no issue for me. Think of the issue as introducing something different into your diet, if you are used to it, it should not cause you tremors, racing heart or palpitations.

I for one am affected by cold caffeine (soda pop) but do not have issues with hot caffeine (coffee and tea). 

RickHem:
I'm with David and ac12, in that I feel it is the deviation from your "normal" ingestion of mild stimulants that makes the difference.  There's a happy medium for best performance, and that goes for your blood sugar levels and digestion process as well.

Quick story:  I used to shoot a lot of bullesye pistol (now it's Precision Pistol).  Did pretty well and averaged in the low 290s for our local 25 yard league.  A few of the top guys in my area went totally caffeine free, and said that they felt it made a difference so I tried doing that for a while.  I could definitely see a difference in the dot sight when I had a coffee, so why not just eliminate that and drink nothing but decaf?  One Saturday we were all driving to a neighboring state for the National Sectional match, and this was a match where I had done well in prior years, so I was really focused on doing well.  We all met at a Burger King, and carpooled from there for the 90 minute drive to the range.  I had a medium cup of "Decaf BK Joe" on the drive, and by the time they were weighing our triggers, I knew that wasn't decaf in the pot my coffee came from.  The dot looked like a little comet in my sight, and the whole situation washed away all my confidence in my abilities for that match.  After laughing about this later, and realizing you can't trust, or control everything, I decided that I'd go back to one or two cups of coffee a day, regular not decaf.  I'd let my body acclimate and adjust to small increments, and avoid the extremes. 

So while I don't think drinking four or five coffees or sodas is a good thing, one or two isn't a problem if that is your normal routine.  Stay hydrated, don't have a belly full of food, and trust in your routine.

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