<story><title>Caffeine and Exercise Performance</title><url>https://grapplinglane.substack.com/p/gl-9-caffeine-and-exercise-performance</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>gumby</author><text>I have long been fascinated by the degree to which WWII was fought on caffeine and nicotine (on all sides and all theatres).  Other drugs (e.g. amphetamine and Benzedrine) get some press but we’re minor factors.  I did a few experiments decades ago with nicotine, enough to notice its nice resonant behavior with coffee, but not enough I guess to notice any real benefit myself. I did relish the social habits associated with cigarette usage (the excuse for a brief pause in conversation to collect your thoughts, the social aspect of one person lighting up and others unthinkingly joining in, offering&amp;#x2F;receiving a light, cadging or offering a cigarette, sharing a single one, etc)&lt;p&gt;Tea and coffee have long been my companions.  During Covid I cut down from two pots of brewed coffee a day to one.  In June of this year I unexpectedly had to stop drinking coffee for almost a week and since then have had only one cup, which I accidentally drank out of habit (someone put a fresh one next to me while I was sitting and reading).  After 46 years of daily high consumption I just…stopped.  And I don’t miss it.  I walk past the pot full of coffee in the kitchen and don’t notice it.&lt;p&gt;It makes me wonder how much is simply habit.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>nonameiguess</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s amusing to see &amp;quot;WWII&amp;quot; as if the military today doesn&amp;#x27;t still run on these things. It&amp;#x27;s more Monster energy drink and vaping these days (I guess still dip for dudes who grew up south of the Mason-Dixon line), but at least in the US Army, the Soldiers are still being fueled by caffeine and nicotine. All the other advice about vitamins and turning off screens and what not kind of goes out the window when you&amp;#x27;re getting 2 hours of sleep a night for over a year.</text></comment>
<story><title>Caffeine and Exercise Performance</title><url>https://grapplinglane.substack.com/p/gl-9-caffeine-and-exercise-performance</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>gumby</author><text>I have long been fascinated by the degree to which WWII was fought on caffeine and nicotine (on all sides and all theatres).  Other drugs (e.g. amphetamine and Benzedrine) get some press but we’re minor factors.  I did a few experiments decades ago with nicotine, enough to notice its nice resonant behavior with coffee, but not enough I guess to notice any real benefit myself. I did relish the social habits associated with cigarette usage (the excuse for a brief pause in conversation to collect your thoughts, the social aspect of one person lighting up and others unthinkingly joining in, offering&amp;#x2F;receiving a light, cadging or offering a cigarette, sharing a single one, etc)&lt;p&gt;Tea and coffee have long been my companions.  During Covid I cut down from two pots of brewed coffee a day to one.  In June of this year I unexpectedly had to stop drinking coffee for almost a week and since then have had only one cup, which I accidentally drank out of habit (someone put a fresh one next to me while I was sitting and reading).  After 46 years of daily high consumption I just…stopped.  And I don’t miss it.  I walk past the pot full of coffee in the kitchen and don’t notice it.&lt;p&gt;It makes me wonder how much is simply habit.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>droobles</author><text>I feel you on the social elements. I find keeping a tin of breath mints and sharing them creates a similar social atmosphere with friends and colleagues, that shared time to mull over thoughts or chat, similar to a smoke break. Morning walks&amp;#x2F;runs also create this I find.</text></comment>