The Energy Sweet Spot

Intro

We Chase More Energy

More is always better... right?

Here at Long Run, we LOVE caffeine. It's a useful tool, especially for endurance athletes. The question is, how do we use it to truly optimize our performance?

If you're feeling flat, tired, slow, sluggish, then more energy is the answer. If you're looking for a quick boost, then more is the answer. Caffeine is a tool. And it works. But past a certain point, always opting for "more" stops helping and starts hurting.

The Principle

Performance Peaks in the Middle

There is a well-worn finding in performance psychology: our best output does not come at maximum energy. It comes at the right amount of it.

This concept in psychology is called the optimal zone. To visualize this concept, imagine a bell curve (basically, an upside down U shape). On the left, we are sluggish and flat, without enough energy to engage. As energy climbs we move up the curve and get sharper, more capable, more locked in. But the curve has a peak. Push past it, and we start getting jittery, tight, and anxious.

The top of that curve is the optimal zone: enough energy to feel switched on, not so much that we lose focus. This is where peak physical and mental performance lives.

How to Optimize It

The Fix Is Aim, Not Volume

The point is not to use less energy. It is to use it correctly.

Most people have the same default setting: add more. Because, just subconsciously, we believe that more is always better. On a particularly flat day, where we're tired and sluggish, then this makes perfect sense. More is probably the answer. We need to move ourselves up the bell curve and towards the peak of optimal energy. 

However, we need a degree of self-awareness as well. If we're already in our optimal zone, then we risk overdoing it. Moving past the peak and down the right-hand side of the curve means we're introducing jitters, anxiety, nervousness, and sometimes even worsened physical performance.

This is the whole reason we pair caffeine with L-theanine in CAFFYNE and Long Run Coffee. Caffeine on its own gives us energy, by blocking chemicals in the brain that make us feel tired. L-theanine reduces jittery effects from caffeine. Meaning, you get the energy, without the negative side effects. This is important for reaching the optimal performance zone.

Long Run Coffee also carries 310 mg of electrolytes, because dehydration increases feelings of tiredness and fatigue. 

Tired or Wired

Read Yourself First

Before a run, take one honest read: tired or wired?

If we are feeling flat, bring energy up. Warm up longer, put on the music, and use caffeine to move up the curve, toward the optimal zone. If we are already feeling wired, then the answer is to stay where we are. 

Then match the aim to the work. A hard interval session requires considerably more energy and effort. An easy run requires less. The optimal zone is not one fixed setting - it moves with the session.

And reaching our optimal zone tomorrow starts with tonight. Optimizing your energy does not simply come down to caffeine intake. Our sleep quality has an incredible impact on our energy, and overall health. This is what we built Rest & Recover Tea for, and it's how we make sure we start the next day well rested, and ready.

The best athletes are not the most amped. They are the most dialed in.

Conclusion

Wrap It Up

The sweet spot is real. It is narrow, and it moves from day to day. More energy helps move us into our optimal zone. Moving past that point, will hurt performance. And sleep quality is hugely important. The skill is understanding yourself: knowing where your energy is, and using the right tool to walk ourselves to the top, from either direction.

With this mindset, we build a routine we love and train consistently.