Learn › Track 05 · Body & mind

Food, water, caffeine & sleep

Plenty of athletes drink coffee before they compete. It makes them feel sharp and alert. A pistol shooter needs to be sharp and alert too. So here is the puzzle.

Think first: Caffeine improves alertness. Why might it still hurt a pistol shooter’s score?

  • It makes you sleepy an hour later
  • It can raise heart rate and body sway, and sway moves the pistol
  • It blurs the front sight directly

What the caffeine research found

The studies are small, but they point the same way.

The ISSF’s own advice is to try other ways of improving before you turn to caffeine. Work out what common doses mean for your body mass:

These are research findings, not dosing advice. Never try anything new on a match day. If you are thinking about caffeine at all, talk to a sports doctor or dietitian first.

How long it lasts

Caffeine leaves the body gradually. Its half-life is 3–5 hours: after one half-life, half of it is gone; after two, three-quarters.

Think first: You have 200 mg of caffeine at 07:00. With a half-life of 4 hours, about how much is still in your body at 15:00?

Play with the dose, the half-life and the time below. The dashed lines show the range between a fast (3 h) and a slow (5 h) half-life.

Water

Being short of water works against everything a shooter needs. Dehydration raises heart rate, makes your vision worse and weakens the fine control of your muscles.

Think first: Late in a long match in a warm hall, your heart rate feels higher than usual and the front sight seems less crisp. What simple thing might be missing?

  • More caffeine
  • Water
  • A heavier meal

Alcohol

Alcohol is a bad match for precision shooting. A hangover brings tremor and poor concentration, and those can last up to 72 hours. Alcohol also makes sleep worse.

The ISSF’s guidance is clear: no more than low, social drinking in the 48 hours before you compete.

Think first: A team celebration on Wednesday night ends at 23:00 with heavy drinking. Your match starts on Saturday at 09:00. Will you be clear of the effects?

  • Yes: that is more than 48 hours
  • Not necessarily: hangover tremor and poor concentration can last up to 72 hours
  • Yes, as long as you drink water on Thursday

Alcohol is also a rules question. See Anti-doping essentials.

Sleep and match-day food

Alcohol makes sleep worse, and a run of poor nights is easy to miss unless you track it. Log your sleep in your training logbook next to your scores, and patterns will show up over a few weeks.

On match day, eat a meal you know well and wake at least 3 hours before your start. A new food on a match morning is an experiment you do not need.

Common sleep advice for athletes: keep regular bed and wake times, especially in the week before a big event, and plan around time-zone changes when you travel. Ask a sports doctor if sleep problems persist.

  • Pistol shooting rewards stillness. Caffeine raised heart rate and body sway in studies; 5 mg/kg lowered performance, 3 mg/kg did not in one study.
  • Caffeine’s half-life is 3–5 hours, so a morning dose is still active in the afternoon. The ISSF suggests trying other ways to improve first.
  • Dehydration raises heart rate and impairs vision and muscle control. Drink regularly.
  • Hangover tremor can last up to 72 hours. Keep to low social drinking at most in the 48 hours before competing.
  • Log sleep with your scores. On match day eat a familiar meal and wake at least 3 hours before the start.

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