Drinking a cup of coffee before working out can have beneficial effects, including helping to ease the pain associated with physical exercise.

Robert W. Motl, a professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois, examined 25 men who had an intense cycling workout and found that a dose of caffeine before the workout resulted in less muscle soreness. The report is published in the April issue of International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism.

"Exercisers might want to consider a shot of caffeine before a particularly tough or new workout," Motl said.

In 2003, Australian researchers from the Australian Institute of Sport let cyclists sip cola or coffee instead of water as they pedaled, and those with the caffeine exercised longer.