There’s a commonly held belief amongst casual exercisers that stimulants are, to put it simply, a recipe for severe health problems when paired with physical exertion. Thanks to shock news stories and a laundry list of worst-case tales, the thought of combining exercise with so much as a cup of coffee is thought of as a major personal risk.

But most of the time, it isn’t. Most research suggests that minor stimulant intake – the amount of caffeine found in a cup of coffee, for example – has little to no effect on the heart during exercise.

Of course, that’s not an invitation to load up on caffeine before you jump on the rowing machine, but it is a suggestion that it’s unlikely to spell the end of the world. The risk of long-term injury from minor stimulant intake is very low, particularly for stimulants developed for athletic intake.

However, there’s a second dilemma to stimulant intake – many are completely ineffective for all but the most dedicated athletes. While beginners often long for the results promised by miracle exercise drugs, few will get them without a complex diet and carefully planned training routine.

As with all exercise experiments, tread carefully. For those with limited fitness experience, it’s always a better choice to exercise free of stimulants or alertness supplements than to use them.