Does nicotine improve endurance performance?

The evidence says mostly no — 12 of 16 studies found no effect. It is highly addictive, and it has been on the WADA monitoring programme since 2012.

Nicotine has been trialled as an endurance aid on the theory that, as a central nervous system stimulant, it might reduce perceived exertion in the way caffeine does. The results have not supported it: across the small controlled literature, twelve of sixteen studies found no performance effect, and the few positive findings are not consistent in direction or magnitude.

It is nonetheless used in some sports, typically as pouches or gum, which is why the World Anti-Doping Agency placed it on the monitoring programme in 2012. Monitoring is not prohibition — nicotine is not currently banned — but it signals that prevalence is high enough to warrant tracking.

The risk side is not ambiguous in the way the benefit side is. Nicotine is powerfully addictive regardless of delivery route, and pouches and gum produce dependence without the combustion products of smoking but with the same underlying pharmacology. Cardiovascular effects — raised heart rate and blood pressure — are also the wrong direction for an endurance athlete.

This site models nicotine pharmacokinetics for completeness, since it appears in the ergogenic literature. That is not an endorsement: on current evidence the expected performance benefit is approximately zero and the addiction risk is high, which is a poor trade at any price.

Glossary: Nicotine, CNS (Central Nervous System)