A cup of coffee may do more than perk you up – it might also ease the pain of your workout.

While exploring why muscles hurt during exercise, researchers at the University of Georgia found that caffeine had a soothing effect on the young bicyclists in their study.

Those cyclists who had coffee an hour before a rigorous 30-minute ride reported less muscle pain in their thighs than those who skipped the java.

Next stop, say researchers, is finding out just how caffeine eases muscle pain – whether it works on the muscles or the brain.