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Coffee is a great friend for many reasons. It enhances your endurance during exercise.

Researchers at the University of Georgia found that drinking coffee can increase endurance performance by an average of 24 percent.

"While there is a lack of high-quality research on coffee as a source of caffeine, there is an abundance of research on pure caffeine," said Simon Higgins, a doctoral student at the University of Georgia, in a news release. "There's a perception that coffee won't give you the same benefits as pure caffeine. New research could mean that athletes could have a cup of coffee versus taking a pill."

Study authors looked at nine studies probing the effects of regular coffee. Caffeine can vary from 75 mg - 150 mg in one cup, depending on the brand as well as the making of the brew.

Some participants in the study either rode bicycles or ran after drinking coffee, and then underwent vigorous exercises.

Those who drank coffee seemed to show better improvements in endurance when compared to others, which was discovered in five of the nine studies. In three out of six studies, coffee seemed to enable reducing exertion.

However, greater research is required to determine whether drinking coffee can be recommended to athletes in order to improve endurance.

The study is published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism.