Caffeine on Sports Performance

Caffeine, absorbed within 45 minutes after ingestion and has a half-life of 3 hours. We see it all the time, energy drinks in the gym, coffee ingested before a game, all to boost energy and performance. But does it really work? Results are out.

28 studies included to examine varying sports performance: moderate to high quality evidence

11/17 studies that examined power/sprints performance (sprint speed, shotput distance thrown, anaerobic power) showed a mean improvement of 6.5%

6/11 studies examining resistance training performance showed a mean improvement of 9.4%. . Improvements were seen more in the number of repetitions performed rather than 1 repetition maximum.

Conclusion: There is more consensus in literature based on this review to show caffeine ingestion does improve short-term high intensity exercise performance

Reference: Astorino  Roberson (2010).Efficacy of acute caffeine ingestion for short-term high-intensity exercise performance: A systematic review