Improvement of Lower-Body Resistance-Exercise Performance With Blood-Flow Restriction Following Acute Caffeine Intake

• Published in: International journal of sports physiology and performance Vol. 14; no. 2; p. 216
• Main Authors: Souza, Diego B, Duncan, Michael, Polito, Marcos D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.02.2019
• Subjects: Adult; Athletic Performance - physiology; Caffeine - administration & dosage; Caffeine - pharmacology; Constriction; Cross-Over Studies; Double-Blind Method; Humans; Lactic Acid - blood; Male; Muscle Strength; Muscle, Skeletal - blood supply; Muscle, Skeletal - physiology; Pain Perception; Resistance Training; Young Adult; strength training; nutrition; resistance training
• ISSN: 1555-0273
• DOI: 10.1123/ijspp.2018-0224

To examine the effects of acute caffeine (CAF) intake on physical performance in 3 sets of unilateral knee extensions with blood-flow restriction. In a double-blind crossover design, 22 trained men ingested 6 mg·kg of CAF or a placebo (PLA), 1 h prior to performing unilateral knee-extension exercise with blood-flow restriction until exhaustion (30% of 1 maximal repetition). There was a significant difference in the number of repetitions between the CAF and PLA conditions in the first set (28.3 [5.3] vs 23.7 [3.2]; P = .005), second set (11.6 [3.1] vs 8.9 [2.9]; P = .03), and total repetitions performed across the 3 sets (44.5 [9.4] vs 35.0 [6.6]; P = .001). Blood lactate was also significantly different (P = .03) after exercise between the CAF (7.8 [1.1] mmol·L ) and PLA (6.0 [0.9] mmol·L ). In regard to pain perception, there was a difference between the CAF and PLA in the second (6.9 [1.5] vs 8.4 [1.4]; P = .04) and third sets (8.7 [0.4] vs 9.5 [0.6]; P = .01). No differences were found for perceived effort. Acute caffeine intake increases performance and blood lactate concentration and reduces perception of pain in unilateral knee-extension exercise with blood-flow restriction.