Multiple Sprint Performance and Wingate Measures Following Acute Caffeine Ingestion

Research has shown caffeine to have ergogenic effects on endurance activity, but little research has investigated the effects it may have on multiple bouts of anaerobic exercise. PURPOSE: The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effect of caffeine ingestion on multiple sprint performances and Wingate exercise tests. METHODS: Ten college-aged (19-25y) males volunteered for this randomized, placebo controlled, double-blind crossover study. Subjects trained in multiple sprint running activities 3-4 d/wk. One hour following ingestion of caffeine (5 mg/kg body wt) or placebo subjects completed six, 50m sprints on an indoor track, with 30-s active rest and six, 6-s Wingate exercise tests (WG), with 30-s rest. Subjects were given 48 hours rest between track sprints and Wingate tests and at least 5 days between experimental trial periods. Peak power (PP), mean power (MP), minimum power (MinP) and percent decline (PD) were measured during the WG and time was recorded for each of the sprints on the indoor track using an electronic timing device. RESULTS: No significance was found between caffeine and placebo during any of the six WG for PP (p = 0.198), MP (p = 0.168), MinP (p = 0.267), or PD (p = 0.458). There was also no significant difference between any of the repeated sprint performance times of caffeine and placebo (p = 0.541). CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides the first direct comparison between laboratory testing and field testing following caffeine ingestion. The results reveal that caffeine fails to improve repeated anaerobic performance measured indirectly by a Wingate exercise test or directly by sprint times on a synthetic indoor track surface. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The ergogenic effect of CAF does not appear to be effected by the mode of exercise test employed. Although CAF did not significantly improve repeated anaerobic performance in this study, it did improve performance by 3.4% and 1.5% when measured by Wingate and sprint tests, respectively. So although not a significant improvement, CAF ingestion did improve acute performance and therefore should be considered a possible ergogenic aid for short duration, very high-intensity performance. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]