Physiological and Performance Effects of Caffeine Gum Consumed During a Simulated Half-Time by Professional Academy Rugby Union Players

Russell, M, Reynolds, NA, Crewther, BT, Cook, CJ, and Kilduff, L. Physiological and performance effects of caffeine gum consumed during a simulated half-time by professional academy rugby union players. J Strength Cond Res 34(1): 145–151, 2020—Despite the prevalence of caffeine (CAF) as an ergogenic aid, few studies have examined the use of caffeinated gums, especially during half-time in team sports. The physiological (blood lactate and salivary hormone concentrations) and performance (repeated sprints and cognitive function) effects of consuming CAF gum during a simulated half-time were examined. Professional academy rugby union players (n = 14) completed this double-blind, randomized, counterbalanced study. After pre-exercise measurements, players chewed a placebo (PLC) gum for 5 minutes before a standardized warm-up and completing repeated sprint testing (RSSA1). Thereafter, during a 15-minute simulated half-time period, players chewed either CAF (400 mg; 4.1 ± 0.5 mg·kg−1) or PLC gum for 5 minutes before completing a second repeated sprint test (RSSA2). Blood lactate, salivary testosterone and cortisol concentrations, and indices of cognitive function (i.e., reaction time and Stroop test) were measured at baseline, pre-RSSA1, post-RSSA1, pre-RSSA2, and post-RSSA2. Sprint performance was not affected by CAF (p = 0.995) despite slower sprint times after the first sprint of both RSSA tests (all p
Source: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research - Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Original Research Source Type: research