Effects of Caffeine Chewing Gum on Exercise Tolerance and Neuromuscular Responses in Well-Trained Runners

This study aimed to investigate the effects of caffeinated chewing gum on endurance exercise, neuromuscular properties, and rate of perceived exertion on exercise tolerance. Twelve trained male runners (31.3 ± 6.4 years; 70.5 ± 6.6 kg; 175.2 ± 6.2 cm; 9.4 ± 2.7% body fat; and V̇o2max = 62.0 ± 4.2 ml·kg−1·min−1) took part of the study. The athletes performed an intermittent treadmill test to determine maximal aerobic speed and delta 50% (Δ50%) intensity. In the following visits, they performed 2 randomized time to exhaustion tests (15.4 ± 0.7 km·h−1) after the ingestion of 300 mg of caffeine in a double-blind, crossover, randomized design. Maximal voluntary contraction of the knee extensor associated to surface electromyographic recording and the twitch interpolation technique were assessed before and immediately after the tests to quantify neuromuscular fatigue of the knee extensor muscles. Caffeine significantly improved exercise tolerance by 18% (p
Source: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research - Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Original Research Source Type: research