Journal stralia h & Conditionin Poster 4 CAFFEINE IMPROVES STRENGTH GAINS IN RESPONSE TO 6 WEEKS OF RESISTANCE TRAINING a’ and Doug! Justin G. Kemp’, Tom Eaton’, Stephen Jarvis’, _niel Meehan’, Guillermo ‘Centre of Physical Activity Across the Lifespan, ochool of Exercise Science, Australian Catholic University Melbourne, Australia, ?Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremedura, Spain INTRODUCTION Caffeine has become an increasingly popular supplement in recent years since its removal from the World Anti- Doping Agency banned substance list in 2004 (15). While the benefits of caffeine on aerobic exercise are well described (8,10), fewer studies have investigated the effect of caffeine on anaerobic performance. A recent meta- analysis revealed that, of the studies examined, over 80% reported a positive effect of caffeine on maximal voluntary contraction strength and muscular endurance (13). Similarly, caffeine appears to have an ergogenic effect on sprint and power based performances, although the mechanisms underlying these effects remain unknown (2). To date, the majority of studies of anaerobic performance have only investigated the acute response to caffeine ingestion. The potential benefits of longer term caffeine supplementation have yet to be examined. With respect to resistance training, anecdotal evidence suggests that athletes use caffeine to assist their training performance (8). However, no empirical data exist to confirm whether caffeine supplementation improves strength gains in response to a resistance training program. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether moderate doses of caffeine before resistance training sessions increase strength gains after a six-week program. METHODS Fourteen healthy male volunteers [age range 18-25 years; height, 178 + 6.2 cm (165 — 189); body weight, 79.121 10.37 kg (71.2 - 101.5); lean body mass, 42.5 + 3.97 % (37.9 ~ 60.1) (11)] participated in this study. They all had previous experience in strength training prior to the study. All but two participants were caffeine naive (< 2 cups of coffee/week), while the intake of the other two participants was less than 100 mg per day. Participants were instructed to avoid the consumption of caffeine and abstain from high intensity exercise in the 24 h preceding all training and testing sessions. The experimental procedures were conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Australian Catholic University Human Research Ethics Committee. A standard one repetition max (1 RM) strength test for bench press and squat exercises (12) was performed one week before the training program and again one week after its completion. Participants performed warm up sets of 10 fepetitions at 50% of predicted 1 RM, five repetitions at 70%, three repetitions at 80% and one repetition at 90% Three min recovery was allowed between warm up sets and five min between 1 RM attempts. Participants were then randomly assigned in a double-blinded manner to either a placebo or caffeine (3 mg.kg" body mass) condition for the training program. Caffeine was provided in the form of crushed tablets (No-Doz, Key Pharmaceuticals, Australia) whereas the placebo group received an equivalent volume of crushed glucose tablets (Glucodin, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Australia). The participants completed a six-week resistance training program consistin training session was directly supervised by one of the investigators, who spotied the paripent auring is. Partipants efoto 0 min beore each Ses80n to Ingest thor cafeine or placabo supplement. Paricipants Wee instructed to sit quietly after supplement ingestion. After 60 mins. five mun ftir Pog teint oa a eFirc Voss ase pacadnen a bebe no 1 RM testing was performed for dead lift and bench-pull exercises. Bisains the bench prase; and to dead tiled ten a Specifically, the bench pull load was estimated to be the a oad was estimated using the prediction equation: dead lift load = squat load (0.83) + 14.92 kg (7). Estimated training loads were tha complete eight repetitions. During each session, upp vor a, 2ccordingly 80 that participants were able ‘er and lower body exercises were alternated to reduce training a 207 | Volume 28 T SuppomearT 48 Journal of Australian Strength & Conditioning 19 of three sessions per week. Each ime (3). with four sets of repetition to failure completed per exercise and exercise order randomised to eliminate any tential bias of a particular exercise coinciding with peak caffeine concentrations. Participants were instructed to gomplete as many repetitions as possible as this is a target for hypertrophy training (80% 1 RM) (3). Rest periods of -120 5 between sets, and 5 min between exercises were used. Approximately 10 min post-training, participants onsumed 600 ml of a 2:1 carbohydrate:protein beverage (36 grams carbohydrate and 18 grams of protein) (5) to ontrol for possible confounding post-exercise nutritional factors, jata were analysed using a two-way repeated measures ANOVA. Post hoc analyses, where appropriate, were jompleted using an independent t-test. All data are reported as means + SD. SULTS: fable 1 shows 1 RM bench press (BP) and squat (SQ) in placebo and caffeine groups before and after the six-week ining intervention. One subject was unable to complete the final bench press testing session due to a shoulder jury and was subsequently excluded from the bench press analysis. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed 30 effect of group on either bench press (F(1,11) = 0.2, P = 0.49, n,* = 0.05) or squat (F(1,12) = 1.11, P= 0.31, ny" .09); however, there was an effect of time (BP, F(1,11) = 64.11, P < 0.001, n,° = 0.85; SQ, F(1,12) = 69.31, P< 001, np’ = 0.83) and a group x time interaction (BP, F(1,11) = 5.31, P < 0.05, n,” = 0.33; SQ, F(1.12) = 10.11, P< 01, np° = 0.46) for both exercises. Post hoc analysis revealed that, compared with placebo, the caffeine supplemented group had a larger increase in 1 RM bench press (1(11) = 2.31, P < 0.05, ES 1.24) and squat (\(12) = 48, P < 0.01. ES 1.70) (Figure 1). raining diaries were completed by 11 of the 14 participants. Training load increased across the six weeks (Table 1 (1,9) = 8.61, P < 0.05, nj” = 0.49) but no significant effect of group (F(1,9) = 0.08, P = 0.79, np’ = 0.01) or a group by ime interaction (F(1,9) = 2.44, P = 0.15, n,? = 0.21) were observed. 25 > fmm Placebo Caffeine * 2 z 15 3 10 “a 6 5 o wD 8 * eae | z 3 ‘3 2 5 10 ° Figure 4 - Change in 1 RM for (A) bench press and (B) squat after six weeks of resistance training in placebo and caffeine treated groups, Mean + SD. * Significantly greater than placebo treatment (P < 0.05) ‘May 2012 | Volume 20 | Supplement 1 49 Journal of Australian Strength & Conditior Table 1 - One repetition max (1RM) bench press and squat performance (mean + SD) before and after a six yo, training program. 1RM Bench Press (kg) 4m Squat (kg) Average training Load (kg) Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Placebo 83.2+1650 90441461 —121.4417.67 192.94 15.84 8864+ 1605.3 9362 + 20395 Caffeine 86341222 99241586 104.3413.05 131.8+20.04 8546 +9218 10178 + 1589; DISCUSSION The present study clearly demonstrates that ingestion of a moderate dose of caffeine 60 min prior to resistance training improves strength gains compared to training alone. While significant increases in strength were seen in both the upper and lower body, a greater relative strength gain was observed in the squat exercise. Several studies (1,4,9,14) have examined caffeine’s ability to increase 1 RM and repetitions to failure at a given workload and intensity, Results from these studies have been largely equivocal, with some reporting an increase in 1 RM (4) and number of repetitions until failure (1,4,9) while others observed no difference (14). Even in those studies that reported an improvement, the results were inconsistent across different exercises (e.g., bench press v leg press) (4,9) and did not always reach significance (1,4). However, in spite of the lack of consistent results, a small increase in the number of repetitions able to be performed before failure, when accumulated over a six-week period, may result in a significantly improved strength gain. Records of training load from the current study appear to support this hypothesis, with a trend towards higher average training volumes observed in the caffeine group. It is unclear why a greater relative gain in strength was observed in squat compared to bench press. Similar discrepancies in strength gains across muscle groups have been reported previously, with some studies finding larger gains in upper body (4) while others reported greater improvements in lower body exercises (9). Green et al. (2007) hypothesised that caffeine's effect might be limited to larger muscle groups due to it acting centrally as an adenosine antagonist to increase arousal and decrease pain perception (6), while work to failure in smaller muscle groups may be limited more by local sensations of muscle strain CONCLUSIONS The data presented here suggest that ingestion of caffeine before training sessions produces greater strength sai than those normally associated with a resistance training program. This study suggests the potential for moderate levels of caffeine to be ergogenic in strength training programs and, thus, assist athletes in increasing strength gains above that of training alone. PRACTICAL APPLICATION Athletes looking to accelerate strength gains during training may benefit from regular ingestion of moderate dosages (3 mg.kg" body mass) of caffeine. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i ‘The authors wish to thanks the subjects for their enthusiastic participation in this protocol May 2012 | Volume 20 | Supplement 1 50 ——————— Journal of Australian Strength & Conditioning REFERENCES 1. Astorno, 7, Rohmann, R. & Fith, K. Eifet of caffeine ingeston on one-repetiion maximum muscular svength, European Journal of Applied Physiology. 102 127-132 2008 2 Aslorno, TA. & Roberson, DW Etfeacy of acute caffeine ingestion for shor tem highntensiy exercise performance: a systematic review Journal OF Strength and Conditioning Research. 24:257-265. 20:0 3. Baechle, TR. & Earle, RW. 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