The acute effects of plyometric and sled towing stimuli with and without caffeine ingestion on vertical jump performance in professional soccer players

Abstract Background Post-activation potentiation (PAP) is the phenomenon by which muscular performance is enhanced in response to a conditioning stimulus. PAP has typically been evidenced via improved counter movement jump (CMJ) performance. This study examined the effects of PAP, with and without prior caffeine ingestion, on CMJ performance. Methods Twelve male professional soccer players (23 ± 5 years) performed two trials of plyometric exercises and sled towing 60 min after placebo or caffeine ingestion (5 mg.kg− 1) in a randomized, counterbalanced and double-blinded design. CMJ performance was assessed at baseline and 1, 3 and 5 min after the conditioning stimulus (T1, T3 and T5, respectively). Results Two way ANOVA main effects indicated a significant difference in jump height after the PAP protocol (F[3, 11] = 14.99, P  0.05) compared to placebo. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that acute plyometric and sled towing stimuli enhances jump performance and that this potentiation is augmented by caffeine ingestion in male soccer players

Isolated effects of caffeine and sodium bicarbonate ingestion on performance in the Yo-Yo test: A systematic review and meta-analysis

To conduct a systematic review and a meta-analysis of studies exploring the effects of caffeine and/or sodium bicarbonate on performance in the Yo-Yo test. Systematic review and meta-analysis. A total of six databases were searched, and random-effects meta-analyses were performed examining the isolated effects of caffeine and sodium bicarbonate on performance in the Yo-Yo test. After reviewing 988 search records, 15 studies were included. For the effects of caffeine on performance in the Yo-Yo test, the meta-analysis indicated a significant favoring of caffeine as compared with the placebo conditions (p=0.022; standardized mean difference [SMD]=0.17; 95% CI: 0.08, 0.32; +7.5%). Subgroup analyses indicated that the effects of caffeine were significant for the level 2 version of the Yo-Yo test, but not level 1. Four out of the five studies that explored the effects of sodium bicarbonate used the level 2 version of the Yo-Yo test. The pooled SMD favored the sodium bicarbonate condition as compared with the placebo/control conditions (p=0.007; SMD: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.10, 0.63; +16.0%). This review demonstrates that isolated ingestion of caffeine and sodium bicarbonate enhances performance in the Yo-Yo test. Given these ergogenic effects, the intake of caffeine and sodium bicarbonate before the Yo-Yo test needs to be standardized (i.e., either restricted or used in the same way before each testing session). Furthermore, the results suggest that individuals competing in sports involving intermittent exercise may consider supplementing with caffeine or sodium bicarbonate for acute improvements in performance. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2019 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.