Post-exercise hypotension (PEH) is believed to play a major role in the antihypertensive health benefits of exercise. While it has been shown that resistance exercise is effective at eliciting PEH, commonly consumed sports supplements may attenuate or completely eliminate that response. Caffeine, a popular stimulant, is often consumed prior to exercise. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of pre-workout caffeine supplementation on the post-exercise hypotensive response in adults with above normal blood pressure. Participants (n = 5) were recreationally resistance trained men and women who consumed placebo or caffeine (3 mg/kg bodyweight) 45-minutes prior to exercise. The resistance exercise session consisted of four sets of 10 reps for bench press, cable row, leg press, and shoulder press at 70-75% one repetition maximum. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured pre-exercise, during exercise, and 90 minutes post-exercise. Caffeine supplementation resulted in significantly greater SBP at 30, 50, 60, 70, and 80 minutes post-exercise compared to placebo condition. These findings indicate that pre-workout caffeine supplementation eliminates the post-exercise SBP hypotensive response that was observed in the placebo condition and should be avoided if the antihypertensive effects of resistance training are to be fully achieve
