Student Major/Year in School

Kinesiology, fourth year

Faculty Mentor Information

Katie Heinrich, Department of Kinesiology, Human Ecology College

Abstract

Caffeine demonstrates an ergogenic effect on endurance exercise performance, however, its efficacy during high-intensity functional training (HIFT) is unknown. HIFT is an exercise program that incorporates a variety of multi-joint movements performed at a relatively high-intensity and designed to improve parameters of general physical fitness and performance. Our study aimed to determine the effects of caffeine on HIFT performance. Thirteen HIFT-trained men (age = 28.5±6.6 years, HIFT experience = 4.1±3.0 years, body weight= 84.3±9.9 kg) were randomized in a double-blind, crossover design. After consent, participants completed two HIFT sessions separated by a 7-day washout period, 60-minutes after consuming 5mg/kg of caffeine or a placebo. During HIFT sessions, participants completed as-many-rounds-as-possible in 20 minutes of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 air squats, with performance measured as the number of rounds completed (30 repetitions = 1 round). Paired-samples t-tests compared HIFT performance between conditions and tested for a potential learning effect between sessions. Participants significantly improved HIFT performance during the caffeine trial (15.3±3.6 rounds) as compared to placebo (14.3±3.0 rounds), t(12) = -2.783, p < 0.05. The eta squared statistic (0.39) indicated a large effect size. Moreover, no significant learning effect was identified between the first and second sessions (14.9±3.2 vs. 14.7±3.5 rounds, p=0.73). Caffeine elicited an ergogenic response during HIFT in HIFT-trained men, with no identifiable learning effect, which is useful for competitive HIFT athletes aiming to optimize performance. However, future investigations should establish the efficacy of caffeine during varying-duration HIFT sessions and among female HIFT athletes.

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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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Effects of Caffeine on High-Intensity Functional Training Performance

Caffeine demonstrates an ergogenic effect on endurance exercise performance, however, its efficacy during high-intensity functional training (HIFT) is unknown. HIFT is an exercise program that incorporates a variety of multi-joint movements performed at a relatively high-intensity and designed to improve parameters of general physical fitness and performance. Our study aimed to determine the effects of caffeine on HIFT performance. Thirteen HIFT-trained men (age = 28.5±6.6 years, HIFT experience = 4.1±3.0 years, body weight= 84.3±9.9 kg) were randomized in a double-blind, crossover design. After consent, participants completed two HIFT sessions separated by a 7-day washout period, 60-minutes after consuming 5mg/kg of caffeine or a placebo. During HIFT sessions, participants completed as-many-rounds-as-possible in 20 minutes of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 air squats, with performance measured as the number of rounds completed (30 repetitions = 1 round). Paired-samples t-tests compared HIFT performance between conditions and tested for a potential learning effect between sessions. Participants significantly improved HIFT performance during the caffeine trial (15.3±3.6 rounds) as compared to placebo (14.3±3.0 rounds), t(12) = -2.783, p < 0.05. The eta squared statistic (0.39) indicated a large effect size. Moreover, no significant learning effect was identified between the first and second sessions (14.9±3.2 vs. 14.7±3.5 rounds, p=0.73). Caffeine elicited an ergogenic response during HIFT in HIFT-trained men, with no identifiable learning effect, which is useful for competitive HIFT athletes aiming to optimize performance. However, future investigations should establish the efficacy of caffeine during varying-duration HIFT sessions and among female HIFT athletes.