Abstract
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to investigate effects of prior caffeine ingestion on repetitions performed during muscle hypertrophy-style bench press in men and women.
Methods:
In a counterbalanced, placebo-controlled, cross-over design, 29 resistance trained men (n=19) and women (n=10) ingested either caffeine (6 mg/kg) or identical placebo pills 1 hour before two experimental sessions. A separate familiarization and one repetition maximum (1-RM) testing session was performed. The experimental sessions consisted of warm-up and six sets of bench press with 70% of 1-RM. Each set was performed until volitional failure and separated by 2-minute rest periods. Repetitions were performed at a constant pace (2 seconds eccentric and 2 seconds concentric).
Results:
No effects of caffeine were observed. The total number of repetitions during 6 consecutive sets for men in the caffeine trial was 44±6, and in the placebo trial 44±7. Women performed 51±15 repetitions in the caffeine trial, and 52±19 repetitions in the placebo trial. Men and women combined performed on average 46±10 repetitions in the caffeine trial, and 47±13 repetitions in the placebo trial. After caffeine ingestion, 11 subjects performed more repetitions, 14 performed fewer repetitions, and 4 performed the same number of repetitions.
Conclusions:
This study suggests that resistance trained men and women do not benefit from caffeine supplementation before muscle hypertrophy-style bench press.
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