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

Abstract

BackgroundPost-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.MethodsTwelve 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).ResultsTwo way ANOVA main effects indicated a significant difference in jump height after the PAP protocol (F[3, 11] = 14.99, P < 0.001, partial η2 = 0.577). Analysis also indicated a significant difference in CMJ performance across conditions, with caffeine eliciting a greater response (F[1, 11] = 10.12, P = 0.009, partial η2 = 0.479). CMJ height was increased at T1, T3 and T5 in caffeine condition (5.07%, 5.75% and 5.40%, respectively; P < 0.01) compared to baseline. In the placebo condition, jump performance was increased at T3 (4.94%; P < 0.01) only. Jump height was higher in caffeine condition on T1, T3 and T5 (P < 0.05) but not on baseline (P > 0.05) compared to placebo.ConclusionsThe 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.

Effects of Caffeine Supplementation on Physical Performance of Soccer Players: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Therefore, 16 RCTs (reported in 17 references) were included in this review. [1][2][3][4][5]7,10,12,14,19,22,[25][26][27]29,38,41 Figure 1 details the study selection process.…”

“…Three studies 19,27,39 excluded data from the 2 goalkeepers of the analysis because of the difference in their movement compared with the outfield players. Three studies 7,14,41 excluded participants who reported any adverse effects from caffeine ingestion or a history of caffeine sensitivity.…”

Caffeine Supplementation and Physical Performance, Muscle Damage and Perception of Fatigue in Soccer Players: A Systematic Review

“…Since these authors did not find any change in substrate oxidation with caffeine, measured by indirect calorimetry during the testing, they commented that performance improvements could only be attributed to positive effects on the central nervous system and/or neuromuscular function, although the precise mechanism of caffeine ergogenicity was not indicated in this investigation. Finally, Guerra et al, [ 18 ] investigated the addition of caffeine (5 mg/kg) to a post-activation potentiation protocol that included plyometrics and sled towing. These authors found that, in a group of 12 male professional soccer players (age: 23 ± 5 years), caffeine augmented the effects of the post-activation potentiation, as measured by CMJ.…”

“…With this background, one might suppose that caffeine is also ergogenic in soccer although the information regarding this sport has not been summarized. In the last few years, several studies have investigated the effects of caffeine intake on soccer physical performance [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ] and in the opinion of the authors, the results of these investigations need to be objectively reviewed and summarized. Therefore, the objective of this systematic review was to critically evaluate the effectiveness of a moderate dose of caffeine on soccer physical performance, muscle damage and perception of fatigue in order to provide more objective and comprehensive information about the positive and negative impact of caffeine on soccer players.…”

Post-activation Performance Enhancement in the Bench Press Throw: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…What is more, the scope of research on the influence of the PAPE effect, undertaken recently, indicates that it may have a much wider application in training practice. Studies examining the effect of a CA on subsequent exercise volume (Alves et al, 2019 ; Krzysztofik et al, 2020a ), the combined effects of supplements, and the implementation of blood flow restriction in order to increase the response (Wang et al, 2016 ; Guerra et al, 2018 ; Wilk et al, 2020 ) or the opposite approach of the potentiation complex (e.g., explosive task before resistance exercises with high intensity) (Wilcox et al, 2006 ; Krzysztofik and Wilk, 2020 ) should be continued.…”