Caffeine Increases Exercise Performance, Maximal Oxygen Uptake, and Oxygen Deficit in Elite Male Endurance Athletes

The aims of the present study were to test the hypothesis that caffeine increases maximal oxygen uptake (V˙O2max) and to characterize the physiological mechanisms underpinning improved high-intensity endurance capacity.

Twenty-three elite endurance-trained male athletes were tested twice with and twice without caffeine (four tests) in a randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled study with crossover design. Caffeine (4.5 mg·kg-1) or placebo was consumed 45 min before standardized warm-up. Time to exhaustion during an incremental test (running 10.5° incline, start speed 10.0 km·h-1, and 0.5 km·h-1 increase in speed every 30 s) determined performance. Oxygen uptake was measured continuously to determine V˙O2max and O2 deficit was calculated.

Caffeine increased time to exhaustion from 355 ± 41 to 375 ± 41 s (Δ19.4 ± 16.5 s; P < 0.001). Importantly, caffeine increased V˙O2max from 75.8 ± 5.6 to 76.7 ± 6.0 mL·kg-1·min-1 (Δ 0.9 ± 1.7 mL·kg-1·min-1; P < 0.003). Caffeine increased maximal heart rate (HRpeak) and ventilation (VEpeak). Caffeine increased O2 deficit from 63.1 ± 18.2 to 69.5 ± 17.5 mL·kg-1 (P < 0.02) and blood lactate compared with placebo. The increase in time to exhaustion after caffeine ingestion was reduced to 11.7 s after adjustment for the increase in V˙O2max. Caffeine did not significantly increase V˙O2max after adjustment for VEpeak and HRpeak. Adjustment for O2 deficit and lactate explained 6.2 s of the caffeine-induced increase in time to exhaustion. The increase in V˙O2max, VE, HR, O2 deficit, and lactate explained 63% of the increased performance after caffeine intake.

Caffeine increased V˙O2max in elite athletes, which contributed to improvement in high-intensity endurance performance. Increases in O2 deficit and lactate also contributed to the caffeine-induced improvement in endurance performance.