THE EFFECT OF CAFFEINE ON SUBMAXIMAL EXERCISE PERFORMANCE IN FEMALE COLLEGE STUDENTS

Abstract

Many studies has been conducted to determin how caffeine affects exercise performance. Research shows that certain types of caffeine help improve one's body mass and overall performance. Some studies have shown that caffeine provides ergogenic benefits during strength-training exercise.The purpose of this study was to determine if caffeine had any effect on submaximal exercise performance in female college students.Five women (age 22 ±1 yrs; height 162.06 ± 6.58cm; weight 50.30±5.75 kg) who are UTA Kinesiology students volunteered to participate in the study. All the five subjects experienced two YMCA cycle ergometer tests on two different days within a week. The subjects were asked to consume 12oz of either caffeinated (CAF) or decaffeinated (DECAF) Starbuck’s coffee twenty minutes before each test. Heart rate, blood pressure and Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) were recorded at rest, at the end of each stage and during recovery. The data was used to calculate predicted VO2max.The values at the end of the last stage showed no significant difference (p=0.07) between the two trials. However, there was a statistically significant difference between the two trials for RPE (CAF: 15±1; DECAF: 17±1; p = 0.02) and predicted VO2max (CAF: 48.91±9.90 mL/kg/min; DECAF: 38.46±2.94 mL/kg/min; p = 0.038).The results of this study indicate that caffeine does improve women's submaximal exercise performance by the decrease in the degree of feelings of exertion and an increase in the predicted VO2max.