94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Exercise Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1561695
This article is part of the Research Topic Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Team Sports: Contextualizing Training and Competition Demands -Volume II View all 4 articles
Effect of Caffeine Supplementation on Anaerobic and Aerobic Performance in Sleep-Restricted Male College Soccer Players
Provisionally accepted- 1 Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
- 2 Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
- 3 Wuhan Sports University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
This study aimed to explore the effects of sleep restriction of ≤5h within 24h on anaerobic and aerobic performance in male college soccer players and evaluated the effects of acute supplementation of 3mg•kg-1 caffeine on the aerobic and anaerobic performance of college male soccer players under sleep restriction. Methods: 10 college male soccer players were recruited, and a randomized crossover experimental design was adopted. The subjects received three intervention treatments in a randomized crossover order: Normal sleep night (NSN), sleep restriction night supplemented with placebo (SRP), and sleep restriction night supplemented with 3mg•kg-1 caffeine (SRC), and participated in the Running-Based Anaerobic Sprint Test (RAST) and 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test (30-15IFT). Results: The main effect of the RAST and the 30-15IFT scores was significant (P<0.05). Post hoc analyses showed that the peak power, mean power, peak power/body mess, mean power/body mess, peak velocity mean velocity, fatigue index of the RAST, and the velocity of the intermittent fitness test(VIFT), maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), and time to exhaustion (TTE) of the 30-15IFT in the SRP group were significantly lower than those of the NSN group (P<0.05), and the total time of the RAST was significantly higher than that of the NSN group (P<0.05); there were significant differences between the VIFT, VO2max and TTE indicators tested at 30-15IFT between the SRC group and the SRP group (P<0.05). Still, other indicators had no significant differences (P> 0.05). Conclusion: Sleep restriction harms the anaerobic repeated sprint and aerobic performance of college soccer players; acute supplementation of 3mg•kg-1 of caffeine can effectively reduce the negative impact of insufficient sleep the night before on the aerobic endurance performance of college soccer players. Athletes or coaches should consider caffeine supplementation as a strategy to alleviate the negative impacts of sleep deprivation, but individual tolerance and potential side effects should be taken into account.
Keywords: Physical Endurance, Soccer, high-intensity exercise, psychostimulant, Sleep
Received: 16 Jan 2025; Accepted: 27 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cheng, Wang, He, Zhou, Chen and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhen Chen, Central South University, Changsha, 130012, Hunan Province, China
Xiaotian Li, Central South University, Changsha, 130012, Hunan Province, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.