The effect of caffeine on countermovement jump performance in recreationally trained women habituated to caffeine

Introduction. The main goal of this study was to examine the effect of acute intake of 3 mg/kg/body mass (b.m.) of caffeine (CAF) on countermovement jump (CMJ) performance in recreationally trained women habituated to CAF. Material and Methods. 17 healthy recreationally trained women habitually using CAF participated in the study. The experiment followed randomized, cross-over, double-blind design under three different conditions: control test (CONT) or consumed placebo (PLAC) or consumed 3 mg/kg/b.m. of CAF (CAF-3). Each participant performed 2 sets of 2 CMJ. The following variables were recorded: concentric peak velocity (PV), peak power (PP) and jump height (JH). Results. The two-way repeated measure ANOVA (substance × set) revealed no statistically significant interaction and main effects for all measured variables between conditions. In comparison to the CONT and PLAC, the intake of CAF-3 was not effective at increasing PV (p = 0.533), JH (p = 0.417) and PP (p = 0.871) during 2 sets of the CMJ. Conclusions. This study suggests that 3 mg/kg/b.m. of CAF did not improve CMJ height in recreationally trained women habituated to CAF. Furthermore, the level of athletic performance might be considered a factor in regard to CAF ergogenicity.