Pooling information from 11 research involving 137 volleyball gamers revealed that caffeine additionally improved non-specific efficiency markers, together with leap top and response time.
“You will need to give this space particular person consideration fairly than inferring outcomes from a variety of workforce sports activities with differing bodily and talent calls for,” wrote researchers from Fujian Agriculture and Forestry College and different Chinese language establishments in Vitamins.
“General, caffeine supplementation could also be a priceless intervention for volleyball gamers looking for acute efficiency enhancement.”
Caffeine and sports activities efficiency
Caffeine has well-documented ergogenic effects and is broadly used to reinforce athletic efficiency in numerous sports activities and coaching regimens. The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) place stand on caffeine helps the usage of the complement for its ergogenic results on endurance, power and velocity however highlights an absence of proof for its impression on sport-specific efficiency.
The present examine highlights the potential mechanism concerned in caffeine’s ergogenic results.
For instance, at greater doses, caffeine will increase the discharge of Ca2+, thereby enhancing muscle contractility and exhibiting extra pronounced results on maximal power.
Its neurocognitive results embody enhancing government management networks and cognitive features, enabling athletes to carry out higher in duties requiring focus and focus. As a result of caffeine can enhance alertness and wakefulness, it might additionally result in quicker response instances.
Nonetheless, the examine notes that the results of caffeine might rely on how usually somebody consumes it.
“Power caffeine consumption can upregulate adenosine receptors, which can diminish caffeine’s ergogenic results over time,” the researchers wrote, citing earlier proof that “urged that de-habituation from caffeine or greater caffeine doses might improve efficiency for ordinary customers in workforce sports activities”.
Research particulars
The brand new evaluation targeted on single- or double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized crossover research investigating the potential impacts of caffeine ingestion on train efficiency in volleyball gamers. The caffeine doses ranged from 1 to six mg/kg, with most contributors consuming it 60 minutes earlier than testing.
The meta-analysis outcomes confirmed that, in comparison with placebo, caffeine supplementation at a dose of three to six mg/kg improved outcomes associated to volleyball, resembling assault and serve accuracy, in addition to nonspecific outcomes, together with single-jump efficiency, repeated-jump efficiency and handgrip power. It additionally decreased the completion time of agility exams.
“Moreover, caffeine elevated the frequency of optimistic sport actions throughout simulated volleyball matches,” the researchers wrote, noting that additional research are wanted in actual aggressive settings fairly than simulated competitions.
They advisable that additional bigger research give attention to sex- and age-specific outcomes, in addition to the strategy of caffeine supply.
Supply: Vitamins, 2025, 17(10), 1709; doi: 10.3390/nu17101709. Results of Caffeine Supplementation on Train Efficiency in Volleyball Gamers: A Systematic Assessment and Meta-Evaluation”. Authors: B. Chen et al.
