SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Sport and Exercise Nutrition
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1686283
Effects of Acute Caffeine Intake on Muscular Power during Resistance Exercise: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Hunan Institute of Technology, Hengyang, China
- 2Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
- 3Huashan Hospital Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- 4Massey University School of Sport Exercise and Nutrition, Palmerston North, New Zealand
- 5The University of Western Australia School of Human Sciences, Perth, Australia
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Background: This study examined the effects of caffeine on movement velocity and power output during resistance exercises and explored moderating factors influencing these effects. Methods: A systematic search of five databases was conducted through June 2025. A random-effects model was used to assess the effect of caffeine on muscular power-related variables, such as bar velocity and power output, during resistance exercises with a fixed number of repetitions. Subgroup analyses were performed based on sex, caffeine dose, habitual caffeine consumption, muscle group, and load. Results: Twelve studies comprising 230 participants were included. Caffeine significantly improved mean velocity (SMD = 0.40, 95% CI: 0.19-0.65, p < 0.05, I² = 85%) and mean power output (SMD = 0.21, 95% CI: 0.12-0.30, p < 0.05, I² = 14%) during resistance exercises. Greater improvements in mean velocity were observed in males (SMD: 0.56 vs. 0.22), and habitual caffeine consumption < 3 mg/kg/day (SMD: 0.87 vs. 0.21) (all p < 0.01 for subgroup comparisons). Furthermore, although caffeine increased mean velocity at all caffeine doses (SMD: 0.31-0.78), muscle groups (SMD: 0.32-0.54) and loads (SMD: 0.37-0.49) (all p < 0.01), no significant differences were observed between subgroups (all p > 0.01 for subgroup comparison). Conclusion: Caffeine ingestion enhances movement velocity and power output during resistance exercises, regardless of load. These benefits were more pronounced in males, at higher caffeine doses, among low habitual caffeine consumers, and during lower-body exercises.
Keywords: caffeine supplementation, Resistance exercise, Movement velocity, power output, dose-response
Received: 15 Aug 2025; Accepted: 22 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xiao, Ding, Xu, Liu, Guo, Barnes, Cao and Girard. 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: YinHang Cao, caoyinhang@sus.edu.cn
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