More recently, it has been found in animal models that caffeine may directly affect the muscle via enhanced Ca++ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum [47] or via enhanced motor unit recruitment by inhibiting adenosine actions on the central nervous system [48]. In a previous study with humans, we found that 6 mg/kg of caffeine improved knee extensor

muscle strength and cycling power production due to a higher voluntary contraction (central effects) with no effects on electrically evoked contractions (no effects on muscle contractile properties). Although we did not assess the source of the benefits found with caffeine-containing energy drinks in the present investigation, we did find the tendency for a lower time to maximal power output (Figure 3). A lower time to IPI-549 maximal power suggests a better intra- and inter-muscular coordination during the muscle contraction, likely mediated by improved motor unit recruitment [49]. Figure 3 Time to maximal power output during half-squat and bench-press concentric actions one hour after the ingestion of 1 and 3 mg/kg of caffeine using a caffeinated energy drink or the same drink without caffeine (0 mg/kg). Data are mean ± SD for 12 participants. * 3 mg/kg different from 0 mg/kg (P < 0.05). † 3 mg/kg different from 1 mg/kg (P < 0.05). In a recent study with

176 participants, Badillo and Medina [50] found a very good association (R2 = 0.98) MK-1775 in vivo between load and propulsive velocity during the concentric phase of the bench press SN-38 mw exercise. The mean velocity attained with 100% 1RM was 0.2 m/s

and it increased progressively to 1.4 m/s when the load was reduced to 30% 1RM. According to these data, the authors conclude that measurement of propulsive velocity can be used for training or testing as a good predictor of the relative load (% 1RM) using a regression equation [50]. In the present study, we found a similar correlation between load and propulsive velocity in both half-squat and bench-press exercises (Table 2). In addition, with the ingestion of the placebo drink, the velocities attained during the propulsive phase of the bench press at 100% and 30% 1RM were similar to the ones found by Badillo and Medina (0.4 ± 0.1 and 1.5 ± 0.1 m/s, respectively). On the other hand, the ingestion Mannose-binding protein-associated serine protease of the energy drink with 3 mg/kg of caffeine raised bench press velocity to 0.6 ± 0.1 m/s at 100% 1RM and to 1.6 ± 0.1 m/s at 30% 1RM (Figure 2), moving the association between load and velocity upwards. Thus, when using the propulsive velocity to predict the relative load that represents a given resistance, the ingestion of caffeine or caffeine-containing energy drinks might represent a source of error. Previous studies have found that caffeine or coffee ingestion may increase resting energy expenditure by 3-7% [51, 52]. However, in the present investigation with energy drinks, we did not find a thermogenic effect after the ingestion of 1 or 3 mg/kg of caffeine (Table 1).