Improved 1000-m running performance and pacing strategy with caffeine and placebo: A balanced placebo design study

Philip Hurst, Lieke Schipof-Godart, Florentina Hettinga, Bart Roelands, Chris Beedie

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the placebo effect of caffeine on pacing strategy and performance over 1000-m running time trials using a balanced placebo design. Methods: Eleven well-trained male middle-distance athletes performed seven 1000-m time trials (1 familiarization, 2 baseline, and 4 experimental). Experimental trials consisted of the administration of 4 randomized treatments: informed caffeine/received caffeine, informed caffeine/received placebo, informed placebo/received caffeine, and informed placebo/received placebo. Split times were recorded at 200, 400, 600, 800, and 1000 m, and peak heart rate and rating of perceived exertion were recorded at the completion of the trial. Results: Relative to baseline, participants ran faster during informed caffeine/received caffeine (d = 0.42) and informed caffeine/received placebo (d = 0.43). These changes were associated with an increased pace during the first half of the trial. No differences were shown in pacing or performance between baseline and the informed placebo/received caffeine (d = 0.21) and informed placebo/received placebo (d = 0.10). No differences were reported between treatments for peak heart rate (ν2 = .084) and rating of perceived exertion (ν2 = .009). Conclusions: The results indicate that the effect of believing to have ingested caffeine improved performance to the same magnitude as actually receiving caffeine. These improvements were associated with an increase in pace during the first half of the time trial.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)483-488
Number of pages6
JournalInternational Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance
Volume15
Issue number4
Early online date9 Sept 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2020
Externally publishedYes

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