Abstract
This double-blind, within-subjects experiment examined the effect of ingesting a large
dose of caffeine on perceptions of leg muscle pain during moderate intensity cycling
exercise. Low-caffeine–consuming college-aged males (n = 16) ingested either caffeine
(10 mg × kg−1 body weight) or placebo and 1 hour later completed 30 minutes of moderate intensity
cycling exercise (60% V̇O2peak). The order of drug administration was counter-balanced. Perceptions of leg muscle
pain as well as work rate, heart rate, and oxygen uptake (VO2) were recorded during exercise. Leg muscle pain ratings were significantly and moderately
reduced after a high dose of caffeine. This observation suggests that prior reports
showing caffeine improves endurance exercise performance might be partially explained
by caffeine’s hypoalgesic properties. It also suggests that moderate intensity cycling
exercise has promise as a useful experimental model for the study of naturally occurring
muscle pain.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
March 10,
2003
Received in revised form:
February 24,
2003
Received:
December 23,
2002
Identification
Copyright
© 2003 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
