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
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic and PersonalSubscribe:
Subscribe to The Journal of PainAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Impairment of caffeine clearance by chronic use of low-dose oestrogen-containing oral contraceptives.Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1985; 28: 425-428
- Caffeine consumption.Fd Chem Toxic. 1996; 34: 119-129
- How to assess exercise habits and physical fitness.in: Matarazzo J.D. Weiss S.M. Herd J.A. Miller N.E. Weiss S.M. Behavioral Health. John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY1984: 427-447
- Subjective aspects of physical and mental load.Ergonomics. 1978; 21: 215-220
- Theoretical review.Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 1999; 23: 877-890
- The effects of caffeine on plasma MHPG, subjective anxiety, autonomic symptoms and blood pressure in healthy humans.Life Sci. 1984; 35: 135-144
- Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. ed 3. Academic Press, New York, NY1988
- Naturally occurring muscle pain during exercise.Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1997; 29: 999-1012
- Sex differences in naturally occurring leg muscle pain and exertion during maximal cycle ergometry.Int J Neurosci. 1998; 95: 183-202
- Muscle pain perception and sympathetic nerve activity to exercise during opioid modulation.Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2000; 279: R1565-1573
- Adenosine, a metabolic trigger of the exercise pressor reflex in humans.Hypertension. 2001; 37: 917-922
- Effects of caffeine on blood pressure, heart rate, and forearm blood flow during dynamic leg exercise.J Appl Physiol. 1998; 85: 154-159
- Anaerobic threshold alterations caused by endurance training in some middle-aged men.J Appl Physiol. 1979; 46: 1039-1046
- Complex role of peripheral adenosine in the genesis of the response to subcutaneous formalin in the rat.Eur J Pharmacol. 1995; 281: 311-318
- Cardiovascular responses to the combination of caffeine and mental arithmetic, cold pressor, and static exercise stressors.Psychophysiology. 1992; 29: 272-282
- Studies of pain in human subjects.in: Wall P.D. Melzack R. Textbook of Pain. Churchill Livingston, London1999: 385-408
- Caffeine and exercise.Sports Med. 2001; 31: 785-807
- Quantification of local and referred muscle pain in humans after sequential i.m. injections of hypertonic saline.Pain. 1997; 69: 111-117
- Self-report reliability and symptomology of habitual caffeine consumption.Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1989; 27: 507-514
- Influence of smoking on caffeine elimination in healthy volunteers and in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis.Hepatology. 1988; 8: 575-579
- Effects of caffeine on neuromuscular function.J Appl Physiol. 1999; 87: 801-808
- Dose-dependent caffeine pharmacokinetics during severe sleep deprivation in humans.Int J Clin Pharmacol Therap. 1995; 32: 182-186
- The effects of obesity and exercise on the pharmacokinetics of caffeine in lean and obese volunteers.Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1987; 31: 595-600
- Dose-dependent pharmacokinetics and psychomotor effects of caffeine in humans.J Clin Pharmacol. 1997; 37: 693-703
- Menstrual cycle effects on caffeine elimination in the human female.Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1992; 43: 543-546
- Caffeine as an analgesic adjuvant.JAMA. 1984; 251: 1711-1718
- Hypoalgesic effect of caffeine in experimental ischemic muscle contraction pain.Headache. 1997; 37: 654-658
- Are we dependent upon coffee and caffeine? A review on human and animal data.Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 1999; 23: 563-576
- Caffeine and sports activity.Int J Sports Med. 1994; 15: 215-223
- Effect of coffee on exercise-induced angina pectoris due to coronary artery disease in habitual coffee drinkers.Am J Cardiol. 1985; 55: 277-280
- Statistical power for the two-factor repeated measures ANOVA.Behav Res Meth Instr Comp. 2000; 32: 347-356
- Effects of caffeine on plasma renin activity, catecholamines and blood pressure.N Engl J Med. 1978; 298: 181-186
- Adenosine receptor activation and nociception.Eur J Pharmacol. 1998; 347: 1-11
- Neurotoxin-induced lesions to central serotonergic, noradrenergic and dopaminergic systems modify caffeine-induced antinociception in the formalin test and locomotor stimulation in rats.J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1996; 277: 646-653
- Caffeine and performance.Int J Sport Nutr. 2000; 5: S84-S99
- Effects of caffeine on blood pressure response during exercise in normotensive healthy young men.Am J Cardiol. 1990; 65: 909-913
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.
