Does a Caffeine Gum Improve 5 km Run Performance in a Competition/Field Setting?

Does a Commercial Caffeine Supplement Improve 5 km Run Performance in a Field Setting?

The purpose of this study is to determine whether caffeine gum improves the performance of runners completing free timed mass participation 5 km runs in the United Kingdom (UK)

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Running Performance
• Intervention / Treatment: Dietary supplement: caffeine gum; Dietary supplement: placebo gum

Detailed Description

The study will investigate the ability of an acute intake of caffeine gum to improve performance in recreationally trained runners completing park runs. Park runs are free, timed 5 km mass participation running events that are held in a number of parks around the UK every Saturday morning.

A total of 60 recreationally trained runners will be recruited to the study. Of these, 30 will be assigned to a randomised placebo-controlled double-blind cross-over trial. The remaining 30 will be assigned to a non-intervention comparison group. The non-intervention group will be used to account for the effect of changing environmental conditions on running performance.

All participants will complete two 5 km park runs separated by no more than 2 weeks. Participants on the intervention study arms will consume either caffeine or placebo gum 30 minutes before they run. The order of consumption will be randomised. The caffeine gum will contain 300 mg (with an approximate 85% bioavailability). Participants will be asked to abstain from any caffeine containing beverages or food for 18 hours before each run. They will also be asked to record their dietary intake for the day before and the morning of the run and to repeat this for their second trial. Physical activity on the days leading up to each 5 km run will also be recorded and participants will be asked to closely replicate their activity in the week leading up to each trial. They will also be asked to keep training intensity and duration light during the 48 hours leading up to each trial.

The primary outcome measure will be change in overall time for the 5 km runs. Other outcome measures will be ratings of perceived exertion, 1 km split times and average heart rate.

The study size was calculated using an online software package (http://www.sportsci.org/resource/stats/), adopting a power of 80% and an alpha of 0.05. Using within-person standard deviation from runners completing a local parkrun and an expected effect size of 1.2% (Bridge and Jones (2006) J Sports Sciences. 24(4):433-9) a sample size of 25 runners was calculated for the intervention study.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 36
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • South Yorkshire
    • Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom, S1 1WB
      • Sheffield Hallam University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy adult runners with evidence of having recently ran 5 km in under 25 minutes

Exclusion Criteria:

• Current musculoskeletal injury, history of adverse response to caffeine, presence or history of cardiovascular disease, heart rhythm disorders or hypertension.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: CROSSOVER
• Masking: TRIPLE

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Caffeine gum; caffeine (300 mg) in gum form x 1 ingestion	Dietary supplement: caffeine gum; Gum is consumed 30 minutes before commencement of run
PLACEBO_COMPARATOR: Placebo gum; placebo gum consumed x 1 ingestion	Dietary supplement: placebo gum; Gum is consumed 30 minutes before commencement of run
NO_INTERVENTION: Non-intervention group; A third group of runners will be used to adjust for changes in environmental conditions. They will complete 2 runs without consuming either placebo or experimental treatment

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in 5 km run time	The difference in finishing time on placebo v caffeine; recorded in seconds	calculated after 2nd run (runs separated by 7 days)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in ratings of perceived exertion (RPE)	The difference in RPE on placebo v caffeine; using a 6-20 Borg scale	calculated after 2nd run (runs separated by 7 days)

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in pacing	1 km split times in sec will be recorded manually and overall pace using GPS (km/h)	calculated after 2nd run (runs separated by 7 days); placebo v caffeine
Change in average heart rate	Recorded in beats per minute	calculated after 2nd run

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Sheffield Hallam University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Anthony Lynn, PhD, Sheffield Hallam University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: June 1, 2015
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): January 1, 2016
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): January 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 12, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 15, 2015
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): June 16, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE): April 19, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 18, 2016
• Last Verified: April 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Caffeine, running, performance
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Physiological Effects of Drugs; Neurotransmitter Agents; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Enzyme Inhibitors; Purinergic Antagonists; Purinergic Agents; Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors; Purinergic P1 Receptor Antagonists; Central Nervous System Stimulants; Caffeine
• Other Study ID Numbers: SBSREC1314/39