Does caffeine have an impact on endurance, strength or team sport performance? A Systematic Review of the recent findings
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/QS.2026.49.67086Keywords
Caffeine, energy drink, athletic performance, endurance sports, strengthAbstract
Background: Caffeine is one of the most popular and widely consumed stimulants. Its impact on various sports disciplines and types of exercise has been widely examined. However, its influence varies depending on the dosage and athletic discipline. This systematic review examines studies published recently (2020-2025), which assess the impact of caffeine on team sports and endurance-based sports.
Aim: This study aims to present current knowledge regarding the role of caffeine on athletic performance in various sports disciplines.
Materials and Methods: This review followed the PRISMA guidelines. The PubMed database was the main source of examined studies, where a structured search was conducted with strict criteria being: published year 2020-2025, well-trained athletes, and caffeine administered orally. The primary number of research results was 114; 73 were removed in the initial evaluation. Ultimately, after full-text analysis, 19 articles were included in this review.
Results: Across 19 studies, caffeine doses ranged from 2 to 9 mg per kilogram or 160–250 mg in fixed-dose beverages. Mostly caffeine was administered 60 minutes before the examination. Endurance-based sports seem to benefit the most, which results in increased time to exhaustion, faster time on measured distances, and increased VO2 max. Team sports benefit from caffeine in better attack accuracy and improved jump height. The results presented in resistance and strength-based sports were inconsistent and were overall task and dosage-dependent.
Conclusions: Caffeine can be an effective and beneficial aid, especially in endurance-based sports, where results were the most promising. Although its positive effect was also documented in basketball in volleyball’s jumping exercises. Evidence presented in the resistance and strength-based studies is not consistent enough to recommend caffeine as a reliable performance aid and more research is needed in this area.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Barbara Miłek, Julia Lenart, Zuzanna Wadowska, Julia Janowiak, Natalia Janik, Martyna Sobiś , Anna Górowska, Anna Bogacka, Nina Kiersznowska, Małgorzata Buchman
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