Effects of acute sleep deprivation and caffeine supplementation on anaerobic performance

Abstract

PurposeAthletes involved in team sports may be subject to varying degrees of sleep deprivation either before or after training and competition. Despite the belief among athletes and coaches of the importance of adequate sleep for ensuing performance, the effect of sleep loss on team-sport anaerobic performance remains unclear. There is conflicting evidence in the scientific literature as to the impact of acute sleep deprivation and caffeine supplementation on anaerobic performance indices. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of 24 hours of acute sleep deprivation on anaerobic performance and the effect of caffeine supplementation on anaerobic performance in the sleep deprived state.Methods11 club level games players (n=11, 25±4 yr, 178±7.5 cm, 80.2±10.4 kg, 15.1±5.6% body fat) participated in a repeated measures double-blinded placebo control trial. Following familiarisation, each participant returned for testing on three separate occasions. One of the testing sessions took place following a night of normal sleep and the other two sessions took place following 24 hours of sleep deprivation with supplementation of either placebo or 6 mg.kg- 1 of caffeine. During each testing session participants performed the vertical jump height, 20-m straight sprint, Illinois speed agility test and 5-m shuttle run.ResultsNo significant differences were detected comparing non sleep deprived and sleep deprived interventions in any of the assessed outcome measures. There were also no significant differences observed in any of the outcome measures when comparing caffeine and placebo data in the sleep deprived state.ConclusionIn this cohort of athletes, a 24-h period of acute sleep deprivation did not have any significant impact on anaerobic performance. Caffeine also did not have any effect of on anaerobic performance in the sleep-deprived state.

Effects of acute caffeine consumption following sleep loss on cognitive, physical, occupational and driving performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…For physical performance, studies included in the present review generally indicated a benefit of caffeine following sleep loss. There were, however, two studies that demonstrated negative effects (Donald et al, 2017;Moore et al, 2018). This may partly reflect the fact that sleep loss does not always impair physical abilities (Fullagar et al, 2015).…”

Effects of Acute Sleep Loss on Physical Performance: A Systematic and Meta-Analytical Review

“…Some studies included in this meta-analysis assessed the influence of sleep loss on more than one performance task, either belonging to the same category [40,41,53,58,59,63,64,[75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84], or different categories [41, 43, 44, 56-59, 61, 62, 64, 65, 75, 77-81, 85-102]. For example, Souissi et al [78] measured anaerobic power in two separate tasks (i.e., squat jump and Wingate test).…”

“…The influence of sleep loss on physical performance has received considerable scientific attention. Studies have investigated the effects of sleep loss on performance in different exercise tasks (based on predominant physical attributes), including strength [41,[53][54][55], anaerobic power/ capacity [56][57][58][59][60][61][62], endurance [41,57], and those requiring a high level of precision (e.g., skill activities [45,63]). The influence of contextual factors has also been explored, including the timing of exercise following sleep loss (e.g., morning vs. evening exercise) [45,53,62,64]; duration of sleep loss [65]; early-vs. late-sleep restriction protocols [66,67]; and exercise characteristics themselves (acute, chronic, type and timing) [64,68,69].…”

Association between Sleep Duration and Physical Fitness in Children Aged 3–6 Years: A Cross-Sectional Study from China

“…The reason for the decrease in strength due to sleep is not yet clear, but some studies have confirmed that the insufficient sleep group is more prone to sarcopenia, as well as symptoms such as decreased muscle mass, compared to the group with normal sleep [ 41 ]. Speed is the body’s ability to move quickly, and adequate sleep duration can facilitate its performance [ 42 ]. In addition, sleep duration in children also shows varying degrees of correlation with balance, flexibility and agility.…”