Qiu Bopeng, Wang Ziyu, Zhang Yinkai, Cui Yusong, Diao Penglin, Liu Kaiji, Del Coso Juan, Liu Chang
School of Strength and Conditioning Training, Beijing Sport University, Beijing 100084, China.
China Swimming College, Beijing Sport University, Beijing 100084, China.
Nutrients. 2025 Jan 19;17(2):351. doi: 10.3390/nu17020351.
Both listening to music during warm-up and consuming caffeine before exercise have been independently shown to enhance athletic performance. However, the potential synergistic effects of combining these strategies remain largely unexplored. To date, only two studies have reported additional benefits to combining music during warm-up with a caffeine dose of 3 mg/kg on taekwondo-specific performance tasks. However, these studies did not evaluate whether this combination produces additive or synergistic effects on other types of sports performance. The present study aimed to assess the effects of listening to music alone or combined with caffeine intake on performance in the Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT) in physically active subjects.
Twenty-four physically active male participants took part in this randomized, double-blind, crossover experiment. Participants underwent WAnT performance evaluations under three conditions: (i) no intervention (control; CON); (ii) music plus placebo (Mus + PLA), involving the intake of a placebo (maltodextrin) 60 min prior and self-selected high-tempo music during warm-up; and (iii) music plus caffeine (Mus + CAF), involving the intake of 3 mg/kg of caffeine 60 min prior and self-selected high-tempo music during warm-up. Under all conditions, participants wore the same Bluetooth headphones (with or without music), performed a 10 min standardized warm-up, and completed the 30 s WAnT with a load of 7.5% of their body weight on a calibrated ergometer. Power output was recorded at a frequency of 1 Hz throughout the exercise. The Feeling Scale was assessed both before and after the exercise test, while heart rate (HR) and the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured immediately following the exercise.
Mus + PLA and Mus + CAF significantly improved peak power, mean power, and total work compared with CON ( < 0.05). Furthermore, peak power was higher in Mus + CAF than in Mus + PLA ( = 0.01). Post-exercise HR and RPE showed no significant differences across conditions ( > 0.05). Regarding the Feeling Scale (FS) before exercise, the Mus + PLA and Mus + CAF conditions showed significantly higher scores than CON ( < 0.05), while no differences were found after exercise. The perceived fitness metrics displayed no significant differences among conditions ( > 0.05), except for self-perceived power, which was higher in Mus + CAF than in CON ( = 0.03).
Self-selected music during warm-up, either alone or combined with caffeine, significantly enhanced several WAnT performance metrics, including peak power, mean power, and total work. Remarkably, combining music with caffeine further improved peak power and increased self-perceived power compared with music alone. While listening to self-selected music during warm-up provided measurable benefits on anaerobic exercise performance, the combination of music and caffeine demonstrated additive effects, making it the optimal strategy for maximizing anaerobic performance.
已有研究分别表明，热身时听音乐和运动前摄入咖啡因均可提高运动表现。然而，将这两种策略结合的潜在协同效应在很大程度上仍未得到探索。迄今为止，仅有两项研究报告了在跆拳道特定表现任务中，热身时听音乐并摄入3毫克/千克咖啡因的组合具有额外益处。然而，这些研究并未评估这种组合对其他类型运动表现是产生相加效应还是协同效应。本研究旨在评估单独听音乐或与咖啡因摄入相结合对身体活跃的受试者在温盖特无氧试验（WAnT）中的表现的影响。
24名身体活跃的男性参与者参加了这项随机、双盲、交叉实验。参与者在三种条件下进行WAnT表现评估：（i）无干预（对照组；CON）；（ii）音乐加安慰剂（Mus + PLA），即在热身前60分钟摄入安慰剂（麦芽糊精）并在热身期间听自选的快节奏音乐；（iii）音乐加咖啡因（Mus + CAF），即在热身前60分钟摄入3毫克/千克咖啡因并在热身期间听自选的快节奏音乐。在所有条件下，参与者都佩戴相同的蓝牙耳机（有或没有音乐），进行10分钟的标准化热身，并在经过校准的测力计上以其体重7.5%的负荷完成30秒的WAnT。在整个运动过程中，以1赫兹的频率记录功率输出。在运动测试前后评估感觉量表，同时在运动后立即测量心率（HR）和主观用力程度（RPE）。
与CON相比，Mus + PLA和Mus + CAF显著提高了峰值功率、平均功率和总功（<0.05）。此外，Mus + CAF的峰值功率高于Mus + PLA（=0.01）。运动后的HR和RPE在各条件之间无显著差异（>0.05）。关于运动前的感觉量表（FS），Mus + PLA和Mus + CAF条件下的得分显著高于CON（<0.05），而运动后未发现差异。除自我感觉的力量外，各条件下的感知健康指标无显著差异（>0.05），Mus + CAF条件下的自我感觉力量高于CON（=0.03）。
热身时自选音乐，无论是单独使用还是与咖啡因结合，均显著提高了多个WAnT表现指标，包括峰值功率、平均功率和总功。值得注意的是，与单独听音乐相比，将音乐与咖啡因结合可进一步提高峰值功率并增强自我感觉的力量。虽然热身时听自选音乐对无氧运动表现有显著益处，但音乐和咖啡因的组合显示出相加效应，使其成为最大化无氧运动表现的最佳策略。
