Hemmat Mehdi, Nazemzadegan Gholamhosein, Niknam Alireza, Daryanoosh Farhad, Koushkie Jahromi Maryam
Department of Sports Sciences, School of Education and Psychology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.
J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2025 Dec;22(1):2541010. doi: 10.1080/15502783.2025.2541010. Epub 2025 Jul 28.
The interactive effect of mental fatigue and caffeine consumption on sport performance is not clear. This study aimed to investigate the impact of mental fatigue and caffeine gum consumption on power and skill performance in recreationally trained male basketball players.
A randomized, double-blind, crossover design was used, with twenty male participants (age: 16.7 ± 0.86 years, body mass: 79.6 ± 8.2 kg, height: 183.2 ± 8.6 cm, training experience ≥ 3 years). Participants completed four testing sessions under the following conditions: (1) no mental fatigue with placebo gum, (2) mental fatigue with placebo gum, (3) no mental fatigue with caffeine gum, and (4) mental fatigue with caffeine gum. The sessions were separated by one week. Mental fatigue was induced through a 30-minute Stroop task, and caffeine gum (50 mg of caffeine per piece) was administered 15 minutes before performance testing. Power and skill performance were assessed via vertical jump height, V-CUT dribbling test, medicine ball throw, and stationary two-point shooting, with three attempts per test.
Mental fatigue significantly increased time to react for congruent name and color (Z = 3.9, < 0.001) and incongruent name and color (Z = 3.9, < 0.001), as well as perceived fatigue (Z = 3.9, < 0.001) after the Stroop task. Performance analysis revealed a significant main effect of condition on vertical jump height (F = 2.9, = 0.04) and V-CUT dribbling performance (F = 4.4, = 0.007), but not on medicine ball throw, change of direction test, or stationary two-point shooting ( > 0.05). Mental fatigue (mental fatigue with placebo gum) significantly impaired vertical jump height ( = 0.008) and V-CUT dribbling performance ( = 0.049) compared to the no mental fatigue with placebo gum condition. No significant differences were found between other condition pairs for these performance measures.
Mental fatigue negatively affects power and skill performance in basketball players, while caffeine gum consumption may offer a potential strategy to mitigate these effects. While caffeine gum attenuated some performance declines in the mental fatigue with caffeine gum condition compared to mental fatigue with placebo gum, these differences were not statistically significant. Future research should explore optimal caffeine doses and additional performance variables.
精神疲劳与咖啡因摄入对运动表现的交互作用尚不清楚。本研究旨在调查精神疲劳和食用咖啡因口香糖对受过休闲训练的男性篮球运动员的力量和技能表现的影响。
采用随机、双盲、交叉设计，有20名男性参与者（年龄：16.7±0.86岁，体重：79.6±8.2千克，身高：183.2±8.6厘米，训练经验≥3年）。参与者在以下条件下完成四个测试环节：（1）食用安慰剂口香糖且无精神疲劳，（2）食用安慰剂口香糖且有精神疲劳，（3）食用咖啡因口香糖且无精神疲劳，（4）食用咖啡因口香糖且有精神疲劳。各环节间隔一周。通过30分钟的斯特鲁普任务诱发精神疲劳，并在性能测试前15分钟给予咖啡因口香糖（每片含50毫克咖啡因）。通过垂直跳高度、V形切入运球测试、药球投掷和定点两分投篮评估力量和技能表现，每项测试进行三次尝试。
精神疲劳显著增加了对一致的名称和颜色（Z = 3.9，<0.001）以及不一致的名称和颜色（Z = 3.9，<0.001）的反应时间，以及斯特鲁普任务后的主观疲劳感（Z = 3.9，<0.001）。性能分析显示，条件对垂直跳高度（F = 2.9， = 0.04）和V形切入运球表现（F = 4.4， = 0.007）有显著的主效应，但对药球投掷、变向测试或定点两分投篮没有显著主效应（>0.05）。与食用安慰剂口香糖且无精神疲劳的条件相比，精神疲劳（食用安慰剂口香糖且有精神疲劳）显著损害了垂直跳高度（ = 0.008）和V形切入运球表现（ = 0.049）。在这些性能指标的其他条件组之间未发现显著差异。
精神疲劳对篮球运动员的力量和技能表现有负面影响，而食用咖啡因口香糖可能是减轻这些影响的一种潜在策略。虽然与食用安慰剂口香糖且有精神疲劳的情况相比，食用咖啡因口香糖且有精神疲劳的情况下咖啡因口香糖减轻了一些性能下降，但这些差异没有统计学意义。未来的研究应探索最佳咖啡因剂量和其他性能变量。
