Graduation Year

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Granting Department

Physical Education and Exercise Science

Major Professor

Bill Campbell, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Marcus Kilpatrick, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Candi Ashley, Ph.D.

Keywords

Venom®, caffeine, ergogenic, endurance, bench press, leg press

Abstract

In an attempt to improve aerobic and anaerobic performance, athletes and fitness enthusiasts consume a variety of supplements. Because of this, energy drinks are quickly becoming more and more popular every day. Despite its highly addictive nature, caffeine, which is the main active ingredient in energy drinks, is gaining recognition as an ergogenic aid. However, due to the many factors that affects the action of caffeine, and because the research on caffeine and anaerobic performance is limited, the potential for studying energy drinks and anaerobic performance is quite large. PURPOSE: To determine if a commercially available energy drink has any ergogenic effects on lower body and upper body resistance exercise performance. METHODS: In a block randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study thirteen recreationally trained male and female volunteers (mean ± SD age = 22.5 ± 3.4 years) performed 4 sets of the leg press and 4 sets of the bench press exercises (at 80% of 1 RM with all sets separated by 2 minutes). Acting as their own controls, participants were tested on each dependent variable (i.e., bench press total volume, leg press total volume and total workout volume) twice, after ingesting a Venom® Energy Drink and after ingesting a placebo drink. RESULTS: Data were tested via a dependent samples t-test with p value set at < 0.05. No significant differences were found for any of the three dependent variables. DISCUSSION: The major finding of this study is that consumption of a Venom® Energy Drink does not produce an ergogenic effect by improving anaerobic exercise performance when the exercises are performed forty-five minutes following ingestion. Future studies should focus more on examining the factors behind the actions of caffeine. More specifically, the exercise performed, the training status of the participants, individual differences of the participants, and the dose of caffeine.

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