An exercise-induced improvement in isolated skeletal muscle contractility does not affect the performance-enhancing benefit of 70 µmol l−1 caffeine treatment

This study aimed to examine the effects of exercise-induced increases in skeletal muscle contractile performance on isolated skeletal muscle caffeine sensitivity in mice. CD1 mice (n=28; 30 weeks old) either served as controls or underwent 8 weeks of voluntary wheel running. Following the treatment intervention, whole soleus (SOL) or a section of the costal diaphragm (DIA) was isolated from each mouse and tested to determine the effect of 70 µmol l−1 caffeine on work loop power output. Although caffeine elicited a significant increase in power of both the SOL and the DIA relative to levels in a non-caffeine-treated control, the effect was not different between the experimental groups, despite the muscles of the trained group producing significantly greater muscle power. There was no significant relationship between training volume or baseline work loop power and the caffeine response. These results indicate that an exercise-induced increase in muscle performance did not influence the performance-enhancing effects of caffeine.