This study investigated the effects of caffeine mouth rinse on cycling time to exhaustion (TTE) and physiological responses in trained cyclists. In a double-blinded randomized counterbalanced cross-over design, 10 recreationally trained male cyclists (mean ± SD: 32 ± 3 years, 72.8 ± 5.3 kg, 1.78 ± 0.06 m, 13.9% ± 3.3% body fat, peak power output = 289.4 ± 24.7 W) completed two TTE tests cycling at 75% of peak aerobic power following 24 hr of dietary and exercise standardization. Cyclists were administered 25-ml mouth rinses for 5 s containing either 85 mg of caffeine or control (water) every 5 min throughout the exercise tests. No significant improvement in TTE was shown with caffeine mouth rinse compared with control (33:24 ± 12:47 vs. 28:08 ± 10:18 min; Cohen's dz effect size: 0.51, p = .14). Caffeine mouth rinse had no significant effect on ratings of perceived exertion (p = .31) or heart rate (p = .35) throughout the cycling TTE protocol. These data indicate that a repeated dose of caffeinated mouth rinse for 5 s does not improve cycling TTE in recreationally trained male cyclists. However, these findings should be taken with caution due to the small sample size and blinding ineffectiveness, while further well-design studies with larger samples are warranted.
Keywords: ergogenicity; exercise tolerance; suplements.