Research

Hormonal

Caffeine supplementation (2-6 mg/kg) enhances maximal strength in powerlifting events (squat and bench press) by reducing perceived exertion and increasing motor unit recruitment.

If you compete in powerlifting, take 2-6 mg of caffeine per kg of body weight about 60 minutes before your lifts (or 10-40 mins if using gum/gel). You do not need to stop drinking coffee beforehand; in fact, quitting might make you feel worse and hurt your training. If your competition is long, split your dose into smaller amounts taken before each lift to maintain the effect.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
The currently available studies indicate that caffeine ingestion may enhance strength in two powerlifting competition events, the squat and the bench press... Caffeine’s ergogenic actions are primarily explained by its effect on adenosine receptors... There is also solid evidence that caffeine may elicit its ergogenic effect on muscle strength by increasing motor unit recruitment and muscle fiber conduction velocity.
Jozo Grgić et al. · Journal of Human Kinetics · 2019

Why this rating

Meta-analyses show small but significant effects; direct 1RM studies are limited and sometimes underpowered.

Source

Caffeine Supplementation for Powerlifting Competitions: an Evidence-Based Approach

Jozo Grgić et al. · Journal of Human Kinetics · 2019

DOI 10.2478/hukin-2019-0054

narrative_reviewCited 21×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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