No serious team sports athlete wants to get fatigued in the heat of the competition. If you’re preparing to take the field of a hot afternoon, the findings of a study published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism may be of interest.

Researchers had non-elite male team sports athletes take part in a simulated repeat-sprint test under hot, hypoxic conditions. On separate occasions, they got 3 mg of caffeine per kg of body weight, 14 grams of essential amino acids or a supplement containing both ingredients.

The caffeine and amino acid combination helped subjects keep pace with sprint performance more effectively than placebo or either of the single-ingredient supplements. It also helped reduce decreases in quadriceps activity and lower oxygenation in the brain’s frontal cortex

True Strength Moment: This study suggests that a combination of essential amino acids and caffeine might help driven competitors maintain their performance longer under less than ideal conditions. The best place to test this hypothesis would probably be during a demanding practice session.