Researchers have tested caffeine under a variety of individual performance and team sports conditions. What about women who want a boost in the weight room? A study published in The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness investigates caffeine’s potential on a circuit of popular resistance exercises. 

Eight women with at least a year of weight training experience performed hack squats, bench press, knee extensions and pull downs to exhaustion on 2 separate occasions. During one workout, they received a placebo. They got 6 mg of caffeine per kg of body weight 30 minutes before the other training session. Caffeine increased reps to exhaustion and had a tendency to improve strength.