Effects of Afternoon Napping, Caffeine, and Standardised Active Recovery on Evening Athletic Performance

This study evaluated whether afternoon napping, caffeine ingestion, and a standardised active recovery and nutritional protocol could influence evening physical and cognitive performance in healthy university athletes. Participants completed five experimental conditions in a randomised crossover design: placebo without napping, napping with placebo, caffeine without napping, napping combined with caffeine, and napping combined with caffeine plus a standardised active recovery and nutritional protocol. The nap opportunity lasted 90 minutes and caffeine was administered at 5 mg/kg body mass. The main outcome was repeated agility performance. Additional outcomes included sprint performance, jumping performance, reaction time, subjective sleepiness, sleep characteristics during the nap opportunity, and selected physiological measures. The study also explored whether responses differed according to sex and chronotype.

NCT Number	NCT07652424
Lead Sponsor	The Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax
Conditions	Athletic Performance, Sports Performance, Exercise Performance, Circadian Rhythm
Enrollment	60 participants
Start Date	2025-01-02
Primary Completion	2025-05-31 (estimated)
Study Completion	2025-05-31 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-06-30