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.

Inclusion Criteria: * Healthy university athletes aged 18-25 years. * Regular engagement in structured training, defined as at least 10 training sessions per week of approximately 2 h each, across team sports, judo, athletics, tennis, or swimming. * Non-habitual napping, defined as fewer than one nap per week. * Low habitual caffeine intake, defined as \