Welcome to my weekly summary of the latest research from the world of sports science!
Strength, power, and technical skill—it’s all here in this week’s roundup. Here, we cover new research showing how chewing caffeinated gum can increase your strength and power, the benefits of creatine supplementation for athletes doing combat sports, and how weak-foot training makes soccer players more accurate and versatile—read on.
Chewing Caffeine Gum Increases Strength and Power
This study tested whether chewing caffeinated gum just before lifting could enhance maximal strength, muscular power, and muscle recruitment. Resistance-trained men chewed either caffeine gum or a placebo about five minutes before performing squats and bench press repetitions across a range of loads. With caffeine, athletes lifted heavier and produced more power—especially in the squat—without feeling like they were working harder. This suggests caffeine gum is a fast, convenient way to unlock caffeine’s benefits without waiting for a coffee or risking stomach upset.
My thoughts: Power gum! Yes, it appears that chewing caffeine gum while throwing down in the gym does make you stronger. If you want a fast, low-time, low-stomach stress way to get caffeine’s benefits, chewing gum could be a go-to. It has also been shown to improve sprint times.
Creatine Makes Combat Sport Athletes Stronger and More Powerful
This review pulled together 19 studies on creatine use in combat athletes training for sports like boxing, wrestling, taekwondo, and judo. The research showed clear improvements in muscle size, strength, and explosive power with consistent use, especially in studies that lasted at least six weeks or included resistance training. On the other hand, creatine didn’t show much impact on endurance or reducing fatigue in these types of athletes. Across all studies, creatine use was safe and well tolerated. For combat athletes, creatine reliably builds power and lean mass, which can have a significant positive impact on both training and competition.
My thoughts: In combat sports, strength and explosiveness can be the deciding factor in a match. This review makes it clear that creatine delivers on both fronts—more lean mass, more power, and more force behind every movement. It won’t help you go longer or delay fatigue per se, but if you’re looking for that extra edge in strength and speed, try Blonyx HMB+ Creatine.
Putting Your Weaker Foot Forward Can Make You a Better Athlete
This systematic review trained soccer players to use their weaker leg more often in drills and game-like practice. After several weeks, players showed significant improvements in their passing, shooting accuracy, balance, and overall technical skills when using their non-dominant side. The results of this study suggest that deliberately working the weaker foot isn’t just extra homework—it can directly improve performance in matches by making players more versatile, accurate, and unpredictable in match play.
My thoughts: As a soccer player, I never thought much about training my non-dominant side. Sure, coaches made me use it occasionally, but it always felt like an afterthought. This study shows it deserves more attention—working the weak side can directly improve performance on the field. I’d be curious to see how this method impacts performance in other sports.
That’s all for this week! If you learned something new and are curious to know more, head over to the Blonyx Blog or my growing list of weekly research summaries where I help you further improve your athletic performance by keeping you up to date on the latest findings from the world of sports science.
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