A study of the effect of caffeine on muscle metabolism used eighteen male volunteers who each underwent arm exercise tests. Nine of the men were randomly selected to take a capsule containing pure caffeine one hour before the test. The other men received a placebo capsule. During each exercise the subject's respiratory exchange ratio (RER) was measured. (RER is the ratio of CO2 produced to O2 consumed and is an indicator of whether energy is being obtained from carbohydrates or fats). The question of interest to the experimenter was whether, on average, caffeine changes RER.

RER Percent