Sports Drinks Improve Game Performance
Taking regular sips of a carbohydrate/electrolyte sports drink during a soccer match appears to help soccer players maintain their stamina, findings from a new study indicate. A group of researchers found that players who drank small amounts of a sports drink every 15 minutes during a 75-minute soccer game lost less body mass - a sign of being less dehydrated - and completed more sprints than players who drank no fluids during play.
Previous research has shown that soccer players who do not drink enough fluids during exercise may experience a spike in body temperature and heart rate. Moreover, drinking fluids helps maintain body mass, losing as little as 2 percent of body mass can impair performance and mental functioning.
To investigate whether drinking a sports drink helps soccer players, researchers had 20 soccer players drink 300 milliliters of a 6 percent carbohydrate/electrolyte drink every 15 minutes, or no fluids at all during play. Everyone was allowed to drink water during a 15-minute break. The players who drank a carbohydrate drink ran more sprints in the first half of play, and lost only 21/2 pounds of body weight relative to a loss of almost 4 pounds in non-drinkers. Researchers recommended that athletes drink "at constant intervals," perhaps 150 to 300 milliliters every 15 to 20 minutes.
Findings were reported in the December 2004 issue of the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine
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| Title: |
Sports Drinks Improve Game Performance |
| Source: |
Fitness management (Los Angeles) |
| Publisher: |
Leisure Publications |
| Volume (Issue): |
21(9) |
| Date: |
Aug 2005 |
| Pages: |
19 |
| SIRC Article #: |
S-1009990 |
This material has been copied under license from the Publisher. Any resale for profit or further copying is strictly prohibited.
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