Question by hmae32: What are the effects of drinking an energy drink before athletic activity?
I am doing a project for my college class and it would really help me out a lot if you could tell me how energy drink effect your performance. It would even be better if you would time yourself doing some sort of activity before you have an energy drink and after. Thanks so much
Best answer:
Answer by sandy
I’ve done this before where i drink a red bull while on my way to the gym and i noticed it really gives me added energy. i am more inclined to do more cardio than if i hadnt drank it. for example if i normally do 40 min. of cardio i.e. treadmil or elliptical, with a energy drink i could go an hour non stop without a problem.
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Depends on how long before.
Energy drinks are simply large bottles of flavored glucose and a little caffeine.
So if you drink them 2-3 hours before, you will get a increase in endurance during activity. It’s important to note that extra sugar will not make you run faster and will not make you more alert. You will just have more energy near the end of the activity.
There is really no point in drinking a glucose drink with less than an hour to activity as it will take at least 2 hours for the sugar to reach the bloodstream.
Water in comparison will cool the body almost instantly, and is much more useful as a pick-up during exercise.
If this is a college project, consider having a survey on it.
Go to a gym, ask some people to participate.
Time their activities, and record how they feel after.
After rest, give them a free energy drink, let them back in the gym for another workout.
Record again. Even if the results are inconclusive, you will get a higher grade for the efforts made.
Some recent studies show 1-2 cups of coffee an hour before a running event help improve performance. Example, 30 second improvement in a 10K race. Having more coffee than that dries you out. Also some of the other chemicals in sports drinks are really bad. Try coffee on the way to event along with a gatorade to hydrate you. You could try a sports gel. I’d avoid the expensive energy drinks that don’t help and may hurt performance.
Here’s an article from Runners Worls on picking the right drink. Hope it helps!
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-302–12700-0,00.html
That depends on what you call an Energy drink.
Something like Gatorade is intended to quickly hydrate you, and does so because the 7% carbohydrate solution passes through the intestinal wall faster than plain water. Gatorade does a lot of testing and research (using amateur athletes like me….). See link below for data
If you’re talking about something like Red Bull, that’s a bad idea. I made the mistake of having a Red Bull once before an off-road triathlon. I had heart palpitations through the swim and the first couple miles of the bike before I wore off whatever was in it. Needless to say it hurt performance because I was afraid to go hard before my heart rate settled down.
Red Bull Energy Drink is much more than a soft drink – it is an Energy drink. It was made for moments of increased physical and mental stress and improves endurance, alertness, concentration and reaction speed. In short: it vitalizes body and mind. The effectiveness of Red Bull Energy Drink has been proven by a large number of scientific studies and is appreciated by many of the world’s top athletes and drivers, opinion-leaders and hard-working people with active lifestyles.
Whenever you need to boost your Energy or concentration!
To feel its effects at best, you should drink it in times of increased mental and physical strain, for example, on long sleep-inducing motorways, during intensive working days, prior to demanding athletic activities or before tests and exams. It is recommended to drink one can of Red Bull Energy Drink about 30 min before the start of a concentration task or the start of a race or game in sports.
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