The acute effects of two energy drinks on endurance performance in female athlete students

Abstract

Energy drinks have gained popularity among athletes. The purpose of this study was to determine the acute effects of Phantom and Dragon energy drinks on endurance performance. For this reason 12 female athlete students of Tehran University (age 22±0.63 years, height 162. 1±5. 8 cm, weight 56. 91±6. 79 kg) volunteered and performed three sessions on a Bruce treadmill test four days apart from each other. In each session, in a randomised, placebo-controlled, counterbalanced and double-blind design 6 ml/kg body weight of Phantom, Dragon or placebo was consumed 40 min before an exercise test. Using a 3×3 repeated measures analysis of variance and Least Significant Difference (LSD), a significant increase in VO2max time to exhaustion and a decrease in post-test rating of perceived exertion was found for Phantom and Dragon vs. placebo (p<0. 05). No significant difference was observed in pre-test hear rate for three drinks (p>0. 05). Post-test hear rate increased significantly for Dragon vs. Phantom and placebo (p<0. 05). In conclusion, two commercially available energy drinks had ergogenic effects on endurance performance. © 2009 Springer-Verlag Italia. © Springer-Verlag 2009.