This article is part of the supplement: Proceedings of the Fifth International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) Conference and Expo .

Poster presentation

Examination of a pre-exercise high energy drink on exercise performance

Jay R Hoffman , Mattan W Hoffman and Christopher Tranchina

Department of Health and Exercise Science, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ 08628-0718, USA

author email corresponding author email

from 2008 International Society of Sports Nutrition Conference and Expo
Las Vegas, NV, USA. 9–10 June 2008

Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2008, 5(Suppl 1):P29doi:10.1186/1550-2783-5-S1-P29

The electronic version of this abstract is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.jissn.com/content/5/S1/P29

Published:

17 September 2008

© 2008 Hoffman et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Background

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a pre-exercise high energy drink on reaction time and anaerobic power in competitive strength/power athletes. In addition, the effect of the pre-exercise drink on subjective feelings of energy, fatigue, alertness and focus was also explored.

Methods

Twelve male strength/power athletes (21.1 ± 1.3 y; 179.8 ± 7.1 cm; 88.6 ± 12.1 kg; 17.6 ± 3.3% body fat) underwent two testing sessions administered in a randomized and double-blind fashion. During each session, subjects reported to the Human Performance Laboratory and were provided either 120 ml of a high energy drink (S), commercially marketed as Redline^® or 120 ml of a placebo (P). The placebo was similar in taste and appearance but contained no active ingredients. Following consumption of the supplement or placebo subjects rested quietly for 10-minutes prior to completing a 4-question survey and commencing exercise. The survey consisted of 4 questions asking each subject to describe their feelings of energy, fatigue, alertness and focus at that moment. Following the completion of the questionnaire subjects performed a 2-minute quickness and reaction test on the Makoto testing device (Makoto USA, Centennial CO) and a 20-second Wingate Anaerobic Power test. Following a 10-minute rest subjects repeated the testing sequence and after a similar rest period a third and final testing sequence was performed. The Makoto testing device consisted of subjects reacting to both a visual and auditory stimulus and striking one out of 30 potential targets on three towers.

Results

Significant difference in reaction performance was seen between S and P in both average number of targets struck (55.8 ± 7.4 versus 51.9 ± 7.4, respectively) and percent of targets struck (71.9 ± 10.5% versus 66.8 ± 10.9%, respectively). No significant differences between trials were seen in any anaerobic power measure. Subjective feelings of energy (3.5 ± 0.5 versus 3.1 ± 0.5) and focus (3.8 ± 0.5 versus 3.3 ± 0.7) were significantly higher during S compared to P, respectively. In addition, trends towards an increased alertness (p = 0.088) and a decreased fatigue (p = 0.091) were also seen in S compared to P.

Conclusion

Results indicate a significant increase in reaction performance during exercise, with no effect on anaerobic power performance. In addition, ingestion of this supplement significantly improves subjective feelings of focus and energy.

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by Vital Pharmaceuticals, Inc. dba VPX/Redline.

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