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Effect of a small dose of alcohol on the endurance performance of trained cyclists
Virgile Lecoultre1, Yves Schutz
1Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. virgile.lecoultre@unil.ch
Aim:
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an acute small ethanol (EtOH) dose (0.5 ml EtOH/kg fat-free mass, combined with carbohydrate) in a drink on endurance performance of trained cyclists.
Methods:
Thirteen well-trained male cyclists took part in this study. A 60-min cycling endurance performance test (time trial) was performed in a calorimetric chamber after drinking an EtOH (30 +/- 1.8 ml) or a non-EtOH control (C) drink.
Results:
Overall, EtOH induced a significant decrease in the average cycling power output (PO) (EtOH: 233 +/- 23 W versus C: 243 +/- 24 W, P < 0.01). The time course of mechanical PO showed an early decrease during the EtOH trial as compared to C (P < 0.01). Due to the lower PO, oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production and glucose oxidation were significantly lower (P < 0.05) as compared to C. Relative to PO, heart rate response and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were increased by EtOH as compared to C (P < 0.05). In contrast, EtOH did not influence gross work efficiency, glycaemia and blood lactate concentration.
Conclusions:
These results show that the acute low dose of EtOH decreased endurance performance. An increase of cardio-vascular strain and psychobiological mechanisms may explain this decrease of endurance performance.
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