Sports drinks give an edge to Olympic-distance triathletes
06 June 2012
Researchers from our Department for Health have shown for the first time that ingesting a carbohydrate sports drink during an Olympic-distance triathlon improves performance.
The researchers from the Human Physiology Research Group set out to examine whether a carbohydrate drink had a greater effect than a flavoured-water placebo when given to triathletes.
Olympic-distance (OD) triathlon is a multidisciplinary sport that involves a 1500m swim, a 40km cycle and a 10km run performed in immediate succession, placing a heavy demand on the body’s limited energy supplies.
