Abstract
Background: Winter sports and cold environments can present multiple challenges to athletes. Although, in cold temperatures, athletes will still sweat leading to increased rates of dehydration. If left unchecked, dehydration can negatively affect the performance of an athlete, even in cold environments. Sports drinks have been found to be effective in improving performance and limiting dehydration, however, most of this evidence is in hot environments with cold sports drinks. There is currently little research on cold sport drinks in cold environments and no research on hot sports drinks in cold environments.
Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the performance and hydration effects of a hot sports drink (~50 °C) compared to a cold sports drink (~5 °C) during cycling exercise in a cold environment (~10 °C).
Design: This project was a randomised crossover intervention study where 14 participants consented to three separate trials. Participants VO2max was collected on cycle ergometer followed by 10 km time trial. In the main trials, participants were randomised either a hot or cold sports drink. The hot sports drink was served at 51.0 °C in an average environmental temperature 13.1 °C. The cold sports drink was served at 5.3 °C in an average environmental temperature of 12.9 °C. Participants completed four 15-minute bouts at a power consistent to 80% their respective VO2max. In the final minute of each bout, a maximal sprint was performed. A 10-minute break followed each bout where participants completed questionnaires (thermal comfort, thirst, and gastrointestinal questionnaires) and were supplied with their respective sports drink. Following the last bout and break, participants completed a 10 km time trial where they were blinded to time taken. Afterwards, participants completed questionnaires and were instructed to drink ad libitum of their sports drink for 30 minutes post exercise. One-week later participants undertook the exact same procedure with the opposite sports drink.
Results: Participants consumed significantly more of the ad libitum cold sports drink during the 30-minute post exercise. Thirst scores also significantly increased from baseline in both sport drink conditions but were not different from each other. The temperature of the sports drink had no significant effect on performance. There was no significant difference in percentage weight loss between both sports drinks.
Conclusion: The hot sports drink was no better or worse than the cold sports drink for performance and thirst scores in a cold environment. Although, a larger volume of the cold sports drink was consumed post exercise, this did not lead to a better hydration status compared to the hot sports drink in a cold environment.