One Hour Cycling Performance Is Not Affected by Ingested Fluid Volume

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of differing fluid volumes consumed during exercise, on cycle time-trial (TT) performance conducted under thermoneutral conditions (20 °C, 70% RH). Ten minutes after consuming a bolus of 6 ml · kg−1 body mass (BM) of a 6.4% CHO solution and immediately following a warm-up, 8 male cyclists undertook a 1-h self-paced TT on 4 separate occasions. During a “familiarization” trial, subjects were given three 5-min periods (15– 20 min, 30–35 min, and 45–50 min) to consume fluid ad libitum. Thereafter subjects undertook, in random order, trials consuming high (HF), moderate (MF), or low fluid (LF) volumes, where 300, 150, and 40 ml of fluid were consumed at 15, 30, and 45 min of each trial, respectively, and total CHO intake was maintained at 57.6 g. During exercise, power output and heart rate were monitored continuously, whilst stomach fullness was rated every 10 min. Additionally, BM loss and BM loss corrected for fluid intake was calculated during each trial. At 40, 50, and 60 min differences in ratings of stomach fullness were found between trials (LF vs. HF and MF vs. HF). There were however no differences in performance or physiological variables (heart rate or BM loss) between trials. These results indicate that when a pre-exercise CHO bolus is consumed, there is no effect of subsequent consumption of different fluid volumes when trained cyclists undertake a 1-h performance task in a thermoneutral environment.