Skip Navigation


Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access originally published online on January 9, 2009
Alcohol and Alcoholism 2009 44(3):278-283; doi:10.1093/alcalc/agn108
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
44/3/278    most recent
agn108v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Lecoultre, V.
Right arrow Articles by Schutz, Y.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lecoultre, V.
Right arrow Articles by Schutz, Y.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?


© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Medical Council on Alcohol. All rights reserved

Effect of a Small Dose of Alcohol on the Endurance Performance of Trained Cyclists

Virgile Lecoultre* and Yves Schutz

Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

* Corresponding author: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. Tel: +41-21-692-55-70; Fax: +41-21-695-55-95; E-mail: virgile.lecoultre{at}unil.ch

Received 28 August 2008; first review notified 17 November 2008; in revised form 19 November 2008; accepted 28 November 2008; advance access publication 9 January 2009


  Abstract

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.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.