The influence of commercially-available carbohydrate and carbohydrate-protein supplements on endurance running performance in recreational athletes during a field trial

Background: it is recommended that endurance athletes consume carbohydrate (cho) supplements,providing 6-8% cho concentration,during exercise > 60 minutes to improve athletic performance. recently research has compared carbohydrate-protein (cho-p) supplementation to the traditionally used cho supplementation during endurance exercise,following these supplementation recommendations,in controlled settings,but not under simulated applied conditions such as a field trial. therefore,the purpose of the present investigation was to test cho and cho-p supplementation under applied conditions such that commercially-available isocaloric (cho-p & double-carbohydrate [cho-cho]) and isocarbohydrate (cho-p & cho) supplements were compared to a placebo (pla),within an outdoor running field trial > 60 minutes in order to asses their influence on endurance performance.methods: twelve male recreational runners completed four,19.2 km runs,where they were instructed to run at a pace similar to race pace including a final sprint to the finish,which in this case was the final two laps of the course (1.92 km). supplementation was provided before the start and in 4 km increments. performance was measured by time to complete the 19.2 km run and last 1.92 km sprint.results: analyses found no difference between supplements in time to complete the 19.2 km run (pla = 88.6 ± 11.6 min,cho = 89.1 ± 11.3 min,cho-p = 89.1 ± 11.8 min,cho-cho = 89.6 ± 11.9 min) or last 1.92 km sprint to the finish (pla = 8.3 ± 1.2 min,cho = 8.2 ± 1.2 min,cho-p = 8.2 ± 1.2 min,cho-cho = 8.4 ± 1.5 min).conclusions: when following recommendation for supplementation within a field trial,commercially available cho and cho-p supplements do not appear to enhance performance in male recreational runners. © 2013 coletta et al.; licensee biomed central ltd.