Acute Consumption of an Energy Drink Does Not Improve Physical Performance of Female Volleyball Players

Abstract

To determine the acute effect of an energy drink (ED) on physical performance of professional female volleyball players. 19 females (age= 22.3 ± 4.9 yr.; height= 171.8 ± 9.4 cm; weight= 65.2 ± 10.1 kg) participated in a randomized, crossover, double-blind study to measure grip strength, vertical jump and anaerobic power in 3 different sessions (ED, placebo [PL] or no beverage [CTL]). For each session, participants arrived in a fasted state, consumed a standardized breakfast meal, and 1 hr later completed the 3 baseline performance tests without having ingested the beverage. After completing the premeasurements, the athletes drank 6 ml/kg of body weight of the ED or PL and in the CTL condition no beverage was consumed. Posttest measurements were taken 30 min after the ingestion of liquids. A 3 × 2 repeated-measures ANOVA revealed no significant within-session and measurement time interactions for each performance test. Regardless of the measurement time, right hand grip strength was significantly higher in the ED condition (34.6 ± 0.9 kg) compared with PL (33.4 ± 1.1 kg) and CTL (33.6 ± 1.0 kg) (p < 0.05). Regardless of the beverage ingested, averaged right hand grip strength, taking into account all 3 testing conditions, increased from pre to posttesting (Pre = 33.8 ± 0.9 kg vs. Post = 33.9 ± 1.0 kg; p = 0.029), as did the averaged fatigue index, obtained from the anaerobic power test (Pre = 65.9± 2.2% vs. Post = 68.7± 2.0%; p= 0.049). The acute ingestion of an ED did not improve physical performance of professional Costa Rican female volleyball players.