Gregory Chandler on Supplements for Endurance

In earlier times, endurance athletes consumed large amounts of sugar-based sports drinks
and energy drinks. Now athletes acknowledge that these drinks may not be the best means
to enhance performance. Typically, endurance athletes have not considered protein ingestion
important because building muscle is not a priority. Nonetheless, recent research of female triathletes suggests this idea is something they should reconsider.

On two separate occasions, highly trained women exercised for three hours, then performed a
timed test to exhaustion on a cycle ergometer. Every 20 minutes during the 3-hour bout of exercise, the subjects ingested either a standard 6% carbohydrate drink providing 24 kcal or a low carbohydrate/low protein supplement (3% carbohydrates s and 1.2% protein) providing 17 kcal.

Those who consumed the carbohydrate-only protein drink fatigued just after 42 minutes compared to those who consumed the carbohydrate-protein drink who fatigued after 50 minutes.

These results indicate that consuming a blend of carbohydrates and protein during workouts
has a stronger impact on endurance than just carbohydrates alone. Further, when protein is consumed during prolonged endurance exercise, fewer carbohydrates are needed to fuel the exercise.

GREGORY CHANDLER