This article looks at the effect of slushy ingestion on cycling performance in the heat
What’s the deal?
Summer is here! Iced drinks and slushys are in demand, but do they provide any benefit for sporting performance in the heat?
What did they do?
10 participants performed cycling-based exercise tests in 32°C heat (90°F) and 40% humidity. 90 minutes of steady pace cycling was followed by a time trial test. Participants ingested a small amount of sports drink every 15 minutes, either in the form of a ice slushy, or in liquid form at body temperature (37°C).
What happened?
All 10 participants were faster in the time trial with ice slushy ingestion (18 minutes 28 seconds on average), compared to with the liquid form at body temperature (20 minutes and 24 seconds on average).
What can you tell me about the people?
All participants were male endurance cyclists.
What else should I know?
Participants would easily be able to tell the difference between the ice slushy and the liquid drinks and this has the potential to create bias and affect their performance. To combat this, participants were lied to about the purpose of the study, which I think is pretty cool!
What will I do differently?
I don’t frequently have access to a slushy machine during my typical bike ride, but if I did, I would definitely partake! Personally, I would have loved it if this study used a room temperature drink (20-25°C), or even a maximum of 32°C, as the control (rather than body temperature at 37°C), as I feel that would have been more relevant.
Acknowledgements
This research was published in October 2013 by CA Burdon and colleagues from the University of Sydney, Australia.
This article highlights our personal take on their research, but there is so much more information available! Check it out here and see what you think!
Abstract Athlete 