Effect of Red Bull energy drink supplementation on exercise performance in a hypoxic environment

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Caffeinated energy drinks have been immensely popularized over the past two decades. Of late, the ergogenic benefits of caffeinated energy drinks on exercise have been well documented. However, little is known about the ergogenic effect of caffeinated energy drinks, such as Red Bull®, on exercise in oxygen deficient (hypoxic) environments. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects Red Bull caffeinated energy drink would have on exercise during hypoxia. PARTICIPANTS: Ten physically active females between the ages of 18 and 30 were recruited. A crossover design was used to compare effects of Red Bull® (2 mg of caffeine/kg body mass) or placebo on exercise performance outcomes. Subsequent testing sessions took place with seven days in between to allow adequate treatment washout time. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the Red Bull and placebo for both bench press muscular endurance (p=0.62) and time-to-exhaustion (p=0.76). The mean values of the total bench press repetitions for the Red Bull and placebo consecutively were 23.6(4.6) and 22.4(6.1). The mean values for the time-to-exhaustion for the Red Bull and placebo consecutively were 7.1(1.8) and 6.9(1.6) CONCLUSION: Red bull energy drink supplementation had no significant effect on cycling time-to-exhaustion; bench press performance; rating of perceived exertion; and, blood lactate concentration under hypoxic conditions. Suggesting that the negative effects of oxygen deficiency (hypoxia), outweigh the ergogenic benefits of Red Bull caffeinated energy drink.