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Ergogenic Aids Lecture Notes

Ergogenic Aids

  • Ergogenic aids are performance-enhancing substances.
  • Ergo means work, genic means producing.
  • They help maintain exercise performance, especially in athletes.

Key Objectives

  • Cover the range of commonly used ergogenic aids.
  • Names, types, and functions of key aids.
  • Which sports benefit most from certain aids.
  • Banned substances (5 classes).

Definition

  • Any substance that helps or claims to help enhance athletic performance.
  • Enhancing athletic performance:
    • Improving strength, endurance, or exercise efficiency.
    • Improving training or recovery.
    • Preparing the body for exercise (pre-workout).
    • Reducing injury risk.
  • Substances that helps or claims to help:
    • Many supplements claim to improve performance, but evidence doesn't always support this.
    • Group A (high level of efficacy) ergogenic aids have strong research backing.
    • Australian Institute of Sport classification: Group A (high efficacy) to Group D (ineffective).

Regulation

  • AIS provides a framework for sport supplement regulation.
  • Athletes should avoid supplements that may lead to bans.

Group A Ergogenic Aids

  • Sports foods: sports drinks, gels, protein powders.
  • Medical supplements: vitamins, minerals.
  • Performance supplements: caffeine, beta alanine, bicarbonate, beetroot juice, creatine, glycerol.

Categories

  • Pharmacological: drugs or medicines (e.g., anabolic steroids).
  • Nutritional: sports drinks, protein powders, vitamins, minerals, performance supplements.

Banned Substances

  • Must meet two of three criteria:
    • Potential to cause harm.
    • Potential to enhance performance.
    • Violates the spirit of the sport.
  • Five classes of banned drugs:
    • Anabolic steroids: increase muscle mass.
    • Hormones (e.g., testosterone): increase muscle mass.
    • Beta-two agonists: increase bronchiole dilation and muscle strength/mass (related to cyclic AMP).
    • Pro hormones and hormone boosters: increase muscle mass and power.
    • Diuretics: lose water (used for making weight in sports like boxing and wrestling).

Blood Doping

  • Taking out blood during training, storing, and re-injecting before an event.
    • Increases red blood cells and oxygen to muscles.
  • Taking EPO (erythropoietin):
    • Stimulates red blood cell production.
    • Can thicken blood, leading to blood clots and adverse events.

Nutritional Aids to Performance (Legal)

  • Carbohydrate supplementation:
    • Limited carbohydrate stores (600g in liver and muscle).
    • Enough for about 60 minutes of high-intensity exercise.
    • "Hitting the wall" is glycogen depletion.
    • Unlimited fat stores, but fat can only be used at low to moderate intensity.

Sports Drinks and Gels

  • Replenish glucose and glycogen during and after exercise.
  • Sports drinks: carbohydrate (5-8%), sodium, and potassium.
  • Ideal range: 5-8% carbohydrate (25-40g per 500ml bottle).
  • Replace sodium and potassium lost in sweat.
  • Hyponatremia: low blood sodium levels can cause nausea, headaches, and confusion.

Mouth Rinsing

  • Rinsing sports drink (carbohydrate) in the mouth and spitting it out can improve performance.
  • 2-3% performance benefit for high-intensity endurance events (30-90 minutes).
  • Activates pleasure reward areas in the brain, maintaining motor output.

Minimising Cramps

  • Timing fluid intake: small frequent sips.
  • Fluid type: sports drinks (<8% carbohydrates).
  • Low-fibre food options (e.g., bananas).
  • Well-trained athletes cramp less.
  • Pickle juice: reduces cramp severity and duration via oropharyngeal reflex.

Performance Supplements

  • Group A supplements: caffeine, beta alanine, bicarbonate, beetroot juice, creatine, and glycerol.
  • Creatine:
    • For strength, speed, and power athletes.
    • Helps re-synthesise ATP quickly.
    • Loading: 25g/day for a few days, then 2-3g/day for maintenance.
    • Can cause water retention (bloating).
    • Improves cognitive performance in the elderly.
  • Caffeine:
    • Legalised but monitored to prevent excessive use.
    • 3-6mg/kg of body weight.
    • Delays fatigue.
    • Stimulates lipolysis, sparing glycogen.
    • Increases calcium release in muscle.
    • Two cups of coffee 60 minutes before exercise.
  • Sodium Bicarbonate: buffers acidosis, improving performance in high-intensity events (1-4 minutes).
    • 300mg/kg body weight in small doses before the event.
    • Gastrointestinal distress is a common side effect.
  • Beta Alanine: increases muscle carnosine concentration, buffering acidosis.
    • 4-6g daily over four weeks.
    • 2-3% performance benefit in high-intensity events.
  • Beetroot Juice: nitrate converts to nitric oxide, a vasodilator.
    • Small improvement in endurance performance.
  • Vitamins and Minerals Supplements and Antioxidants: Really do not enhance performance.
  • Educate athletes about supplements and marketing hype.