Micronutrient Fortified Carbohydrate Supplementation and Speed, Agility and Power in Indian Adolescent Athletes

Abstract

The positive performance impact of exogenous carbohydrate intake on prolonged endurance is well established. The effect on shorter duration activities has been less documented, in particular with adolescents. In this randomized, cross over study, thirty adolescent athletes (24 male and 6 female; age: 13.5 ± 1.0 yrs; height: 161.4 ± 8.1cm; weight: 50.4 ± 9.3 kg) performed the same sequence of procedures; baseline assessments, a treatment drink before and after a 45 min intermittent exercise protocol followed by post-baseline assessments. Participants were randomised to one of three blinded treatment drinks; micronutrient fortified carbohydrate (CHO), calorie-matched control (PRO) or water (WAT). The assessments involved repeated sprint and repeated agility tests (6 repetitions; 65 sec. provided to complete the repetition and recover prior to the next effort) and a repeated Wingate anaerobic test (3 x 30 sec) on a cycle ergometer. The Fatigue Index (FI) was calculated from the sprint and agility results and Mean Power Output (MPO) from the repeated Wingate results. The difference between the baseline and post-baseline results was then calculated and CHO, PRO and WAT treatment groups compared using Analysis of variance (ANOVA). No significant differences were found between speed, agility and power change from baseline results when CHO, PRO and WAT treatment groups were compared (p ≥ 0.05). Supplementation with a micronutrient fortified carbohydrate beverage does not increase repeated speed, agility or power in Indian adolescent team sport athletes.