I saw a 17 year old boy drinking a bottle of a power drink (red bull) 2 minutes before a 400 m race. What do you think about this ?
Is there any use, is there any risk?

yes there is a pretty good risk of doing badly by drinking a red bull. this is not a "power" drink as it has no electrolytes and no hydration benefits. red bull is just a caffeine drink, and being so will cause dehydration and a resulting "downer" off of the high that you get off of the caffeine. what you want is powerade, this is pretty beneficial to drink a couple hours before a race i find.

One of my athletes had to compete with this boy and asked me whether he should also try it. Unfortunately, the red-bull-guy won the race..
I thought this stuff might not be harmless. And above all, what comes next?

Being a caffeine boost, you risk the possibility of elevating the level of caffeine in your blood stream to above the legal limit as caffeine is a performance enhancing drug!!!

[quote="Roadruna"]Being a caffeine boost, you risk the possibility of elevating the level of caffeine in your blood stream to above the legal limit as caffeine is a performance enhancing drug!!![/quote]

This is true, but as of december 31st 2004, caffeine became a legal substance as the effect on the bodywas deemed negligible. So there's no need to worry bout that anymore

Caffeine is banned when the concentration in your urine is more than 12 micograms per milimetre, you have to take it nearly 500mg of caffeine to test positive. A can of redbull contains 80mgs of caffeine, which is near a strong cup of coffee. Yes, as serloras mentions caffeine causes dehydration. But, thats in the long run you'd be able to slip clear of any worries involving it during the race, especially if your event is the 400m. I mean your not going to get dehydrated within those 2 mintues, just make sure prior to the race you have been properly hydrated, asides from that energy drink. Sip some sports drinks, they restore fluids, restore electrolytes, and replenish muscle glycogen. So, does redbull to an extent but not in the proper ratio that completes a isotonic sports drink such as gatorade. Although, redbull will increase your performance with it's caffeine and B vitamins which replenish energy levels and alertness. Caffeine is on the doping list for a reason, but again only when near 500mg. Now, don't go nuts and drink like 5 of them it can be dangerous. Caffeine is a stimulant and puts added stress on the heart, especially while performing vigorously. Only at 500mg will it be considered a performance enhancer, but it already is to an extent. Another tasty energy drink is sobe's adrenaline rush, it's at the same level as redbull if not more.

Redbull and other energy drinks containing stimulate the CNS (central nervous system) causing an athlete to become more alert. It may help a runner's performace. The drink should be consumed more than 2 minutes before race time. The drink will not be absorbed in to the body in 2 minutes. You should drink it around 20-30 minutes before a race. I hope that we all realize that one little magic pill or shake is not going to necessarily make us run faster. Most improvements seen from the use of these products results from higher confidence due to taking the supplement and the belief it is helping them. This is commonly called the “placebo affect” a highly mental effect. Your mind being your most powerful tool can push you far beyond your expectations enhancing your performance. The Best energy Enhancer is to consume a well-balanced diet rich in carbohydrates and maintain proper hydration before, during, and after exercise while allowing adequate rest for your muscles to recover. There is no substitute for HARD WORK and SMART NUTRITION.

Redbull and other energy drinks containing stimulate the CNS (central nervous system) causing an athlete to become more alert. It may help a runner's performace. The drink should be consumed more than 2 minutes before race time. The drink will not be absorbed in to the body in 2 minutes. You should drink it around 20-30 minutes before a race. I hope that we all realize that one little magic pill or shake is not going to necessarily make us run faster. Most improvements seen from the use of these products results from higher confidence due to taking the supplement and the belief it is helping them. This is commonly called the “placebo affect” a highly mental effect. Your mind being your most powerful tool can push you far beyond your expectations enhancing your performance. The Best energy Enhancer is to consume a well-balanced diet rich in carbohydrates and maintain proper hydration before, during, and after exercise while allowing adequate rest for your muscles to recover. There is no substitute for HARD WORK and SMART NUTRITION.

RedBull is definitely not harmful unless you drink it like it is water. Caffeine is good for a athlete before he or she goes into vigorous exercise. But after that, I think water is good. It takes away the dehydration. If not, other energy drink can also be considered. Some of them dun contain caffeine.

try consuming drinks that contain electrolytes as well as protein, such as accelerade. Great drink for before and after a run.

im currently completing my second year in Exercise Science and we've just had an extensive lecture on caffeine and its effects on performance (including red bull)

The basic over view of the lecture was that caffeine does increase performance. This lecture is not based on what my lecturer thinks, but he bases all of his information on published studies in many journals. (if you want to know what they are, msg me and ill tell you titles, authors so you can look them up yourself)

there are studies that have researched the performance increase on longer duration exercise. There shows a large increase (~3%) in long distance events both on the track and on an exercise bike. We learnt that there aren't many studies on the effect of short term sprints and caffeine, however there are a few that claim an increase in performance. The recommended intake of caffeine is about 3mg/kg to increase performance.

IN addition, taurine (contained in red bull) has not proven effects on performance.

Sip some sports drinks, they restore fluids, restore electrolytes, and replenish muscle glycogen. So, does redbull to an extent but not in the proper ratio that completes a isotonic sports drink such as gatorade. Although, redbull will increase your performance with it's caffeine and B vitamins which replenish energy levels and alertness. Caffeine is on the doping list for a reason, but again only when near 500mg. Now, don't go nuts and drink like 5 of them it can be dangerous.


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