The effect of glycerol hyperhydration on Olympic distance triathlon performance in high ambient temperatures

The purpose ofthis study was to examine the effect ofprior glycerol loading on competitive Olympic distance triathlon performance (ODT) in high ambient temperatures. Ten (3 female and 7 male) well-trained triathletes (VOzmax = 58.4 ± 2.4 mI· kg-I. min-J ; bestODT time = 131.5 ± 2.6 min) completed 2 ODTs (1.5-km swim, 40-km bicycle, lO-km run) in a randomly assigned (placebo/glycerol) double-blind study conducted 2 weeks apart. The wet-bulb globe temperature (outdoors) was 30.5 ± 0.5 °C (relative humidity: 46.3 ± 1.1 %; hot) and 25.4 ± 0.2 °C (relative humidity: 51.7 ± 2.4%; warm) for day 1 and day 2, respectively. The glycerol solution consisted of 1.2 g of glycerol per kilogram of body mass (BM) and 25 ml of a 0.75 g . kg- J BM carbohydrate solution (Gatorade®) and was consumed over a 60-min period, 2 hours prior to each ODT. Measures of performance (ODT time), fluid retention, urine output, blood plasma volume changes, and sweat loss were obtained prior to and during the ODT in both the glycerol and placebo conditions. Following glycerol loading, the increase in ODT completion time between the hot and warmconditions was significantly less than the placebo group (placebo 11:40 min vs. glycerol 1:47 min; p < .05). The majority of the performance improvement occurred during the finallO-kmrun leg ofODTon the hot day. Hyperhydration occurred as a consequence of a reduced diuresis (p < .05) and a subsequent increase in fluid retention (p < .05). No significant differences were observed in sweat loss between the glycerol and placebo conditions. Plasma volume expansion during the loading period was significantly greater (p < .05) on the hot day when glycerol appeared to attenuate the performance decrement in the heat. The present reSults suggest that glycerol hyperhydration prior to ODTin high ambient temperatures may provide some protection against the negative performance effects of competing in the heat.