Effects of Acute Alcohol Consumption on Cycling Anaerobic Exercise Performance: A Randomized Crossover Study

PURPOSE Some athletes consume alcohol prior to training and sports events, possibly because they believe that alcohol may aid in reducing pain and anxiety, increasing confidence, and promoting aggressiveness. While previous studies have shown that alcohol consumption acutely impairs endurance exercise performance, its effects on anaerobic exercise performance have not been well established. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of a small dose of alcohol on anaerobic exercise performance. METHODS In a randomized crossover design, nine healthy and recreationally active males (n=6) and females (n=3) participated in the study. Subjects consumed 0.7 g of alcohol per kg of lean body mass or a calorie/volume-matched sucrose beverage. Reaction time tests were performed before and 25 minutes after beverage consumption. Following the second reaction time test, subjects performed the 20-second Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT). RESULTS Compared to the sucrose drink, alcohol showed no significant effects on peak power (p=.903), average power (p=.970), percentage power drop during WAnT (p=.593), or total energy produced during WAnT (p=.923). Moreover, alcohol did not affect the time course of power output during a 20s WAnT (p=.999 for all time points). In addition, reaction time was not significantly different when comparing alcoholic with sucrose drinks at different timepoint (Before; p=.999, After; p=.364). CONCLUSIONS Although some athletes consume alcohol prior to engaging in sports events, assuming that it may improve anaerobic exercise performance, the results of the present study show that acute consumption of alcohol does not have effects on anaerobic exercise performance when compared to the control beverage.