title: Effect of exercise-induced dehydration on endurance performance: evaluating the impact of exercise protocols on outcomes using a meta-analytic procedure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It is purported that exercise-induced dehydration (EID), especially if ≥ 2% bodyweight, impairs endurance performance (EP). Field research shows that athletes can achieve outstanding EP while dehydrated > 2% bodyweight. Using the meta-analytic procedure, this study compared the findings of laboratory-based studies that examined the impact of EID upon EP using either ecologically valid (EV) (time-trial exercise) or non-ecologically valid (NEV) (clamped-intensity exercise) exercise protocols.
  
  
  METHODS
  EP outcomes were put on the same scale and represent % changes in power output between euhydrated and dehydrated exercise tests. Random-effects model meta-regressions and weighted mean effect summaries, mixed-effects model analogue to the ANOVAs and magnitude-based effect statistics were used to delineate treatment effects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifteen research articles were included, producing 28 effect estimates, representing 122 subjects. Compared with euhydration, EID increased (0.09±2.60%, (p=0.9)) EP under time-trial exercise conditions, whereas it reduced it (1.91±1.53%, (p<0.05)) with NEV exercise protocols. Only with NEV exercise protocols did EID ≥ 2% body weight impair EP (p=0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Evidence indicates that (1) EID ≤ 4% bodyweight is very unlikely to impair EP under real-world exercise conditions (time-trial type exercise) and; (2) under situations of fixed-exercise intensity, which may have some relevance for military and occupational settings, EID ≥ 2% bodyweight is associated with a reduction in endurance capacity. The 2% bodyweight loss rule has been established from findings of studies using NEV exercise protocols and does not apply to out-of-doors exercise conditions. Athletes are therefore encouraged to drink according to thirst during exercise.
authors: Research Centre on Aging/Faculty of Physical Education and Sports, University of Sherbrooke, 1036 Belvédère Sud, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada, J1H 4C4. eric.goulet@usherbrooke.ca
authors: Eric D B
authors: ED
authors: Goulet
mesh_terms: D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology; D003681:Dehydration / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005080:Exercise Test; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D017594:Publication Bias