title: The effect of acute taurine ingestion on 4-km time trial performance in trained cyclists.
abstract: Taurine (TAU) has been shown to improve exercise time to exhaustion and 3-km running performance; however, no studies have considered the effect of acute TAU ingestion on short duration cycling time trial (TT) performance. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a single oral acute dose of 1000 mg of TAU on a laboratory simulated 4-km cycling TT. Eleven trained male cyclists performed three, 4-km TTs. The first of the trials was a familiarisation, followed by two subsequent trials which were performed two hours after the consumption of either 1000 mg of TAU or placebo (P), using a double-blind randomised crossover design. Capillary blood samples were obtained prior to the start and immediately after each TT for the measurement of lactate, pH and HCO3-. There was no effect of TAU (p = 0.731, d = 0.151) on performance (390 ± 27 and 388 ± 21 s for TAU and P, respectively), nor were there any condition main effects for VO2, lactate, pH, or HCO3-(p > 0.05) despite post TT changes in lactate (7.3 ± 2.5 mmol l-1, p < 0.001, d = 2.86, 7.6 ± 2.0 mmol l-1p < 0.001, d = 3.75); pH (-0.255 ± 0.1, p < 0.001, d = 2.62, -0.258 ± 0.09, p < 0.001, d = 2.87); HCO3-(-13.58 ± 2.7 mmol l-1, p < 0.001, d = 5.04 vs. -13.36 ± 2.3, p < 0.001, d = 5.72 for TAU and P, respectively). The findings of this study suggest that a pre-exercise dose of 1000 mg TAU offers no performance advantage during 4-km TT nor does it alter the blood buffering responses in trained cyclists.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport and Physical Activity, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire, UK.
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport and Physical Activity, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire, UK.
authors.forename: Craig A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Bridge
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport and Physical Activity, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire, UK.
authors.forename: Lars R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: McNaughton
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport and Physical Activity, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire, UK. andy.sparks@edgehill.ac.uk.
authors.forename: S Andy
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Sparks
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001642:Bicycling; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D006801:Humans; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000187:drug effects*; D013654:Taurine / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D013654:Taurine; D019344:Lactic Acid
keywords: Buffering; Cycling; Ergogenic aid; Performance