Those who are constantly looking for ways to improve their lifting game will be interested to learn of a recently published study that has determined rinsing the mouth with a carbohydrate solution prior to resistance exercise could provide a boost to your gym regime. Here’s what you need to know.
With an array of pre-workout cocktails on the market containing an often-baffling list of ingredients, scientists have long sought to prove that simply adding carbohydrates to water could be all you need in order to make that extra rep possible. “From these data, it appears that mouth rinsing with carbohydrates prior to performing resistance exercise is a viable way to enhance strength during resistance exercise,” concluded the new study.
How was the experiment carried out?
Individuals, all men, were given either a carbohydrate solution or a placebo. The carb drink was prepared with 6.4 grams of colorless and odorless maltodextrin in around 100ml of water and given to subjects so that they could rinse their mouth with it. The placebo group rinsed their mouths with drinking water instead. For the purposes of the experiment, mouth rinsing was defined as distributing the carbohydrate solution around the mouth for 20 seconds before spitting it out into a designated container, providing individuals with a potential ergogenic aid. The theory is that even when not consumed, the act of rinsing carbs is enough to activate areas of the brain associated with performance. After 10 minutes, the participants then engaged in 5 sets x 6 repetitions of Romanian deadlifts using a kBox Exxentric flywheel device linked to Bluetooth in order to record the results. Each set was separated by 3 minutes of rest and participants also wore wrist-based heart monitors.
What were the results?
“The results indicate that mouth rinsing with the carbohydrate solution before RDL resistance exercise significantly improved in exercise performance in terms of eccentric peak power, concentric peak power, average power, and total work with a moderate effect size compared with the placebo treatment,” said the report. In other words, the subjects obtained a statistically better set of results in the lifting phase, lowering phase, and total workload completed. And all without feeling like they had worked harder than usual. “The average power of the (carb) trial was significantly higher than that of the placebo trial,” continued the report, discussing average force displayed by those in the carb trial. “These results suggest that simple mouth rinsing with carbohydrates before short-term, high-intensity exercise improves exercise performance.” Scientists are excited about what this type of instant contact with carbs can mean for applications in the future. “This study provides objective, scientific evidence demonstrating that mouth rinsing with a CHO solution before inertial or resistance exercise improves training quality,” wrote the study authors. “This finding can provide athletes or coaches of explosive power sports with reference to improve training interventions and preparation regimens for competitions.” Rest assured however, that in practise, there’s probably no need to spit out your carbs, meaning that you won’t become an anti social member of your local gym