TargetTalk

Is it "O.K" to drink these type of energy drinks prior to a match. I am heading off to the nationals preatty soon and the weather is looking very hot and humid - 20 to 30 degrees F. hotter than what I am used to shooting in. I have heard of some people drinking gatorade or powerade events as it gives the needed electrolytes to the body. What would be the effects of drinking this type of drink prior to shooting. Has anybody tried it? What were the results?

Thanks!

Despite a lot of hype for energy drinks, keeping up your fluids (here read WATER), is the important bit!
In any case be wary of anything with caffeine - the 'energy' in many energy drinks. This can have disastrous effects on pulse rate and pulse strength.

For high energy output sports (e.g. long distance running) electrolyte drinks can have their place. But, for shooting sports????
If you really want to have an energy drink, after the day's shooting is over is probably the way to go.

IMHO,
Spencer

Use the sports drinks AFTER shooting. In many cases, they have high amounts ofcaffene and sugar. Not a good mix for precision shooting.

Water is the best form of hydration - slow and constant consumption is easiest for your body to absorb. Don't chug a gallon of water and expect no ill effects....

Thank you for the replies.

I will stick with water (and by the looks of it lots of it!)

Neither Gatorade nor Powerade have caffine at least not here in Canada. Water is your best bet, if you are sweating a lot an electrolyte replacement my have a place. It's also not advised to change what you normally do ie add new foods or drinks prior to competing. The only one who can really tell how they effect you is you, no one here can tell you that.

I think many are confusing "Energy" drink like Red Bull with carbohydrate-electrolyte replacement drinks like Gatorade they are vastly different products.

Watering down Gatorade is also an option, will dilute the carbs and electrolytes (still getting some) and help with the pallatablity of water for those that don't drink enough because they don't like it. Some research also shows that the carb-ectrolytes also assist with the absorbtion of water, some studies show protein also can assist with the absorbtion.

What ever you plan on doing I suggest introducing it during practice.

Good luck looks like I'll be passing you as I'm going out to Calgary for the Pistol Nationals.

If you really are concerned about electrolyte replacement and don't want the sugars and energy components, look for a drink mix called NUUN. Worked great a few weeks ago on a 100 mile bicycle ride in 90 - 94F weather.

There are versions of the sports drinks that have low carbohydrate levels and that is the big issue for shooters - i.e. you don't want a sugar rush and it's rebound blood sugar drop. As others have stated most sports drinks don't contain caffeine - but read the labels. I personally dilute down the sports drinks, even for hard sports, but for shooting, I stick to water.

I have been advised to try apple juice mixed 50:50 with water and add to that a small pinch of table salt - specifically for shooting. I haven't quite gotten around to trying it myself yet, but our weather isn't quite so energy or fluid sapping at the minute.

Rob.

I belive the current thinking in Sports Medicine is that you need to replace water (which is lost during hot/humid weather combined with vigorous exercise [most ISSF shooting does not really fall into this category]) but you don't need to supplement the water with anything else.

"Sports Drinks" are fine as long as they aren't "Energy Drinks" which regrettably seems to be the new fad.

However realize that sports drinks work in part by increasing your thirst somewhat, which makes you drink more . . .

[Salt supplementation was almost universally abandoned in the 1970s, even by most military organizations.]

Hi All,
I was in the USAS NC last week in Frt Benning. I was competing in 3X40, and was assigned (twice!) to the second relaym starting at 12:30 and finishing at 3:30 PM. Average temperature was 90F, with very high humidity. All this, plus the shooting clothing made the experience a real living inferno! I could feel my pulse accelerated, had headache and felt my pulse inside my brain! Of course that did not help my scores... Anyways, I tried all the time to keep hydrated with gatorade and some water (drinking constantly and slowly, as recommended). After reading your posts suggesting that gatorade might contain caffeine, I though this might have been part of the problem and I double checked the composition of this drink. According to the manufacturers, it DOES NOT contain caffeine, only some sugar and electrolytes...
After this experience I think probably the best way to go go would be to use water during shooting and these drinks AFTER shooting, as previously suggested. Also, in these conditions I disagree with a previous posting, ISSF shooting can happen in very hot and humid conditions and requires aggressive hydration prior, during and after shooting.

People may think that you are not losing fluids during a shooting competition due to the lack of physical movement, but in hot and humid conditions just see how soaked your shooting jacket and clothing is when you take it off after or during the match, as previously mentioned you do need to hydrate before a match and during it in these conditions, unfortunately one of the first things to be affected when dehydrated is your eyesight, not good for shooting. Colin

Just breathing you loose fluids.

when you pee it should be clear...this is the best way to check your level of hydration. If it is dark, like first thing when you wake up you are dehydrated. When I wake up the first thing I do is drink 16oz of water. This was recommended by a nutrition expert I worked with last year. Without exercise I try and drink at least 64 oz of water a day. This helps with my vision while shooting.

Chris wrote:Just breathing you loose fluids.

when you pee it should be clear...this is the best way to check your level of hydration. If it is dark, like first thing when you wake up you are dehydrated. When I wake up the first thing I do is drink 16oz of water. This was recommended by a nutrition expert I worked with last year. Without exercise I try and drink at least 64 oz of water a day. This helps with my vision while shooting.

That is true but it takes 30 mins or more for most things you drink to get into your bloodstream. So sort out your hydration before starting the match and keep supping water (or whatever you've decided on) during the match. As mentioned above, your eyesight is one of the first things to suffer from dehydration and if it happens it's too late to reverse things, mid match.

Rob.

Just to clear up a medical myth as i am trained in such matters.

If you are in normal good health with out suffering from dehydration your urine should be 'straw' coloured. If your urine is darker and amber in colour you need to increase your fluid intake. If your urine is clear, it often suggests that you have too much adrenaline in your system. There are many other reasons to these different colours but these are the most common causes.

I know you are just giving simplistic advice but as someone trained in medical issues, I'm sure you're aware urine colour is not a great indicator of much. I take vitamins in the morning and my urine is almost neon yellow. If you eat lots of beats or drink or eat lots of strongly coloured foods it can effect your urine colour.

Exactly, there are many other causes and reasons for urine colour change but the recognised medical colours are as described based on persons who are not taking any supplements.

South Florida ... July 2008 ... Dehydration experiences = EVERY day .... Mind you , it is pretty extreme here this time of year.
Trying to shoot in any non air conditioned area is a complete waste of time , because after about two seconds , Mr Sweatty comes out to play.
Personally I've found Gatorade & Powerade useless with dehydration , I think it's really good for rotting your teeth though.
If ( when ) you get dehydrated here , you need water & proper electrolite supplements. Just water & you'll suffer a lot longer.
Actually , you need to drink water with proper electrolites from the time you wake up , to the time you go to bed & any when in between. ie way before you shoot , when you shoot & after you shoot.
As for urine colour ? .... bright yellow after taking all my evening/morning supplements , dark orange after getting dehydrated ( you've been Tango'd ) , red after red wine , purple after eating a beetroot sandwich , slightly green after too much broccoli , a weird colour after drinking too much Guiness & the rest of the time I'm not sure because my bloody eyes are stinging too much from having sweat in them
Roll on my Isle of Wight , English summer holiday ....

There is new research on how to hydrate from a de hydrated position. I cannot find the paper yet but i do remember them saying that water was not the best medium. I know they said Tea was better than water for rehydration but no good for us shooters due to the caffein.
Perhaps some body with more time than me could dig out the latest on this using google. Beware though that there are a lot of Quack medical sites all out to sell you crap.

seriously, does taking in caffeine really have such a negative impact on shooting?

for me, its the opposite. i feel better drinking coffee. it makes me more alert, and more calm.

.donthc wrote:seriously, does taking in caffeine really have such a negative impact on shooting?

for me, its the opposite. i feel better drinking coffee. it makes me more alert, and more calm.

Caffeine is not good for shooting, unless you usually take caffeine, in which case stopping it is worse.

If you can wean yourself off caffeine in everyday life then it will benefit your shooting.

I say this as someone who smoked and drank strong coffee all through his international shooting career. (Stopped the weed now but still on the bean)

Poweraid prepare a sachet-only version of their product that is low sugar and low carbohydrate and issue it only to sponsored programmes for the Olympic Games. This is not, unfortunately, available for retail – if anybody knows otherwise, please pm me the product information(!)Unlike the standard preparations, these are ideal for ISSF shooting

In powder form, the sachets are designed for 500ml of water, however, for temperate conditions, people put a sachet to 1 litre water. This preparation has the advantage of batch preparation and quality control for anti-doping. In a sachet, it cannot be tampered. Unfortunately, the paper material sachets absorb atmospheric moisture that cause spoilage giving them a shelf life of a few months.

Steady-on David, “weed” used to be an innocent phrase as did the phrase “gay” (Ok that was before I was born!), an excellent point though.