Hydrogen Water Boosts Endurance Performance in Athletes
- Authors
- Nidhal Jebabli, Nejmeddine Ouerghi, Wissal Abassi, Fatma Hilal Yagin, Mariem Khlifi, Manar Boujabli, Anissa Bouassida, Abderraouf Ben Abderrahman, Luca Paolo Ardigo
- Journal
- Frontiers in Physiology
- Year
- 2023
- DOI
- 10.3389/fphys.2023.1240871
- Study Type
- Human
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Tunisia
- Health Condition
- Exercise Fatigue
- Body System
- Cardiovascular
TL;DR
Drinking 500 mL of hydrogen-rich water (HRW) before exercising can improve endurance and reduce the feeling of effort in amateur runners, but it doesn't enhance their jumping ability.
Key Finding
Drinking 500 mL of hydrogen-rich water 30 minutes before aerobic exercise improved time to exhaustion and reduced perceived exertion in amateur endurance athletes, but did not improve anaerobic jumping performance.
Summary
This study tested whether drinking hydrogen-rich water (water infused with hydrogen gas) before exercise could improve athletic performance in 22 male amateur runners. Participants drank either 500 mL of hydrogen-rich water or a placebo 30 minutes before doing aerobic tests (running to exhaustion) and anaerobic tests (jumping exercises). Hydrogen-rich water improved endurance performance and reduced how hard the exercise felt during aerobic tests, but had no effect on jumping performance.
Practical Takeaway
This small study suggests hydrogen-rich water may help with endurance exercise capacity rather than explosive power activities. However, the findings are limited to amateur male runners tested acutely (one-time use), so it's unclear whether benefits would apply to other populations or with regular use. More research is needed before drawing firm conclusions about practical benefits.
Abstract
Molecular hydrogen (H2 gas) dissolved in water to produce Hydrogen-Rich Water. Hydrogen-Rich Water (HRW) is considered as ergogenic aid in different exercise modes. However, acute pre-exercise HRW ingestion effect is unclear regarding athlete performance. This study aimed at investigating acute effect of HRW ingestion on aerobic and anaerobic exercise performance. Twenty-two male amateur middle-distance runners volunteered to participate in this study. In a randomized, double-blind study design, all players ingested 500 mL of HRW or placebo (PLA) supplement 30 min before the start of the tests. Over 4 days, maximal aerobic speed of Vameval test (MAS), time to exhaustion at MAS (Tlim), squat jump (SJ), counter-movement jump (CMJ) and five jump test (5JT) were evaluated. Also, rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and peak heart rate (HRpeak) were measured during the aerobic tests. For Vameval test, HRW ingestion improved MAS, HRpeak and RPE compared with the placebo condition. For Tlim test, HRW ingestion demonstrated improvements in time to exhaustion, RPE and HRpeak. However, no significant change was observed between HW and placebo conditions in SJ, CMJ, 5JT. 500 mL of HRW can significantly improve HRpeak, time to exhaustion, RPE, with no significant effect on MAS, jumping performance in amateur endurance athletes.