Hydrogen Water Doesn't Boost Running Performance in Athletes
Acute pre-exercise hydrogen rich water intake does not improve running performance at maximal aerobic speed in trained track and field runners: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study
Research hubs: Athletic Performance · Cardiovascular System · Respiratory System
- Evidence type
- Randomized controlled trial · Human study
- Authors
- Michal Valenta, Michal Botek, Jakub Krejčí, Andrew McKune, Barbora Sládečková, Filip Neuls, Robert Bajgar, Iva Klimešová
- Journal
- PLoS One
- Year
- 2022
- PMID
- 36538554
- Study Type
- Human
- Participants
- 24
- Delivery
- Water, Commercial (Aquastamina)
- Dose
- 1260 ml of HRW divided into four doses at 120 min (420 ml), 60 min (420 ml), 30 min (210 ml), and 10 min (210 ml) prior to exercise
- Duration
- 1 day or less
- Funding
- Palacký University Olomouc (IGA_FTK_2020_011)
- Conflicts of interest
- None declared
- Outcome
- Neutral
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Cited by
- 11 (OpenAlex, as of November 2026)
- Country
- Czech Republic
TL;DR
Drinking hydrogen-rich water before running didn't help trained athletes run for longer.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-rich water provided no performance benefit for trained runners exercising at maximal aerobic speed, with no significant differences in time to exhaustion, heart rate, oxygen uptake, or post-exercise lactate compared to placebo.
Summary
Researchers tested whether drinking hydrogen-rich water before exercise could help trained runners run longer at high intensity. Twenty-four competitive young runners drank either hydrogen-rich water or a placebo (fake) drink about 2 hours before running to exhaustion. The study found no difference between the two groups in how long runners lasted, their heart rate, oxygen use, or blood lactate levels (a marker of exercise intensity).
Practical Takeaway
This well-designed study in trained athletes found no evidence that hydrogen-rich water improves running endurance, despite theoretical antioxidant properties. However, this was a single study in a specific population (young male track runners), so more research in different groups and exercise types would be needed before drawing broad conclusions.
Abstract (excerpt)
PurposeThis study investigated the effects of acute, pre-exercise, hydrogen rich water (HRW) ingestion on running time to exhaustion at maximal aerobic speed in trained track and field runners.MethodsTwenty-four, male runners aged 17.5 ± 1.8 years, with body mass index = 21.0 ± 1.3 kg⋅m-2…