BALANCE PERFORMANCE AND RECOVERY AFTER EXERCISE WITH WATER INTAKE, SPORT DRINK INTAKE AND NO FLUID

The objective of the present study was to determine the effects of exercise with water intake sport drink intake and no fluid on balance performance and recovery Seventeen physically active men (age 22 29 +/- 1 61 years height 176 24 +/- 5 18 cm weight 69 47 +/- 9 20 kg) volunteered to take part in this study The Biodex Balance System was used to evaluate balance performance and Overall Stability Index (OSI) scores were used to assess balance performance The exercise protocol consisted of a 1 hour exercise session at 75% and 85% of maximal heart rate The recovery period was 20 minutes of rest without fluid intake In all experiment conditions balance tests were applied three times as pretest posttest and recovery In each one of the three experimental conditions balance tests were consecutively performed with eyes open and eyes closed All the measurements and exercise protocols were performed in the morning (between 9 AM and 12 PM) in a specially designed and equipped room with room temperature at 21-24 degrees C Repeated measures ANOVA was used to examine all the conditions OSI post exercise was significantly higher than pre exercise (p < 0 01) and recovery (p < 0 05) For exercise with no fluid and eyes open There was a non significant difference in OSI between pre exercise and recovery No significant differences in OSI for exercise with sport drink intake and water intake were observed among pre exercise post exercise and recovery The results of this study show that balance performance decreases after prolonged exercise without fluid intake and that fluid ingested during sport activities could prevent the decrease in balance performance [J Exerc Sci Fit . Vol 8 . No 2 . 105-112 . 2010]