Improved time to exhaustion following ingestion of the energy drink Amino Impact™

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a commercially available energy drink on time to exhaustion during treadmill exercise. In addition, subjective measures of energy, focus, and fatigue were examined METHODS: Fifteen subjects (9 men and 6 women; 20.9 ± 1.0 y; 172.1 ± 9.1 cm; 71.0 ± 9.4 kg; 16.9 ± 9.7% body fat) underwent two testing sessions administered in a randomized, double-blind fashion. Subjects reported to the laboratory in a 3-hr post-absorptive state and were provided either the supplement (SUP; commercially marketed as Amino Impact™) or placebo (P). During each laboratory visit subjects performed a treadmill run (70% VO(2 )max) to exhaustion. Mean VO(2 )was measured during each endurance exercise protocol. Subjects were required to complete visual analog scales for subjective measures of energy, focus and fatigue at the onset of exercise (PRE), 10-mins into their run (EX10) and immediately post-exercise (IP). RESULTS: Time to exhaustion was significantly greater (p = 0.012) during SUP than P. Subjects consuming the supplement were able to run 12.5% longer than during the placebo treatment. Subjects consuming SUP reported significantly greater focus (p = 0.031), energy (p = 0.016), and less fatigue (p = 0.005) at PRE. Significant differences between groups were seen at EX10 for focus (p = 0.026) and energy (p = 0.004), but not fatigue (p = 0.123). No differences were seen at IP for either focus (p = 0.215), energy (p = 0.717) or fatigue (p = 0.430). CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study indicate that the supplement Amino Impact™ can significantly increase time to exhaustion during a moderate intensity endurance run and improve subjective feelings of focus, energy and fatigue.