showurcolours

Ok. this is my first post and this is actually a subject quite close to my heart. Just for your information, I am a sports science grad so I do have a background relevant to this post. I'm going to try and debunk some myths that I've seen posted here, as well as try and answer the original question. I've put some words or phrases in bold, to help you scan the post quicker. Ok firstly, performance enhancing drugs are used all over the world, in literally every sport, at any level. This can include caffeine, which is actually a banned substance from most sports (not sure for trials comps however) and obviously include any illegal drugs too (even including alcohol although not illegal) I do agree with most people, I think nutrition can make a difference to trials riding, having the required energy and protein to not only fuel your sessions but recover from them is important, but I think that most trials riders would probably not benefit from supplements - especially if a healthy balanced diet is already consumed - unless an extremely busy schedule and long trials sessions are occurring. Secondly, as for energy drinks, I think that caffeine in moderation may improve concentration and focus (as has been shown for other sports) which obviously is important for trials riding. Caffeine was again, in most sports shown to increase effort, speed and endurance - again desirable traits for a trials rider. Negatives of caffeine however are tiredness (excessive tiredness post exercise once the initial energy has been depleted) and over consumption can also cause the shakes and reduced ability to focus. So obviously moderation is key. As a side note, I saw someone post that it is addictive, I can scientifically confirm there are no addictive substances in energy drinks (monster, rockstar, redbull) but some people can still become addicted to these. As someone so correctly made the point that the Army (US Army) made these drinks a requirement, it was to increase the 'vigor' and energy of the soldiers, it was however discontinued to be because of the problems with excessive tiredness that caffeine causes. In an interesting side note, cocaine (back around 1930's I believe) was also given to them for the same reasons! There are however new drugs that are widely available (with limited scientific research, yet still 'safe' - again in moderation) which may be of interest to you. Please DO NOT think that I am condoning drug use to trials riders, I am simply trying to educate. These are ritalin, modafinil and piracetam. Ritalin is something that you may recognise, it's given to children with ADHD in America so they may concentrate, it's also widely used as a 'cognitive enhancer' during college and universities. Piracetam is just another form of ritalin that is available in England (I must confess to using this, but not for trials riding - both are legal drugs, but again probably banned for sport) A cognitive enhancer may wish to be used during trials riding as to increase spatial awareness and proprioception. Modafinil is exactly the same sort, interestingly enough it has replaced both cocaine and caffeine as the US Army's drug of choice. One last note that I feel is imperative to mention is the Placebo Effect - basically in short, if you think it will help you, it probably will (google for a better definition but that's the jist of it) therefore if you think supplementation will improve your recovery and thus help your trials riding, they probably will. So I hope you enjoyed this very long first post of mine, food for thought perhaps. Also, please do not hesitate to ask me any questions if you would likely anything explained better -Showurcolours