In the recent years at competitions i've seem some people take honey just prior to their performance, and among the competitors i'm talking about are some of top in the world in DYN.Does this really have a "boosting" effect on the muscles as it increases one's glucose level and provides more energy when it's needed , in the anerobic phase of the dive.Has anybody experimented with such a thing or has some experience to share?
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Sugar before max attempt?
- Thread starterTRITON
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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Taking sugar or a sugary drink right before a max has been a common practice since around 2001. The benefits are quite scientific -- increased respiratory quotient, i.e. burning of carbohydrates rather than fat is 10% more efficient, as well as providing more energy to the brain.
The difference can be easily shown by doing an apnea with an oximeter, then taking sugar and doing it again.
The difference can be easily shown by doing an apnea with an oximeter, then taking sugar and doing it again.
Taking sugar, you will produce more CO2 and burn less O2. So the contractions may be harder to hold.
Mandy Cruickshank used to drink gatorade just before her WR static attempts. I also used to drink powerade/gatorade right before getting into the water during my WR attempts in 2001. I eventually tried honey water, but that introduces other effects (H2O2).
Mandy Cruickshank used to drink gatorade just before her WR static attempts. I also used to drink powerade/gatorade right before getting into the water during my WR attempts in 2001. I eventually tried honey water, but that introduces other effects (H2O2).
If I understand well, honey water is more prone to induce oxidative stress than other sources of sugar? Is there a rationale for such an effect?
If you mix honey with water and leave it for a few hours it produces hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Hydrogen peroxide can have very beneficial effects on apnea but it also has other side effects such as oxidative stress and the destruction of myoglobin.
My first 150m DNF was after eating approx 250 gr of honey, approx 2 hours before attemt. I had very mild contractions if any, countrary to another dive attempts. Eating honey was not intended to improve my dive, but I guess it helped. Have to try more times 
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yes, that was my biggest portion of honey ever. I was helping my father to put honey into jars and had to lick a lot of honey from wooden bar. Than I went to public swimming pool with my cousin, told him how to make safety and Tried. A forgot a nose clip so I tried without it and made my PB
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I used to do a very physical competitive sport as a teenager and tried eating a Mars bar & glucose tablets shortly before an event a couple of times. First time, around 10 minutes before the event it provided a noticeable boost but second time I took it too early & ended up feeling sluggish. I think it spikes your insulin. So short term boost but medium term it seemed to have an adverse affect. I did triathlons some years later & tried Gatorade but found it really messed me up (gastric stress I think they call it) so tended to stick to with water. Apple cytomax seemed ok though (a friend also discovered apple cytomax independently of me & came to a similar conclusion).
Couldnt sugary treats before your dive speed up your heart rate and mess up your dive? What if you had a Red Bull or something before your dive?
Red Bull probably would sped up the heart rate because it has caffeine in it, but I've tried small amounts of apple juice lately and it doesn't seem detrimental to the hold, or appear to increase the severity of the contractions, but that could be because I'm only ingesting a small amount of juice prior to apnea, or even because I'm more or less a beginner and only at 2:30 max anyway.