Each week in my Research Update, I distill the latest sports science research into practical insights to help you improve your training, performance, and recovery.
In this week's update:
- Which sports supplements that are actually worth using
- Why fasted training costs performance and how carbs can help
-
Why IV drips aren’t a replacement for proper hydration
The Supplements That Actually Work for Cyclists
This review from the UCI Sports Nutrition Project evaluated the supplements most commonly used in cycling. Out of the dozens on the market, only a handful consistently improved performance: caffeine, creatine, beta-alanine, dietary nitrates, glycerol, and sodium bicarbonate. Each has a specific use case depending on the demands of the event, from sprinting and climbing to time trials and racing in hot conditions.
Exogenous ketones, despite the hype, still lack convincing evidence. The paper also highlighted that supplement contamination remains a real concern, with one cited review finding that 28% of products tested contained undeclared substances.
My thoughts: No surprises here. We sell almost all of these products (creatine, beta-alanine, and dietary nitrates) because they’re backed by solid, convincing evidence. One that we don’t carry is sodium bicarbonate. Baking soda is cheap, but the risk of stomach issues is high enough that we’ll leave that experiment to you. The contamination data is also worth taking seriously. If you compete in a tested sport, third-party certification isn’t optional. All Blonyx supplements are manufactured in NSF for Sport GMP certified facilities, and you can view the Certificates of Analysis for your product.
Why Hard Gym Sessions Feel Better With Carbohydrates
This meta-analysis pooled 16 studies and found that consuming carbohydrates before or during resistance training produced a small but consistent improvement in total training volume. The benefit was greatest in workouts lasting longer than 45 minutes and when athletes had fasted for eight hours or more beforehand.
Interestingly, the exact amount of carbohydrates didn’t seem to matter much. Simply having some carbohydrates available in their system was enough to help the athletes complete more work.
My thoughts: High-intensity training burns through glucose quickly. Your glycogen stores can usually cover shorter sessions, but if you’re training fasted or pushing through a long workout, having some carbohydrates available may help you get a few extra reps in. That doesn’t sound like much, but over weeks and months, those small things add up.
Drinking Is Better Than IV Drips
This study tested whether drinking fluids or receiving intravenous saline was more effective during prolonged exercise in the heat. Recreationally active men cycled for 90 minutes in ~35°C heat, followed by a 12km time trial, using either small, regular drinks or IV fluid delivery.
Despite similar hydration levels, oral hydration led to lower core temperature, lower heart rate, reduced thirst, and faster performance (17.7 vs. 19.6 minutes). Drinking fluids appears to provide additional physiological and perceptual benefits during exercise, likely linked to gut signalling and thirst regulation, which IV hydration bypasses. So when it’s hot out, how you hydrate matters, not just how much.
My thoughts: At university, I spent time with sports medics who swore IV drips were the ultimate hangover cure, and I assumed they’d outperform drinking every time. Turns out that’s not the case in performance settings. When you’re training or racing in the heat, your body benefits from actually drinking—cooling, perception, and performance all improve.
That’s all for this week.
If you learned something new and are curious to know more, check out more articles and my growing list of weekly Blonyx Research Updates where I help you further improve your athletic performance by keeping you up to date on the latest findings from the world of sports science.
— That's all for now, train hard!
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