The Effect of Watermelon Juice Consumption on Performance of Road Cyclists

Abstract

Road cycling is an endurance activity in which cyclists experience fatigue during long workouts and races, One of the causes of this fatigue is dehydration. During endurance training, fluids need to be consumed to prevent the effects of dehydration. Losing 2% of body weight fluids reduces exercise performance. Citrulline is an increasingly popular dietary supplement that is thought to increase exercise performance by increasing nitric oxide production. Consumption of watermelon juice, which contains citrulline. Our subjects were 11 young cyclists boys, in the age group of 20 to 21 years. In this study, our subjects were examined twice. First, urine samples were taken at rest from the examined and the dehydration protocol was performed with a cycle ergometer at 70% MHR (Maximum Heart Rate) to achieve dehydration. The second sample was taken from their urine in a dehydrated state. and the subjects consumed 500 ml of watermelon juice and in the other stage 500 ml of water and performed the 5 km cycling protocol with a cycle ergometer (Monarch 839), and after finishing, a third urine sample was taken. Examination of the research results showed that the analysis of the watermelon juice had no significant effect on maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) (p=0.663). and had a positive effect on the record time of 5 km cycling (p=0.001), and showed a positive effect on the amount of electrolyte (sodium) in comparison with the placebo phase(p=0.000). At maximal heart rate (MHR), a decrease in maximal heart rate was observed in the watermelon juice phase(p=0.0001); In the watermelon juice phase, the rating of perceived exertion effects (RPE) decreased compared to the placebo phase(p=0.000). We tested this study on endurance cyclists in low water conditions. In this study, we observed that consumption of 500 ml of watermelon juice compared to water consumption helps to improve cyclist performance, and performance improvement during a record 5 km of cycling can be mentioned, Consumption of watermelon juice can be a good alternative for Egypt in case of dehydration because it provides a better water supply and also helps to improve performance in cycling.