Perception of Breakfast Ingestion Enhances High-Intensity Cycling Performance

To examine the effect on short-duration, high-intensity cycling time-trial (TT) performance when a semisolid breakfast containing carbohydrate (CHO) or a taste- and texture-matched placebo is ingested 90 min preexercise compared with a water (WAT) control. A total of 13 well-trained cyclists (mean [SD]: age = 25 [8] y, body mass = 71.1 [5.9] kg, height = 1.76 [0.04] m, maximum power output = 383 [46] W, and peak oxygen uptake = 4.42 [0.53] L·min ) performed 3 experimental trials examining breakfast ingestion 90 min before a 10-min steady-state cycle (60% maximum power output) and an ∼20-min TT (to complete a workload target of 376 [36] kJ). Subjects consumed either WAT, a semisolid CHO breakfast (2 g carbohydrate CHO·kg body mass), or a taste- and texture-matched placebo (PLA). Blood lactate and glucose concentrations were measured periodically throughout the rest and exercise periods. The TT was completed more quickly in CHO (1120 [69] s; P = .006) and PLA (1112 [50] s; P = .030) compared with WAT (1146 [74] s). Ingestion of CHO caused an increase in blood glucose concentration throughout the rest period in CHO (peak at 30-min rest = 7.37 [1.10] mmol·L ; P