drinks

Question
Hi, I want to know if its illegal to drink  an energy drink before you are playing a rugby match. Is it wrong to drink redbull or powerade or energade or madbull and that kind of stuff. What about the products that you buy at the pharmacys like the slimming mixture product. I would appreciate your answer. Thanks

Answer
I do not know if it is illegal. The rules probably change once a player goes professional as those drinks may be considered masks for steroids.

As a tool for a player they probably are not a good idea. The stimulants in them are geared around spiking your heart rate to induce the feeling of alertness. Well the whole point of being fit is to have a fast recovery time. A recovery by definition is getting your heart rate down as quickly as possible during a time out, line out, break in play etc. If your body is full of a stimulant to push your heart rate up then your recovery is compromised.

Also these drinks tend to have a lot of caffeine etc in them which is a diuretic, this means you will loose fluids faster. Not good for an athlete.

A good warm up with some contact like tackling etc is a good stimulant and get the body prepared for a game in a natural way. Water is perfectly acceptable and if you are playing at a high level of athletics Gatorade, Powerade etc. These drinks should only be used in cases of extreme exercise, not as a regular day-to day drink due to their high sodium and sugar content.

Make sure to have a proper meal the day of a game and maybe a small snack about 30 minute prior to running on. The more natural the food the better. Bananas are great.