Law enforcement can be as physically demanding as any sport. Law enforcement officers therefore need to do many of the same things elite athletes do to prepare for competition. The obvious measures are staying in shape and maintaining a proper diet. But fueling your muscles during periods of extreme exertion is also important.
Sports drinks-the better ones, anyway-are formulated to provide the right nutrients in just the right amounts to maximize physical performance. Many athletes and others assume that all sports drinks are pretty much the same, but this is not true-and it's less true today than ever before. Recent advancements in sports nutrition have resulted in the development of a new generation of sports drinks that are clearly superior to the older ones.
The key to it all is protein. In the past several years, research coming out of leading university laboratories has demonstrated that the addition of protein to a sports drink increases endurance and reduces muscle damage during physical exertion, and even accelerates muscle recovery following exertion. Although certainly not a traditional sports drink ingredient, protein will be considered an essential sports drink ingredient before long.
The first Sports Drink
Thirty-five years ago, a physiologist at the University of Florida created the first sports drink. Dr. Robert Cade hypothesized that the addition of electrolyte minerals and carbohydrate to water would facilitate fluid replacement and provide an energy source to working muscles, thereby enhancing athletic performance and delaying fatigue. He named the drink Gatorade, because it was first used on the Florida 'Gators' football team.
Cade and other researchers tried various concentrations and carbohydrate combinations until they settled on a basic formula that maximized the rate of gastrointestinal absorption (given normal drinking rates). This was important, because it resulted in faster delivery of nutrients to the blood and working muscles and minimized some of the classic gastrointestinal problems that were commonly associated with trying to drink during exercise.
Clinical trials of this revolutionary new sports fuel showed that it did in fact enhance athletic performance and delay fatigue more than plain water. Sports drinks hydrate athletes better because they replace not only the water content but also electrolytes such as sodium that are lost in sweat. The result is less accumulation of heat in the body, less stress on the cardio-vascular system, and less chance of muscle cramping, all of which adds up to better performance.
In addition, hundreds of studies have confirmed that the carbohydrate content of sports drinks delays fatigue additively. Carbohydrate is the main fuel that powers the muscles during exercise. Athletes typically become fatigued when they run out of a special type of carbohydrate fuel called glycogen that is stored in their muscles.
The supply of glycogen in the muscles is limited. However, drinking a sports drink during exercise gives the muscles an alternative source of energy, allowing them to hold onto their glycogen supply longer so the athlete can train and compete more intensely for greater durations.
The Protein Revolution
The conventional sports drink formula of 6 to 8% carbohydrate, plus enough electrolytes to offset sweat losses, proved so effective that it has remained essentially unchanged for decades. However, in the 1990s, exercise physiologists began to experiment with adding protein to the conventional sports drink formula. Among the first scientists to test protein-supplemented sports drinks were John Ivy, Ph.D., of the University of Texas, and Edmund Burke, Ph.D., of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Why protein? The answer to this question has to do with how our understanding of exercise-induced fatigue has evolved in recent years. When Robert Cade created the first sports drink, exercise fatigue was believed to be strictly a result of either dehydration (water and electrolyte losses) or glycogen depletion (carbohydrate loss). This is why he only thought to put water, electrolytes, and carbohydrates in Gatorade.
However, it is now understood that muscle damage plays a much more important role in causing exercise fatigue. During exercise, the brain is constantly monitoring muscle damage by receiving markers of muscle damage through the blood.
When the brain 'decides' that muscle damage is getting out of hand, it will reduce its output of the electrical signals that cause muscles to contract, so they can't work as hard. In addition, the brain will cause the athlete (or law enforcement officer) to feel miserable, so he loses the desire to continue working.
Ivy, Burke, and others hypothesized the addition of protein to a sports drink could reduce muscle damage and thereby increase exercise performance, delay fatigue, and reduce recovery time between periods of exertion. Clinical studies involving the first protein-fortified sports drink to hit the market, Accelerade, proved them correct.
Research You Can Use
One of the first tests of a carbohydrate-protein sports drink compared the effects of Accelerade, a conventional sports drink, and water on endurance performance. Trained cyclists exercised at variable exercise intensities for three hours, then they cycled at high intensity until exhausted.
Two hundred ml of each of the three supplements-water, a convention sports drink (no protein), and Accelerade-was provided every 20 minutes. Cyclists were able to continue pedaling 36% longer with Accelerade than with the conventional sports drink and 55% longer with Accelerade than with water.
A more recent study with a broader scope was conducted at James Madison University and published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. This study compared the effects of a carbohydrate-protein sports drink (Accelerade) and a conventional sports drink (Gatorade) on endurance, muscle damage, and recovery.
Fifteen male cyclists completed a stationary ride to exhaustion while drinking either Gatorade or Accelerade. The following day, the cyclists completed a second ride to exhaustion at a higher intensity, this time without drinking anything. Before they began the second ride, a blood sample was taken and its concentration of creatine phosphokinase (CPK) was measured. CPK is a biomarker of muscle damage.
The results were quite dramatic. On average, the subjects were able to cycle 29% longer in the first ride and 40% longer in the second ride when given the carb-protein drink than when given Gatorade. In addition, the carb-protein drink was found to reduce CPK levels by an amazing 83%, indicating significantly less muscle damage.
According to Dr. Mike Saunders, director of the Human Performance Laboratory at James Madison University and the principle study investigator, 'This study provides further confirmation of the value of adding protein to a conventional carbohydrate-electrolyte sports drink. Our results suggest that athletes in all sports, including running, cycling, soccer, and tennis, where endurance and recovery are critical would benefit from a protein-containing sports drink such as Accelerade.'
While Saunders did not have law enforcement officers specifically in mind, these results are clearly relevant to the physical demands associated with this profession as well.
A rapidly growing number of professional athletes in a wide range of sports are making the switch from conventional sports drinks to Accelerade. 'At first, some of my athletes were skeptical about a sports drink with protein, but most of them now depend on Accelerade for better workouts and faster recovery,' says Joe Vigil, coach of Team USA California, a stable of elite runners. Two of Vigil's Accelerade-fueled athletes won medals in the 2004 Athens Olympic Marathons.
Practical Applications
Based on this research, it is clear that if you want to fuel your body for maximum performance during physical exertion (and recover as quickly as possible afterwards), you should switch from water or a conventional sports drink such as Gatorade to a carbohydrate-protein sports drink such as Accelerade.
It is recommended that you drink four to eight ounces every 10 to 12 minutes throughout exertion. The precise amount you need depends on the air temperature, your size, and the intensity of exertion. Each of these factors affects your rate of sweat loss, and your overall goal in using a sports drink is to drink at a rate that matches or nearly matches your rate of sweat loss. This will prevent dehydration and the deterioration in performance, and the risk of overheating that comes with it.
Also, since energy usage and sweat rate are closely correlated, drinking to offset sweat losses will ensure that your muscles get sufficient energy for the type of exertion and conditions.
Let's look at a couple of examples. Our first example is a police sniper positioned on a black roof on a July afternoon. In this case, although the officer's exertion level is fairly low, his sweat rate will be fairly high. If he is of average size, drinking four ounces ever 12 minutes will probably be adequate.
Our second example is a SWAT member acting as part of an entry team clearing a 10-story building. This requires a sustained effort of moderate to high intensity. Although the temperature inside the building may be mild, the officer's heavy gear will increase his sweat rate. In this case the officer will probably need to drink as much as eight ounces every 10 minutes.
A Better Delivery Mechanism
Most sports drinks are sold in the form of a powder that is mixed with water. Athletes usually mix their sports drink in a squeeze bottle and take it with them to the playing field or other venue of training and competition. For law enforcement officers it is not always practical or even possible to carry a squeeze bottle.
In these situations a fluid pack hydration system is preferable. These products usually consist of a fluid bladder inside a small backpack with a tube that snakes directly into the mouth of the user. Fluid packs allow the user to carry up to four times the amount of fluid a squeeze bottle holds and drink it hands-free.
The leading manufacturer of hydration systems for military and law enforcement use is BlackHawk. Recently BlackHawk developed a disposable fluid bladder for use with their popular HydraStorm hydration system. Traditional reusable fluid bladders can be difficult to load with a powdered drink mix such as Accelerade and also difficult to clean and sanitize after use.
The BlackHawk HydraStorm disposable hydration system overcomes these annoyances. It is available preloaded with Accelerade powder. The user simply fills the bladder with water and the drink is ready for consumption at the proper concentration. When the bladder is empty, the user simply discards it-no cleaning necessary. The BlackHawk HydraStorm disposable hydration system is patent-protected and is the only product of its kind currently on the market.
Getan Edge
If you're serious about your performance in law enforcement, you're always on the lookout for an edge. The new carbohydrate-protein sports drinks such as Accelerade offer a clear edge versus conventional sports drinks by increasing endurance, reducing muscle damage, and accelerating recovery. The BlackHawk HydraStorm disposable hydration system offers the perfect delivery system for law enforcement applications.
Please note: Camelbak is another manufacturer of hydration systems while they don't come prefilled with powdered drinks, they are reusable and can accept most powdered drink mixes.
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www.gatorade.com
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The BlackHawk HydraStorm disposable hydration system is patent-protected and is the only product of its kind currently on the market.
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www.accelerade.com
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www.me-se.com
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www.blackhawk.com
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www.hydrastorm.com
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www.comelbakcom
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POLICE SNIPERS
...on a black roof on a July afternoon-prevent dehydration...deterioration in performance, and the risk of overheating...
[Author Affiliation]
Matt Fitzgerald is the author of several books on triatholon and running, including 'The Cutting-Edge Runner' (Rodale, $15.95). He is also the managing editor of PoweringMuscles.com, an online nutrition information resource for athletes and exercisers.
