Carbohydrate intake and tennis: are there benefits?
- Correspondence to: M S Kovacs Department of Kinesiology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA; mark{at}metisperformance.com
- Accepted 7 January 2006
Abstract
Carbohydrate supplementation in prolonged aerobic exercise has been shown to be effective in improving performance and deferring fatigue. However, there is confounding evidence with regard to carbohydrate supplementation and tennis performance, which may be due to the limited number of studies on this topic. This evidence based review, using database searches of Medline and SPORTDiscus, summarises the limited relevant literature to determine if carbohydrate supplementation benefits tennis performance, and, if so, the appropriate amounts and timing. Although more research is required, it appears that it may be beneficial in tennis sessions lasting more than 90 minutes.
Footnotes
-
Competing interests: none declared
