A Pilot Study: Does Oxygenated Water Support Lactate Clearance Kinetics After Simulated Games in Elite Taekwondo Athletes?

Introduction: To further understand the effects of ingesting oxygenated water supplementation (OS) on heart rate (HR), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and blood lactate (BL) during two simulated combats in elite Taekwondo athletes. Methods: Eight Taekwondo athletes from National Chung Cheng University participated in the study. In the counterbalanced and double-blind design, all participants have randomly given OS or placebo (PL). Participants ingested a series of 4 × 15mL volumes of either OS or PL before and during the combats. HR, RPE, and BL were measured before and after the combats. Data were analyzed by repeated-measures two-way ANOVA. Results: There was no interaction effect in HR and BL between the two groups during the simulated combats (p = 0.982). There was a significant time effect (p = 0.002) in BL between two combats (Combat-1-pre: 2.0 ± 0.9, Post-1: 11.7 ± 4.8, Post-5: 8.7 ± 3.1, Post-10: 7.0 ± 3.0, Post-90: 2.7 ± 0.9; Combat-2-pre: 2.7 ± 0.9, Post-1: 14.7 ± 3.9, Post-5: 9.3 ± 3.0, Post-10: 7.8 ± 2.9, Post-90: 4.6 ± 2.2 mmol/L). Conclusions: In two simulated Taekwondo competitions, uptake of OS appeared to have no effects on HR and BL. Furthermore, the study showed that repeated exposures to Taekwondo combat were associated with increased BL response.