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Acute morning fasted exercise may create a greater negative 24-hr energy balance than the same exercise performed after a meal, but research exploring fasted evening exercise is limited. This study assessed the effects of 7-hr fasting before evening exercise on energy intake, metabolism, and performance. Sixteen healthy males and females (n = 8 each) completed two randomized, counterbalanced trials. Participants consumed a standardized breakfast (08:30) and lunch (11:30). Two hours before exercise (16:30), participants consumed a meal (543 ± 86 kcal; FED) or remained fasted (FAST). Exercise involved 30-min cycling (∼60% VO2peak) and a 15-min performance test (∼85% VO2peak; 18:30). Ad libitum energy intake was assessed 15 min postexercise. Subjective appetite was measured throughout. Energy intake was 99 ± 162 kcal greater postexercise (p < .05), but 443 ± 128 kcal lower over the day (p < .001) in FAST. Appetite was elevated between the preexercise meal and ad libitum meal in FAST (p < .001), with no further differences (p ≥ .458). Fat oxidation was greater (+3.25 ± 1.99 g), and carbohydrate oxidation was lower (-9.16 ± 5.80 g) during exercise in FAST (p < .001). Exercise performance was 3.8% lower in FAST (153 ± 57 kJ vs. 159 ± 58 kJ, p < .05), with preexercise motivation, energy, readiness, and postexercise enjoyment also lower in FAST (p < .01). Fasted evening exercise reduced net energy intake and increased fat oxidation compared to exercise performed 2 hr after a meal. However, fasting also reduced voluntary performance, motivation, and exercise enjoyment. Future studies are needed to examine the long-term effects of this intervention as a weight management strategy.

Currently, little is known about the extent of interindividual variability in response to beta-alanine (BA) supplementation, nor what proportion of said variability can be attributed to external factors or to the intervention itself (intervention response). To investigate this, individual participant data on the effect of BA supplementation on a high-intensity cycling capacity test (CCT110%) were meta-analyzed. Changes in time to exhaustion (TTE) and muscle carnosine were the primary and secondary outcomes. Multilevel distributional Bayesian models were used to estimate the mean and SD of BA and placebo group change scores. The relative sizes of group SDs were used to infer whether observed variation in change scores were due to intervention or non-intervention-related effects. Six eligible studies were identified, and individual data were obtained from four of these. Analyses showed a group effect of BA supplementation on TTE (7.7, 95% credible interval [CrI] [1.3, 14.3] s) and muscle carnosine (18.1, 95% CrI [14.5, 21.9] mmol/kg DM). A large intervention response variation was identified for muscle carnosine (σIR = 5.8, 95% CrI [4.2, 7.4] mmol/kg DM) while equivalent change score SDs were shown for TTE in both the placebo (16.1, 95% CrI [13.0, 21.3] s) and BA (15.9, 95% CrI [13.0, 20.0] s) conditions, with the probability that SD was greater in placebo being 0.64. In conclusion, the similarity in observed change score SDs between groups for TTE indicates the source of variation is common to both groups, and therefore unrelated to the supplement itself, likely originating instead from external factors such as nutritional intake, sleep patterns, or training status.

The aim of the current study was to investigate the influence of mouth rinsing carbohydrate at increasing concentrations on ~1 hr cycle time trial performance. Eleven male cyclists completed three experimental trials, following an overnight fast. Cyclists performed a ~1 hr time trial on a cycle ergometer, while rinsing their mouth for 5 s with either a 7% maltodextrin solution (CHO), 14% CHO or a taste-matched placebo (PLA) after every 12.5% of the set amount of work. Heart rate was recorded every 12.5% of the time trial, while RPE and GI comfort were determined every 25% of the time trial. The mouth rinse protocol influenced the time to complete the time trial (p < .001), with cyclists completing the time trial faster during 7% CHO (57.3 ± 4.5 min; p = .004) and 14% CHO (57.4 ± 4.1 min; p = .007), compared with PLA (59.5 ± 4.9 min). There was no difference between the two carbohydrate trials (p = .737). There was a main effect of time (P<0.001) for both heart rate and RPE, but no main effect of trial (p = .107 and p = .849, respectively). Scores for GI comfort ranged from 0-2 during trials, indicating very little GI discomfort during exercise. In conclusion, mouth rinsing and expectorating a 7% maltodextrin solution, for 5 s routinely during exercise was associated with improved cycle time trial performance approximately 1 h in duration. Increasing the carbohydrate concentration of the rinsed solution from 7% to 14% resulted in no further performance improvement.