Short-Term Consumption of Hydrogen-Rich Water Enhances Power Performance and Heart Rate Recovery in Dragon Boat Athletes: Evidence from a Pilot Study.
水素水の短期摂取がドラゴンボートアスリートのパワー発揮および心拍数回復に与える影響：パイロット研究
Abstract
Eighteen dragon boat athletes training 4 hours daily were randomly assigned to a hydrogen-rich water (HRW) group (n=9) or a placebo water (PW) group (n=9) for 7 days. Performance was assessed using a 30-second rowing dynamometer test with heart rate monitoring at baseline (Day 1) and post-intervention (Day 8). The HRW group demonstrated significantly higher maximum and average power output, along with a lower peak heart rate during exercise. Heart rate recovery at 2 minutes post-exercise was significantly faster in the HRW group compared to the PW group, which showed no significant decline. No between-group differences were observed for 30-second rowing distance or predicted 500-meter rowing time. These findings suggest that short-term HRW consumption may support power performance and cardiovascular recovery in competitive athletes.
Mechanism
The antioxidant properties of molecular hydrogen are proposed to reduce exercise-induced oxidative stress and fatigue accumulation, thereby supporting greater power output and accelerating autonomic cardiovascular recovery following intense physical exertion.
Bibliographic
- Authors
- Dong G, Fu J, Bao D, Zhou J
- Journal
- Int J Environ Res Public Health
- Year
- 2022 (2022-04-29)
- PMID
- 35564808
- DOI
- 10.3390/ijerph19095413
- PMC
- PMC9104058
Tags
Delivery context
Hydrogen-rich water is a low-risk delivery route, but the achievable systemic hydrogen dose is bounded. For clinical applications, inhalation is the most efficient route; inhalation, however, carries explosion risk, and concentration matters (empirical LFL of 10% applies to inhalation environments; high-concentration devices are documented in the Consumer Affairs Agency accident database and are not recommended).
Safety notes
See also: