Rinsing Your Mouth with Sweet Drinks Could Lead to Increased Deadlift Strength, New Study Says
Imagine a world where simply sipping a drink could unlock more power in your deadlifts every time you work out. Seems too good to be true, right? Well, a new study suggests that an instant strength boost from a quick swig of your drink is not as far fetched as it sounds
While not quite a magical elixir of strength, researchers have investigated something called 'carbohydrate mouth rinsing'. Already well known in endurance training, this method of swilling sweet drinks was tested to see if it had any effect in the strength world by testing the study participant's deadlift strength. The results were promising.
The Study
The study, published in Nutrients, aimed to investigate the effect of carbohydrate mouth rinsing on the performance of concentric (lifting phase) and eccentric (lowering phase) strength in compound (multi-joint) resistance exercises – specifically using the Romanian deadlift. 20 healthy men took part in the study and were split into two groups:
Carbohydrate mouth rinsing group using a 6.6% maltodextrin solution (a sweet tasting carbohydrate)
Placebo group using mineral water
Participants performed a standard warm-up and then rinsed their mouths with either the carbohydrate solution or water for 20 seconds and then spat it out. They performed the Romanian deadlift exercise for five sets of six reps at maximum exertion and then rested for three minutes. The first rep of each set was excluded from the data analysis and was a pre-test.
The remaining reps from each set were analysed for concentric peak power, eccentric peak power, and total work completed. These measures were then compared between the carbohydrate mouth rinsing and placebo groups to assess the effect on exercise performance.
Results
The concentric phase (lifting phase): Participants in the carbohydrate mouth rinsing group lifted more powerfully.
The eccentric phase (lowering phase): Participants in the carbohydrate mouth rinsing group lowered the weights under more control.
Total work completed: Participants in the carbohydrate mouth rinsing group did more work overall.
Conclusion
Whilst it's important to note that the sample size was relatively small, the researchers concluded that using a carbohydrate mouth rinse before exercise significantly improved the power and control during the lifting and lowering phases in the Romanian deadlift compared to using just water. It also increased the total work completed.
What Does This Mean for Us?
This method of enhancing your workouts is nothing new, and has been studied extensively before in sports nutrition settings. So it's fair to say that despite the small sample size, there is enough evidence available to draw conclusions that it could be beneficial for enhancing performance. By rinsing your mouth with a sweet drink and spitting it out, it works as something called an ergogenic aid. This is defined as 'a technique or substance used for the purpose of enhancing performance'. Caffeine or listening to music also count as ergogenic aids.
Carbohydrate mouth rinsing is classed as an ergogenic aid because it can be used by elite athletes to see small improvements in performance. However, it's important to understand that the improvements aren't necessarily significant enough to warrant us wasting our favourite drinks by swilling them and spitting them out on the daily. But for those who compete, it could make the incremental difference between winning and coming second.
For us? If carbohydrate mouth rinsing doesn't float your boat, in order to see some ergogenic enhancements, stick to your favourite playlist and a coffee before training, or just continue to enjoy a sweet drink pre workout to perhaps see the same improvements as the study.
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