The effect of some drugs on the maximal capacity of athletic performance in man

Summary

On three trained subjects the effects of some drugs on a) the maximum oxygen consumption, b) the time of performance in an anaerobic exercise, c) the blood lactic acid, and finally d) the maximum heart rate, have been studied. The exercise was a run on a treadmill at 12 alternately 13.8 km/h on a 5% incline carried until exhaustion (ab. 5–6 mins).

The drugs administered with a double blind system, were amphetamine (10 mg), caffeine (100 mg and resp. 250 mg), ascorbic acid (250 mg), flavon-7 — ethile ossiacetate (“Recordil”, 90 and 180 mg); the placebo was starch (250 mg).

Five tests have been made for each drug and for each subject: the statistical analysis of the data shows that the drugs, as tested, have no significant effect on any of the tests made, including time of performance and maximum oxygen consumption, which seems to us particularly significant.