Purpose: Nicotine is a psychostimulant that is reported to be commonly supplemented by athletes. The purpose of the current study was to determine the effects of a rapidly absorbed form of nicotine on repeated bouts of anaerobic exercise, perception of exertion and a range of cardiovascular variables while monitoring side effect profiles.
Methods: Sixteen healthy, nicotine naïve male athletes (24.1 ± 5.3 years, 179.0 ± 8.8 cm, 81.7 ± 13.5 kg, BMI 25.5 ± 3.0, Body fat% 13.2 ± 5.1%) completed two repeated 30 s Wingate tests with 3 min rest between bouts following consumption of either a 5-mg oral-dispersible nicotine strip (NIC) or a flavour-matched placebo (PLA) in a randomised, double-blind, cross-over design. Before the Wingate test, resting heart rate and blood pressure were also measured prior to and following PLA and NIC ingestion.
Results: Peak and average power output were significantly greater following NIC administration compared to PLA (P < 0.01). Similarly, significant increases were also seen in heart rate and blood pressure following NIC administration compared to PLA (P < 0.01). No significant effect on pre-exercise side effect score, reaction time, rate of perceived exertion or post exercise blood lactate levels were observed (P > 0.05).
Conclusions: It was concluded that oral-dispersible nicotine strips increase repeated anaerobic performance, possibly through strong sympathetic stimulation, as evident by significant elevation of cardiovascular parameters.
Keywords: Anaerobic exercise; Ergogenic aid; Nicotine; Sports doping; Supplement.