Tyrosine Supplementation Does Not Influence the Capacity to Perform Prolonged Exercise in a Warm Environment

Eight young men were recruited to a study designed to examine the effect of tyrosine (TYR) supplementation on the capacity to perform prolonged exercise in a warm environment. Subjects entered the laboratory in the morning and remained seated for 1 hr before cycling to exhaustion at 70% VO2peak. Two 250-ml aliquots of a placebo (PLA) or a TYR solution were ingested at 30-min intervals before exercise, with an additional 150 ml consumed every 15 min throughout exercise (total TYR dose: 150 mg/kg BM). Cognitive function was assessed before drink ingestion, at the end of the rest period, and at exhaustion. TYR ingestion had no effect on exercise capacity (PLA 61.4 +/- 13.7 min, TYR 60.2 +/- 15.4 min; p = .505). No differences in heart rate (p = .380), core temperature (p = .554), or weighted mean skin temperature (p =.167) were apparent between trials. Ingestion of TYR produced a marked increase in serum TYR concentrations (+236 +/- 46 mu mol/L; p < .001), with this difference maintained throughout exercise. No change was apparent during the PLA trial (p = .924). Exercise caused an increase in error rate during the complex component of the Stroop test (p = .034), but this response was not influenced by the drink ingested. No other component of cognitive function was altered by the protocol (all p > .05). Ingestion of a TYR solution did not influence time to exhaustion or several aspects of cognitive function when exercise was undertaken in a warm environment.