Beat Pre-Race Nerves With L-Tyrosine
Dayton Kelly
This article was adapted from a combination of speeches given at the European Sports Science Conference 2017, most notably Hase, A. et al. [United Kingdom].
Here at Forever Fit Science, we love to indulge the curious mind. That is why we introduce cutting edge research, sometimes even before definitive statements regarding its efficacy can be made. Brand new to the research community is a supplement called L-tryosine, though we expect you’ll be hearing about it in the media. L-tryosine is currently under investigation for its ability to reduce performance related stress. It has previously demonstrated effectiveness in cognitive performance tasks, and is now under investigation in athletics.
Why stress about stress?
Research in sports psychology has worked hard to elucidate differences in pre-performance mentality and how different mentalities correlate to subsequent performance. Such differences in mental state become incredibly important in high pressure, high performance athletes where years are invested into performance sometimes on a single day. In efforts to determine the affect of mental state on performance, psychologists have associated increased performance related stress with poorer performance. Thus, sports psychologists have attempted to determine ways in which to reduce such stress. This is where L-tyrosine comes in.
Performance research:
L-tyrosine is one of two forms of the amino acid tyrosine and has demonstrated efficacy in improving resilience to stress when supplemented with. Making the connection that reducing stress may improve performance, researchers have tested the effects of supplementing with L-tyrosine on motor performance. Motor performance is a measure of movement accuracy and control as is required for technical finesse in sport.
Forty-nine participants supplemented either with a placebo or L-tyrosine and were measured on a bean bag throwing task (participants were offered an award for winning, introducing performance based stress). After completing this, placebo and L-tyrosine groups switched, such that those taking the placebo were now taking L-tyrosine. On both occasions, participants were unaware if they were taking L-tyrosine or the placebo. Upon comparing performance between trials, the researchers found performance was significantly better when participants were supplementing with L-tyrosine. Thus, L-tyrosine may represent a novel method of reducing stress related reductions in athletic motor performance.
Related Article: Food Vs Protein Supplements
Take away:
Research into L-tyrosine is still so novel that no suggestion as to whether it actually improves motor and other forms of performance can be definitively made. However, it is a supplement to watch out for as new research is always being conducted. Keeping ahead of the curve is a sure fire way to ensure you are getting the best performance results sports science can produce.
Never stop learning Forever Fit Sciences!
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