CURRENT AND PRIOR ERGOGENIC AID USE OF PRESENT AND FORMER ATHLETES

Abstract

334 The literature on athletes' ergogenic aid use is primarily related specifically to vitamin/mineral supplementation and illegal drugs. Noticeably missing is information related to the use of other nutritional and pharmacological substances that are legal to purchase and readily available to athletes of all ages. The purpose of this study was to investigate current and prior use of a wide range of ergogenic aids. Male (n = 202) and female (n = 90) college students from a midwestern university self-reported use of 46 ergogenic aids at three levels of competition (junior high school, senior high school, and college) on a Likert scale (1 = never used, 5 = almost always used). Descriptive statistics indicated that aspirin, caffeine carbohydrate loading, rub-down ointments, sport drinks, and vitamins were the top six aids utilized both by males and females during athletic participation at the three competition levels. However, mean responses for each of these aids indicated very low use across level ( M = 1.37 to 2.96). Sport drinks ranked highest across all three competition levels with 29.9%, 68.3%, and 40.1% reporting use at the junior high school, senior high school, and college levels, respectively. Other aids ranking in the top ten at the junior high school level include calcium, minerals, and salt; at the senior high school level alcohol/beer, amino acids, and calcium; and, at the college level alcohol/beer, amino acids, and protein powders. Even though responses indicated a wide range of use by level for the top ten aids, averages fell between “never used” and “sometimes used”. In summary, results indicated a low use of ergogenic aids among subjects at all three levels of competition.