The Effects of Energy Drink Consumption on Cognitive and Physical Performance in Elite League of Legends Players

Abstract

To examine the cognitive and physical changes associated with consuming an energy drink concurrent to video gaming, we examined a convenience sample of nine elite League of Legends (LoL) e-sport players (21 ± 2 y, BMI 25.6 ± 3.4 kg/m2) consuming an energy drink (ReloadTM) or placebo (Placebo) in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over trial. Participants completed the same test battery prior to treatment consumption and after playing each of three competitive LoL games. Primary outcomes included measures of attention (Erikson Flanker Test), reaction time (Go/No-Go test) and working memory (n-back test). Secondary outcomes examined fatigue (hand grip strength and finger tap speed). Statistical analysis was performed by repeated-measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) and reported as the mean (standard deviation [SD]) or mean change (95% confidence interval [CI]). Participants reported sleeping 8.1 (1.2) h/night, playing LoL 10.3 (2.1) h/d, playing other video games 1.8 (2.8) h/d, and exercising 4.2 (1.7) times per week. Overall, we observed no significant time, group, or group-by-time interactions for any measured performance index with the exception of a significant improvement for the n-back test, where the Reload group demonstrated a significant within-group improvement: Reload [−171 ms (95% CI, −327.91, −14.09), p < 0.004], Placebo [−92 ms (95% CI, −213.63, 29.63)]. However, no between-group differences were noted (38.50 ms, 95% CI, −141.89, 64.89, p = 0.803). Our findings suggest that elite eSport athletes do not demonstrate a mental or physical improvement in performance relative to the treatment supplement or indices measured in this study.

Sleep Characteristics and Mood of Professional Esports Athletes: A Multi-National Study

“…The present study’s aims were to investigate sleep behavior and the related effect of sleep in an untapped group—esports athletes. Unlike two previous studies in this area (in the US and Germany [ 18 , 19 ]), our study found that participants in all three countries (US, South Korea, and Australia) had a median TST < 7 h, with prolonged WASO. Although the median sleep latency was under the clinical cut-off of 30 min [ 37 ], approximately half of the participants exceeded the clinical cut-off for insomnia, and had excessive daytime sleepiness.…”

“…Yet, it should be noted that elite athletes of any kind are very difficult to recruit, which is why in traditional sports science research, small sample sizes are common (e.g., [ 76 ]) and considered acceptable, including in landmark studies such as Mah et al [ 47 ]. Moreover, the two previous studies [ 18 , 19 ] that measured sleep of esports athletes had smaller samples than the present study. However, further studies will be needed to complement our findings in order to enhance generalizability.…”

“…Preliminary evidence from two recent studies [ 18 , 19 ] suggests that esports athletes from the United States (US) ( N = 9) and Germany ( N = 14) obtain the recommended 7–9 hours’ sleep per night for adults (8–10 h for teens) and have good sleep quality. However, because sleep was not the primary focus of either study, only basic single-item retrospective questions were used to measure these outcomes, and while easy to utilize, they are prone to inaccuracy [ 20 ].…”

Energy Drinks and Sports Performance, Cardiovascular Risk, and Genetic Associations; Future Prospects

“…However, although we have described different studies which demonstrate a positive correlation between the consumption of energy drinks and athletic performance, it is worth highlighting that some studies did not report this positive association ( Table 1). A recent study by Thomas et al [76] investigated the effects of energy drinks on the sporting performance of eSports players (before and after playing three rounds of League of Legends with 15 min recovery between rounds) by assessing attention (Erikson Flanker Test), reaction speed (Go/No-Go test) and working memory (n-back test); only the memory test revealed a statistically significant association (p = 0.004), while physical components such as handgrip strength and finger tap speed presented a negative association with sporting performance (p = 0.803). Similarly, Umaña-Alvarado and Moncada-Jiménez [77] did not observe a positive effect on physical performance in terms of endurance in 11 runners who competed in two 10 km races, as there were no significant differences between their times when they drank the energy drink or placebo (p > 0.05).…”

Doping in e-sports. An empirical exploration and search for sociological interpretations

“…In that study, no beneficial effect of energy drinks on the psychomotor performance of professional LoL players was observed. Nonetheless, the authors of the study underlined that their research was only a starting point for wider and more detailed analyses (Thomas et al 2019).…”