Sunday, February 8, 2009

Don't Drink, Just Dangle

All these years I thought you were supposed to drink Gatorade. Come to find out, all you have to do is look at it! According to an article in Psychology of Sport and Exercise, just looking at a sports drink increases exercise endurance. In a test, members of two different groups of people were asked to raise one leg. One group was shown a bottle of Gatorade and the other was shown a bottle of spring water. People in the group looking at the Gatorade were able to hold their legs up 149% longer than the group looking at the bottle of water. The study's coauthor, Ron Friedman, Ph.D. says the boost most likely occurs because of the inherent association between Gatorade and exercise. This signals the brain that it's time to work. Print and TV ads reinforce this link even more. So for your next marathon, don't drink Gatorade, just carry a stick with a bottle of Gatorade dangling from the end. Extra benefit will be the arm muscles you'll develop.

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