Tylenol, the over-the-counter drug that Johnson & Johnson loves so much it can’t stop recalling it, is good for something other than making people sick: it can improve athletic performance of cyclists– a little. Researchers at the University of Exeter at Devon, England, put two teams of cyclists to the test, riding ten self-paced miles after taking either Tylenol or a placebo. The scientists found that cyclists who took Tylenol in the double blind study covered the distance in what they call a “significantly faster time”: 26 minutes and 15 seconds compared with 26 minutes and 45 seconds for the group that swallowed the placebos. “Using acetaminophen,” the researchers write in the Journal of Applied Physiology, “participants cycled at a higher mean power output, with an increased heart rateand blood lactate concentration, but without changes in perceived pain or exertion….These findings support the notion that exercise is regulated by pain perception, and increased pain tolerance can improve exercise capacity.”
Read more in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Funny to see this post right now. Fifteeen minutes ago a relative just told me he had a revelation. Last week he had been to the dentist and given demerol for a procedure. A couple hours later he went to the gym, climbed on a treadmill, and set the distance at 5K. He said he never pays attention to the time or distance going by, just runs at sustainable pace until it comes to the end. When the treadmill slowed, he noticed he had run the 5K much faster than normal. He realized that his lungs and heart were functioning just fine, but normally he slowed down as he ran as pain emerged in his hips and knees. On the demerol, the run was painless, thus faster. If Tylenol has a similar effect, that’s much safer and non-addictive.
Yes it is true pain suppression can lead to prolonged periods of physical exertion. However, this can cause untold injury to oneself, due to liver damage if it becomes the drug of choice people trying to exercise longer and burn more calories, lose weight. Oh! I do not like this. There is also a good chance of hurting your joints when you mask pain. The knock on effect is that what ever injury you inflict on yourself you are likely to use tylenol and probably increase the dose because of tolerance issues. Anyway lets keep an eye on where this research leads us.