I actually got the idea for this thread in the T-Cell, where someone mentioned a player on their son’s football team who is an outstanding athlete, and who also happens to take like 10 puffs of his inhaler in his pre-game warmup. I have what most doctors have referred to as “sports asthma” and I too took puffs before and sometimes 2 or even 3 times during football games when i played pop-warner. Although I was outstanding at that age, I never thought that my inhaler could have given me an age.
So my question is, could taking albuterol before an event increase performance?
Side note: I was also told by an asthma specialist at Harvard Medical that I should limit my use of my inhaler to a minimum because it “caused a spike in adrenaline” (which obviously made me more inclined to use it pre-game).
I was on Albuterol when I was stationed in Colorado. It doesn’t do a whole lot in the performance category. Except help you breathe. That’s kind of a big deal. And I agree with the Dwarf.
Alsbuterol is a strong stimulant in addition to being a bronchodilator. It is a beta-2 adrenergic agonist. Because of this, it will open the airways and will give an adrenaline-like boost. It definitely has a positive effect on performance, which is why it is controlled by the United States Olympic Committee and several other sporting organizations.
I can’t recall specifics, but I have read several studies citing positive training effects from albuterol use, including decreased fatigue and increased hypertrophy and strength. It’s worth noting that the dose required is higher than a few puffs from an inhaler. As a performance enhancing drug, tablets are usually used in similar doses to clenbuterol, although having used both, I prefer the albuterol because the stim effect is cleaner and smoother feeling.
