Which Drink is Best for Running?

Hypothesis: My hypothesis for this experiment was that Gatorade would be the best drink for running.

Materials

• Cups

• Soda

• Water

• Gatorade

Procedure: My procedure was to first, collect all the materials that I needed. I then would fill cups up, they would all be filled to the same amount. Third, I would set the treadmill up so that it was limited to only 30 minutes of running. The next step was to drink one of them, then hop on the treadmill and run until I was out of energy, or until the treadmill hit 30 minutes. After that, I took another cup of the drink to see how long it was until my energy would be restored. Lastly, I would record my results.

Abstract

My science fair project consisted of running and testing which drink is best before and after a game, marathon, or anything having to do with running. I tested water, Gatorade, soda, and no drink at all. My hypothesis for this project was that Gatorade would top the other drinks and be crowned the winner. Why I chose this project is because I am involved in many sports and wanted to know the best drink to have before running back onto the field.

The experiment was simple. I would get a cup of the drink, same amount for every drink, about half a cup or so, and then drink it. I would then start running on a treadmill and see how many minutes I could run, trying to see if one drink would give me enough energy to run for the longest time possible. For safety reasons I put a limit on the treadmill for 30 minutes meaning that once 30 minutes was up the treadmill would stop moving. I then would take another cup of the drink seeing if one of them would regain my energy faster.

I got very good numbers and results for this experiment! I was able to run a whopping 26 minutes for water. It did work to regain my energy after running as well. Gatorade was decently impressive as I was able to run for 15 minutes. I thought it would do better but it actually gave me a stomach ache while running which meant that I had to stop. It was the best for regaining my energy afterwards, though. Soda, obviously, did the worst for this experiment as it was just a variable that I used for the experiment knowing that it would not help too much. I was only able to run for four minutes after drinking the sugary drink. It was even worse after running and did not help at all. The control variable was no drink at all. I ran for 8 minutes without drinking anything.

I learned a lot after doing this experiment. Never run after drinking soda, and it is best to stay hydrated when about to run and after running. The two that were really fighting to be crowned were Gatorade and water, but in the end water is the best for running, but with Gatorade electrolytes, save it for after running. My hypothesis was clearly off for this experiment because of my decision to say that Gatorade would be the best drink, however water wins. I am not sure how accurate my experiment was because I am one person, who is to say that someone else could run longer with Gatorade or, possibly, soda. I could improve my experiment by using other people and I could have added more drinks to the experiment than just three. I could have also improved my project by repeating my tests.

Conclusion: To conclude this project, water is the best drink for running. With water I was able to run for 26 minutes! Gatorade resulted in running for 15 minutes, and soda resulted in 4 minutes. Before a race or game, make sure to drink water.