User:Mellamokb/ergogenic aid

Ergogenic aids are any external influence which can positively affect sporting performance. These include mechanical aids, pharmacological aids, physiological Aids, nutritional aids, and psychological aids.

Ergogenic Aids may directly influence the physiological capacity of a particular body system thereby improving performance, remove psychological constraints which impact performance, and increase the speed of recovery from training and competition.

Mechanical Aids
Mechanical forms of ergogenic aids include specially-designed clothing, enhanced forms of sports equipment, and/or physical devices in contact with a person's body. In a more general sense, any physical object that affects performance qualifies as a mechanical aid. Lighter-weight running shoes, better-designed tennis clubs, longer skis, more wind-resistant bodysuits, and contact lenses all fulfill the basic definition of an ergogenic aid in the broad sense. Ergogenic aids, especially in mechanical form, are most often associated with performance enhancements related to a competitive sport rather than an just with day-to-day life. Mechanical aids are generally expected, harmless performance boosters whose usage does not necessarily grant an unfair advantage of one sporting member over another. (1)

...more information needed.

Pharmacological Aids
these include performance enhancing drugs, there are both illegal and legal

Physiological Aids
natural substances like herbal tea and things like accupuncture can be used to aid performance

Nutritional Aids
specifically carbohydrate loading (eating lots of carbohydrate the week before a game, then stopping, then starting again a couple of days before the game) taking supplements like vitamins and protein and creatine builder and rehydration drinks

Psychological Aids
...more information needed.

Temporary - Useful Resource Listing
1-a) http://www.mckinley.uiuc.edu/Handouts/ergogenic_aids.html

1-b) http://www.mckinley.uiuc.edu/Handouts/pdfs/ergogenic_aids.pdf [PDF Version]

2) http://cals.arizona.edu/NSC/new/sn/HPergogenic.htm

3) http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/sportsmedicine/spor3329.html

4) http://www5.aaos.org/courses/cam/cam1.pdf

5) http://www.vsm.vanderbilt.edu/documents/Metzl--PerformanceEnhancingDrugs.pdf