The effect of functional threshold power test performed at different ambient temperatures on hydration status of cyclists

This study was conducted to examine the hydration status of cyclists at different temperature conditions during the Functional Threshold Power (FTP) Test protocol. The sample of the study consisted of 12 athletes (age: 19.91±5.1, height: 168±10 cm, weight: 57.34±11.33 kg) who have been actively cycling for at least 2 years and were selected based on the principle of voluntarism. After measuring the participants' height and body weight, the FTP test protocol was applied in three different ambient temperatures (16, 23, 30℃). To determine the hydration status of the athletes, measurements were taken with the Mx3 hydration device in four different conditions (before warm-up, before the test, after the test, after cool-down). SPSS 23.0 software was used for statistical analysis and evaluation of the data. The normality assumption of the data was tested with the Shapiro-Wilk test. Based on the normal distribution, One-Way ANOVA, Repeated Measures ANOVA, and Benferroni tests were applied as post-hoc tests. In our study, a significance level of p<0.05 was accepted. The average FTP test results of the cyclists were found to be 165 W, the power applied per kilogram (kg/w) was 2.84, and the average perceived difficulty was 9.19. There was no difference in terms of FTP, power applied per kilogram, and perceived difficulty levels. In conclusion, it was observed that the performance of cyclists decreased as the temperature increased during the FTP test, while there was no difference in hydration levels.