Mark Funnell

• Research Fellow in Multiple Long Term Conditions at University of Leicester

Macrae, HZ, Reynolds, KM, Cable, TG, Barutcu, A, Hansell, EJ, Mears, SA, Midwood, KL, Mould, C, Funnell, MP, Goosey-Tolfrey, VL, and James, LJ. Twice a day lacrosse training in temperate conditions results in a negative 24-hour sodium balance in male and female university lacrosse players. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2025-This study measure...

Purpose Exercise-induced hypohydration exacerbates biomarkers of renal injury, but studies isolating the effects of hypohydration without exercise have produced mixed findings. This study investigated the effects of 24-h severe fluid restriction on biomarkers of renal injury and glucose tolerance. Methods Fifteen males (age: 27 ± 5 y; BMI: 24.1 ±...

Purpose 7 days L-citrulline supplementation has been reported to improve blood pressure, $$\mathop {\text{V}}\limits^{.}$$ V . O 2 kinetics, gastrointestinal (GI) perfusion and endurance cycling performance through increasing arterial blood flow. In situations where blood volume is compromised (e.g., hyperthermia/hypohydration), L-citrulline may im...

Exercise in warm environments increases thermal/cardiovascular strain and decreases gastrointestinal (GI) integrity and endurance performance. However, laboratory-based studies have provided little to/no facing airflow, potentially exacerbating these effects, particularly for cycling, where convective cooling may be a major contributor to thermal b...

Daily sodium intake in England is ∼3.3 g/day ⁽¹⁾ , with government and scientific advice to reduce intake for cardiovascular health purposes having varying success ⁽²⁾ . Eccrine sweat is produced during exercise or exposure to warm environments to maintain body temperature through evaporative cooling. Sweat is primarily water, but also contains app...

Introduction Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) is a gut bacteria-dependent metabolite associated with poor cardiovascular health. Exercise is a known cardioprotective activity but the impact of an acute bout of exercise on TMAO production is unknown. Objectives/Methods This study assessed choline-derived production of TMAO following a single bout of i...

Purpose Exertional heat stress can induce systemic endotoxin exposure and a pro-inflammatory cascade, likely impairing thermoregulation. Cannabidiol (CBD) is protective in pre-clinical models of tissue ischaemia and inflammation. Therefore, this study examined the effects of CBD ingestion on exercise-induced thermoregulatory and inflammatory respon...

Purpose Cow’s milk is one of the most hydrating beverages, but many individuals choose not to consume dairy in their diet due to intolerance, allergy, or dietary preference. Milk is commonly replaced with plant-based beverages, including soya which has the most comparable protein content, but little is known about their hydration potential. This st...

Context How pre-exercise meal composition influences metabolic and health responses to exercise later in the day is currently unclear. Objective Examine the effects of substituting carbohydrate for protein at lunch on subsequent exercise metabolism, appetite, and energy intake. Methods Twelve healthy males completed three trials in randomized, co...

Purpose Rapid gastric emptying and intestinal absorption of beverages is essential for rapid rehydration, and certain amino acids (AA) may augment fluid delivery. Three sugar-free beverages, containing differing AA concentrations (AA + PZ), were assessed for fluid absorption kinetics against commercial sugar-free (PZ, GZ) and carbohydrate-containin...

Purpose Recent studies have shown that hypohydration can increase renal injury. However, the contribution of hypohydration to the extent of renal injury is often confounded by exercise induced muscle damage. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of manipulating hydration status during moderate-intensity cycling in th...

Introduction: Cannabidiol (CBD) is a nonintoxicating phytocannabinoid used in clinical treatments and sold widely in consumer products. CBD products may be designed for sublingual or oral delivery, but it is unclear whether either is advantageous for CBD absorption. This study compared CBD pharmacokinetics after providing CBD oil as sublingual drop...

Blood osmolality is considered the gold standard hydration assessment, but has limited application for technical and invasive reasons. Paired antecubital-venous blood and fingertip-capillary blood were collected pre- and 30 min post-drinking 600 mL water in 55 male/female participants. No bias (0.2 mOsmo/kg, limits of agreement = −2.5 to 2.8 mOsmo/...

Purpose: Collagen peptide supplementation has been reported to enhance synthesis rates or growth in a range of musculoskeletal tissues and could enhance tendinous tissue adaptations to resistance training (RT). This double-blind placebo-controlled study aimed to determine if tendinous tissue adaptations, size (patellar tendon cross-sectional area...

This study documented 20 h rehydration from intermittent running while concealing the primary outcome of rehydration from subjects. Twenty-eight male team sports athletes (age 25 ± 3 y; predicted V̇O2max 54 ± 3 mL∙kg-1∙min-1) were pair-matched to exercise (EX) or rest (REST) groups. To determine hydration status, body mass, urine and blood samples...

Carbohydrate supplementation during endurance exercise is known to improve performance, but the effects of food-based approaches in running exercise are understudied. Therefore, this study investigated the performance and gastrointestinal (GI) effects of a carbohydrate supplement containing a natural fructose source compared with a highly processed...

Introduction This study compared the efficacy of three commercial oral rehydration solutions (ORS) for restoring fluid and electrolyte balance, after exercise-induced dehydration. Method Healthy, active participants (N = 20; ♀ = 3; age ∼27 y, V˙O2peak ∼52 ml/kg/min) completed three randomised, counterbalanced trials whereby intermittent exercise i...

Aim: Bioactive collagen peptides (CP) have been suggested to augment the functional, structural (size and architecture) and contractile adaptations of skeletal muscle to resistance training (RT), but with limited evidence. This study aimed to determine if CP vs placebo (PLA) supplementation enhanced the functional and underpinning structural, and...

Purpose Whilst there is evidence to suggest that hypohydration caused by physical work in the heat increases renal injury, whether this is the case during exercise in temperate conditions remains unknown. This study investigated the effect of manipulating hydration status during high-intensity intermittent running on biomarkers of renal injury. Me...

The impact of alterations in hydration status on human physiology and performance responses during exercise is one of the oldest research topics in sport and exercise nutrition. This body of work has mainly focussed on the impact of reduced body water stores (i.e. hypohydration) on these outcomes, on the whole demonstrating that hypohydration impai...

Knowledge of hydration status may contribute to hypohydration-induced exercise performance decrements; therefore, this study compared blinded and unblinded hypohydration on cycling performance. Fourteen trained, nonheat-acclimated cyclists (age: 25 ± 5 yr; V̇o2peak: 63.3 ± 4.7 ml·kg-1·min-1; cycling experience: 6 ± 3 yr) were pair matched to blinde...

Intermittent energy restriction (IER) involves short periods of severe energy restriction interspersed with periods of adequate energy intake, and can induce weight loss. Insulin sensitivity is impaired by short-term, complete energy restriction, but the effects of IER are not well known. In randomised order, fourteen lean men (age: 25 ( sd 4) year...

This study assessed the effect of carbohydrate intake on self-selected soccer-specific running performance. Sixteen male soccer players (age 23 ± 4 years; body mass 76.9 ± 7.2 kg; predicted VO2max = 54.2 ± 2.9 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹; soccer experience 13 ± 4 years) completed a progressive multistage fitness test, familiarisation trial and two experimental t...

This study examined effects of 4 weeks of caffeine supplementation on endurance performance. Eighteen low-habitual caffeine consumers (<75 mg · day⁻¹) were randomly assigned to ingest caffeine (1.5–3.0 mg · kg⁻¹day⁻¹; titrated) or placebo for 28 days. Groups were matched for age, body mass, V̇O2peak and Wmax (P > 0.05). Before supplementation, all...

Observational studies suggest that increased fruit and vegetable consumption can contribute to weight maintenance and facilitate weight loss when substituted for other energy dense foods. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to assess the effect of berries on acute appetite and energy intake. Twelve unrestrained pre-menopausal women (age...