Dyspnea Reduction With L-Menthol Inhalation Improves High-Intensity Endurance Running Performance in Healthy Trained Adults.
7 affiliations
- 1Laboratory of Exercise Physiology at the Olympic Center of Training and Research, Department of Physiology, Paulista School of Medicine, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
- 2São Paulo Association for Medicine Development, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
- 3Post-Graduate Program in Translational Medicine, Department of Medicine, Paulista School of Medicine, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
- 4Post-graduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Alfenas, Alfenas, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
- 5Faculty of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Poços de Caldas, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
- 6Department of Life Quality Studies, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
- 7National Institute of Science and Technology-INCT Physical (In)activity and Health, CNPq, Brasília, Brazil.
Abstract
Dyspnea occurs during high-intensity running in healthy trained individuals and may limit endurance performance. Given that L-menthol inhalation can alleviate dyspnea in other contexts, we investigated whether L-menthol inhalation reduces dyspnea and improves endurance performance during high-intensity running in healthy trained individuals. Nine females (mean ± standard deviation; V˙ O2peak = 55.8 ± 6.8 mL/kg/min) and nine males ( V˙ O2peak = 60.3 ± 4.6 mL/kg/min) endurance runners with normal spirometry completed a randomized crossover counterbalanced trial with L-menthol inhalation or a strawberry scent (placebo). Performance was measured with a treadmill time-to-exhaustion (TTE) test at 85% of the peak velocity achieved during a preliminary cardiopulmonary exercise test. Cardiorespiratory, metabolic, and perceptual responses were measured throughout. Compared with the placebo, L-menthol inhalation reduced dyspnea across the TTE test (∼1 AU; p = 0.004) and extended the TTE test duration (406 ± 94 vs. 445 ± 106 s; p = 0.009). Pulmonary ventilation (p = 0.377), tidal volume (p = 0.298), O₂ consumption (p = 0.277), CO₂ production (p = 0.786), pulse O₂ saturation (p = 0.766), and heart rate (p = 0.974) did not differ between conditions. Breathing frequency was lower with L-menthol inhalation than with placebo (p = 0.045). L-menthol inhalation attenuated dyspnea and enhanced high-intensity running endurance performance without substantial changes in cardiorespiratory and metabolic responses to exercise. These results suggest that dyspnea constitutes an important constraint on endurance performance during high-intensity running in healthy trained individuals, and identify acute L-menthol inhalation as an effective ergogenic strategy for this exercise modality and population. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registered at the Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (U1111-1289-3438).
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BibTeX
@article{lopes2026dyspnea,
title = {{Dyspnea Reduction With L-Menthol Inhalation Improves High-Intensity Endurance Running Performance in Healthy Trained Adults.}},
author = {Thiago Ribeiro Lopes and Adriano de Almeida Pereira and Felipe Silva Gomes and Daniel Gonçalves Duarte and Rita Dulcivana Soares and Caroline Beato Soares and Giovana Beato Soares and Samuele Maria Marcora and Bruno Moreira Silva},
journal = {European journal of sport science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/ejsc.70262},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42922437},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Dyspnea Reduction With L-Menthol Inhalation Improves High-Intensity Endurance Running Performance in Healthy Trained Adults.
AU - Thiago Ribeiro Lopes
AU - Adriano de Almeida Pereira
AU - Felipe Silva Gomes
AU - Daniel Gonçalves Duarte
AU - Rita Dulcivana Soares
AU - Caroline Beato Soares
AU - Giovana Beato Soares
AU - Samuele Maria Marcora
AU - Bruno Moreira Silva
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - European journal of sport science
DO - 10.1002/ejsc.70262
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42922437
AB - Dyspnea occurs during high-intensity running in healthy trained individuals and may limit endurance performance. Given that L-menthol inhalation can alleviate dyspnea in other contexts, we investigated whether L-menthol inhalation reduces dyspnea and improves endurance performance during high-intensity running in healthy trained individuals. Nine females (mean ± standard deviation; V˙ O2peak = 55.8 ± 6.8 mL/kg/min) and nine males ( V˙ O2peak = 60.3 ± 4.6 mL/kg/min) endurance runners with normal spirometry completed a randomized crossover counterbalanced trial with L-menthol inhalation or a strawberry scent (placebo). Performance was measured with a treadmill time-to-exhaustion (TTE) test at 85% of the peak velocity achieved during a preliminary cardiopulmonary exercise test. Cardiorespiratory, metabolic, and perceptual responses were measured throughout. Compared with the placebo, L-menthol inhalation reduced dyspnea across the TTE test (∼1 AU; p = 0.004) and extended the TTE test duration (406 ± 94 vs. 445 ± 106 s; p = 0.009). Pulmonary ventilation (p = 0.377), tidal volume (p = 0.298), O₂ consumption (p = 0.277), CO₂ production (p = 0.786), pulse O₂ saturation (p = 0.766), and heart rate (p = 0.974) did not differ between conditions. Breathing frequency was lower with L-menthol inhalation than with placebo (p = 0.045). L-menthol inhalation attenuated dyspnea and enhanced high-intensity running endurance performance without substantial changes in cardiorespiratory and metabolic responses to exercise. These results suggest that dyspnea constitutes an important constraint on endurance performance during high-intensity running in healthy trained individuals, and identify acute L-menthol inhalation as an effective ergogenic strategy for this exercise modality and population. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registered at the Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (U1111-1289-3438).
SN - 1746-1391
SN - 1536-7290
ER -