The study involved 48 well-trained male cyclists (VO2max > 60 ml/kg/min); before the study started, they were all screened for exercise-induced asthma, and 14 of them tested positive (all but one had been previously diagnosed). They all did two 10-km cycling time trials, which take about 15 minutes -- a combination of intensity and duration that's thought to offer the toughest challenge to an athlete's respiratory system. An hour before each time trial, they inhaled either salbumatol or a placebo; neither they nor the researchers knew which one they'd been given on which occasion.
The results? Lung function did improve in both the asthma and non-asthma group -- but that didn't translate into any improvement in time-trial performance. The surprise here is that the increase in lung function didn't translate to better performance even for the group with exercise-induced asthma. That doesn't mean salbutamol doesn't work -- it's highly effective as relieving the acute symptoms of an asthma attack.
More details here
original work on pubmed
The results? Lung function did improve in both the asthma and non-asthma group -- but that didn't translate into any improvement in time-trial performance. The surprise here is that the increase in lung function didn't translate to better performance even for the group with exercise-induced asthma. That doesn't mean salbutamol doesn't work -- it's highly effective as relieving the acute symptoms of an asthma attack.
More details here
original work on pubmed