NCT01781910

Branched Chain Amino Acid Plus Glucose Supplement Reduces Exercise-Induced Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness in College Females

The Effects of Branched Chain Amino Acid and Nutrient Supplementation on Exercise-Induced Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness in College Females

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 20 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Vermont · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 25 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine if a dietary supplement containing branched chain amino acids will reduce the muscle soreness that sometimes occurs in the days following exercise.

Detailed description

Supplementation with branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) has been used to stimulate muscle protein synthesis following exercise. The purpose of this study was to determine if supplementation with BCAAs in combination with glucose would reduce exercise-induced delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Using a double-blind crossover design, 20 subjects (11 females, 9 males) were randomly assigned to either BCAA (n=10) or placebo (n=10) groups. Subjects performed a squatting exercise to elicit DOMS and rated their muscle soreness every 24 hours for four days following exercise while continuing to consume the BCAA or placebo. Following a three-week recovery period, subjects returned and received the alternate BCAA or placebo treatment, repeating the same exercise and DOMS rating protocol for the next four days. BCAA supplementation in female subjects resulted in a significant decrease in DOMS versus placebo at 24 hours following exercise (p = 0.018). No significant effect of BCAA supplementation versus placebo was noted in male subjects, nor when male and female results were analyzed together. This gender difference may be related to dose per body weight differences between male and female subjects.

Conditions

• Exercise-induced Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	Branched Chain Amino Acid drink supplement
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	Placebo

Timeline

• Start date: 2011-09-01
• Primary completion: 2012-11-01
• First posted: 2013-02-01
• Last updated: 2013-02-01

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States