No effect of short-term amino acid supplementation on variables related to skeletal muscle damage in 100 km ultra-runner
- PDF / 268,730 Bytes
- 8 Pages / 595.276 x 793.701 pts Page_size
- 5 Downloads / 161 Views
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
No effect of short-term amino acid supplementation on variables related to skeletal muscle damage in 100 km ultra-runners - a randomized controlled trial Beat Knechtle1,2*, Patrizia Knechtle1, Claudia Mrazek1, Oliver Senn2, Thomas Rosemann2, Reinhard Imoberdorf3 and Peter Ballmer3
Abstract Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of short-term supplementation of amino acids before and during a 100 km ultra-marathon on variables of skeletal muscle damage and muscle soreness. We hypothesized that the supplementation of amino acids before and during an ultra-marathon would lead to a reduction in the variables of skeletal muscle damage, a decrease in muscle soreness and an improved performance. Methods: Twenty-eight experienced male ultra-runners were divided into two groups, one with amino acid supplementation and the other as a control group. The amino acid group was supplemented a total of 52.5 g of an amino acid concentrate before and during the 100 km ultra-marathon. Pre- and post-race, creatine kinase, urea and myoglobin were determined. At the same time, the athletes were asked for subjective feelings of muscle soreness. Results: Race time was not different between the groups when controlled for personal best time in a 100 km ultra-marathon. The increases in creatine kinase, urea and myoglobin were not different in both groups. Subjective feelings of skeletal muscle soreness were not different between the groups. Conclusions: We concluded that short-term supplementation of amino acids before and during a 100 km ultramarathon had no effect on variables of skeletal muscle damage and muscle soreness.
Background Apart from the classical marathon distance of 42.195 km, an increasing number of studies of athletes participating in ultra-marathons over 100 km [1-3] or further [4-6] has been published in recent years. Based on the high eccentric demands of these activities, marathon and ultra-marathon running as eccentric exercise lead to skeletal muscle damage resulting in an increase in myocellular enzymes such as plasma creatine kinase [1,4,6], urea [3,7,8], and myoglobin [1,7,9]. It has been shown that the breakdown of body protein during endurance exercise occurs and the mobilized * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Gesundheitszentrum St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
amino acids are available for increased rates of oxidation and gluconeogenesis during endurance performances [10]. The increase in variables of skeletal muscle damage during ultra-endurance running might be associated with the decrease in skeletal muscle mass as has been shown in ultra-marathoners [2,11,12]. In recent years, several laboratory studies in cyclists reported reductions of myocellular enzymes indicative of skeletal muscle damage during endurance performances, and enhanced performance after combined ingestion of carbohydrates and protein. It has been demonstrated that consumption of a carbohydrate-pr
Data Loading...
