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

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Exercise-induced Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
• Interventions: Dietary Supplement: Branched Chain Amino Acid drink supplement; Dietary Supplement: Placebo

• Registration Number: NCT01781910
• Lead Sponsor: University of Vermont

Brief 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.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2011-09
• Primary Completion: 2012-11
• Status Verified: 2013-01
• Study First Submitted: 2013-01-30
• Study First Submitted QC: 2013-01-31
• Last Update Submitted: 2013-01-31
• Study First Posted: 2013-02-01
• Last Update Posted: 2013-02-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 20

Inclusion Criteria

• Men (n=9) and women (n=11) aged 18-25 who engaged in no more than one hour of light to moderate intensity physical activity per week were recruited from the Greater Burlington, Vermont area.

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Exclusion Criteria

• individuals who engaged in more than one hour per week of light to moderate physical activity
• had been involved in strict athletic competition or weight training in the past six months
• were pregnant or nursing, had a known muscular disease, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and/or were currently taking a protein-based dietary supplement

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: CROSSOVER

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Branch Chain Amino Acid supplement	Branched Chain Amino Acid drink supplement	A drink supplement containing 1.22 grams of branched chain amino acids, plus glucose.
Placebo supplement	Placebo	The placebo was formulated to match both the taste and color of the test supplement. Crystal Light Lemonade powder (Kraft Foods, Northfield, IL, USA) was mixed with 5.6g of powdered dextrose (Now Foods, Bloomingdale, IL, USA) to match the amount of dextrose present in the BCAA supplement.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness Rating Scale	Every 24 hours for four days following exercise

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Vermont; 🇺🇸 Burlington, Vermont, United States