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Beetroot juice supplementation speeds O2 uptake kinetics and improves exercise tolerance during severe-intensity exercise initiated from an elevated metabolic rate

B. C. Breese, M. A. McNarry, S. Marwood, J. R. Blackwell, S. J. Bailey, A. M. Jones, Melitta McNarry Orcid Logo

AJP: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Volume: 305, Issue: 12, Pages: R1441 - R1450

Swansea University Author: Melitta McNarry Orcid Logo

DOI (Published version): 10.1152/ajpregu.00295.2013

Abstract

Recent research has suggested that dietary nitrate (NO3-) supplementation might alter the physiological responses to exercise via specific effects on type II muscle. Severe-intensity exercise initiated from an elevated metabolic rate would be expected to enhance the proportional activation of higher...

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Published in: AJP: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology
Published: 2013
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa26155
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Abstract: Recent research has suggested that dietary nitrate (NO3-) supplementation might alter the physiological responses to exercise via specific effects on type II muscle. Severe-intensity exercise initiated from an elevated metabolic rate would be expected to enhance the proportional activation of higher-order (type II) muscle fibers. The purpose of this study was therefore to test the hypothesis that, compared to placebo (PL), NO3--rich beetroot juice (BR) supplementation would speed the phase II o2 kinetics (τp) and enhance exercise tolerance during severe-intensity exercise initiated from a baseline of moderate-intensity exercise. Nine healthy, physically-active subjects were assigned in a randomized, double-blind, crossover design to receive BR (140 mL/day, containing ~8 mmol of NO3-) and PL (140 mL/day, containing ~0.003 mmol of NO3-) for 6 days. On days 4, 5 and 6 of the supplementation periods, subjects completed a double-step exercise protocol that included transitions from unloaded-to-moderate intensity exercise (U→M) followed immediately by moderate-to-severe-intensity exercise (M→S). Compared to PL, BR elevated resting plasma nitrite concentration (PL: 65 ± 32 vs. BR: 348 ± 170 nM, P<0.01) and reduced the o2 τp in M→S (PL: 46 ± 13 vs. BR: 36 ± 10 s, P<0.05) but not U→M (PL: 25 ± 4 vs. BR: 27 ± 6 s, P>0.05). During M→S exercise, the faster o2 kinetics coincided with faster NIRS-derived muscle [deoxyhemoglobin] kinetics (τ; PL: 20 ± 9 vs. BR: 10 ± 3 s, P<0.05) and a 22% greater time-to-task failure (PL: 521 ± 158 vs. BR: 635 ± 258 s, P<0.05). Dietary supplementation with NO3--rich BR juice speeds o2 kinetics and enhances exercise tolerance during severe-intensity exercise when initiated from an elevated metabolic rate.
Keywords: nitric oxide, muscle oxygenation, fatigue, phase II time constant, motor unit recruitment.
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Issue: 12
Start Page: R1441
End Page: R1450