Abstract
AimMontmorency cherries are rich in polyphenols that possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and vasoactive properties. We investigated whether 7-day Montmorency cherry powder supplementation improved cycling time-trial (TT) performance.Methods8 trained male cyclists (dot {V}{{text{O}}_{2{text{peak}}}}: 62.3 ± 10.1 ml kg−1 min−1) completed 10-min steady-state (SS) cycling at ~ 65% dot {V}{{text{O}}_{2{text{peak}}}} followed by a 15-km TT on two occasions. Participants consumed 6 pills per day (Montmorency cherry powder, MC; anthocyanin 257 mg day−1 or dextrose powder, PL) for a 7-day period, 3 pills in the morning and evening. Capillary blood [lactate] was measured at baseline, post SS and post TT. Pulmonary gas exchange and tissue oxygenation index (TOI) of m. vastus lateralis via near-infrared spectroscopy, were measured throughout.ResultsTT completion time was 4.6 ± 2.9% faster following MC (1506 ± 86 s) supplementation compared to PL (1580 ± 102 s; P = 0.004). Blood [lactate] was significantly higher in MC after SS (PL: 4.4 ± 2.1 vs. MC: 6.7 ± 3.3 mM, P = 0.017) alongside an elevated baseline TOI (PL: 68.7 ± 2.1 vs. MC: 70.4 ± 2.3%, P = 0.018).DiscussionMontmorency cherry supplementation improved 15-km cycling TT performance. This improvement in exercise performance was accompanied by enhanced muscle oxygenation suggesting that the vasoactive properties of the Montmorency cherry polyphenols may underpin the ergogenic effects.
Highlights
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are continuously generated during repetitive muscular action from a variety of sources including enzymes such as NADPH oxidase and xanthine oxidase (Reid 2016a) in an intensity-dependent fashion (Bailey et al 2007)
The main novel finding of this study was that, consistent with our primary hypothesis, 15-km TT performance was improved following 7-day Montmorency cherry supplementation (MC) supplementation compared with PL in a group of trained male cyclists
This improvement in exercise performance was accompanied by a significant increase in resting (‘baseline’) m. vastus lateralis oxygenation
Summary
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are continuously generated during repetitive muscular action from a variety of sources including enzymes such as NADPH oxidase and xanthine oxidase (Reid 2016a) in an intensity-dependent fashion (Bailey et al 2007). Reactive oxygen species act as important signalling molecules and have been implicated in contraction-mediated increase in muscle glucose uptake (Merry and McConell 2009) and control of skeletal muscle blood flow (Trinity et al 2016). It appears that under conditions of low oxidative stress and redox balance, ROS promote optimal vasodilation and hyperaemia in exercising muscle (Durand et al 2015). Under conditions of oxidative stress or already disturbed redox balance, ROS generation during exercise impairs blood flow and vasodilatory capacity (Donato et al 2010). Excess ROS generation has been shown to impair calcium handling and sensitivity, resulting in reduced contractile
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