The Effects of Dietary Nitrate Supplementation on Explosive Exercise Performance: A Systematic Review.

Rachel Tan,Leire Cano,Ángel Lago-Rodríguez,Raúl Domínguez

doi:10.3390/ijerph19020762

Abstract

Dietary nitrate supplementation is evidenced to induce physiological effects on skeletal muscle function in fast-twitch muscle fibers and may enhance high-intensity exercise performance. An important component of sport-specific skills is the ability to perform explosive movements; however, it is unclear if nitrate supplementation can impact explosive efforts. We examined the existing evidence to determine whether nitrate supplementation improves explosive efforts lasting ≤ 6 s. PubMed, Scopus and Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) were searched for articles using the following search strategy: (nitrate OR nitrite OR beetroot) AND (supplement OR supplementation) AND (explosive OR power OR high intensity OR high-intensity OR sprint* OR “athletic performance”). Out of 810 studies, 18 were eligible according to inclusion criteria. Results showed that 4 of the 10 sprint-type studies observed improved sprint time, power output, and total work in cycling or running, whereas 4 of the 10 resistance-based exercise studies observed improvements to power and velocity of free-weight bench press as well as isokinetic knee extension and flexion at certain angular velocities. These results suggest that nitrate potentially improves explosive exercise performance, but further work is required to clarify the factors influencing the efficacy of nitrate in different exercise modalities.

Highlights

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutralThe ability to generate power during explosive movements is a key determinant for performance in various sports [1]
The aim of this review was to perform a summary of investigations that have investigated the effect of NO3 − supplementation in exercise involving explosive efforts (≤6 s) and to explore the factors that might have a role in the efficacy of NO3 − for explosive movements during various exercise modalities
NO3 − supplementation was administered 2–3 h before testing for the acute protocols, whereas multi-day NO3 − supplementation occurred in a range of short-term (3 days) [59,64] to chronic (7 days) [59,66,68] strategies before the onset of testing. This is the first systematic review to have examined whether dietary NO3 − supplementation can enhance exercise performance during explosive efforts lasting for ≤6 s in various modes of exercise

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutralThe ability to generate power (i.e., the product of force and velocity) during explosive movements is a key determinant for performance in various sports [1]. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently classified five supplements to have a strong evidence base for enhancing high-intensity exercise performance, which includes caffeine, beta-alanine, sodium bicarbonate, beetroot juice, and creatine [8]. Out of these aforementioned supplements, dietary nitrate (NO3 − ), administered most often as concentrated beetroot juice, is the only supplement from a natural food source [9], and the notion that this simple, vegetable-derived strategy can improve athletic performance has intrigued scientists and athletes alike [10]. Dietary NO3 − can be obtained from the with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations

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