The Impact of Nutritional Supplements on Muscle Recovery and Performance in Strength Sports
Muscle Recovery and Performance
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17206201Keywords:
nutritional supplements, muscle recovery, strength performance, BCAAs, protein, creatine, randomized controlled trialAbstract
This study explores the impact of nutritional supplements specifically protein, branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and creatine on muscle recovery and performance in strength sports. Fifty male athletes aged 18 to 25 from Himachal Pradesh participated in an 8-week randomized controlled trial. Participants were divided into five groups: control, protein, BCAA, creatine and a combined supplement group. Outcomes measured included one-repetition maximum (1RM) for strength, delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) for recovery and muscle mass gain. Results showed that all supplement groups outperformed the control group in strength, recovery and hypertrophy. The combined supplement group demonstrated the greatest improvements across all metrics, with an 18.46% increase in 1RM, 57.53% reduction in DOMS and 4.0 kg gain in muscle mass. Among individual supplements, creatine showed the strongest effect on strength and muscle gain, while BCAAs were most effective in reducing muscle soreness. These findings support the use of targeted and combined supplementation strategies to enhance athletic performance and recovery in strength sports.
