The Effects of L-arginine Supplementation on Anaerobic Exercise Performance

The purpose of this study is to evaluate if acute ingestion of L-arginine will enhance anaerobic exercise performance in young, healthy, and recreationally active adults.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Skeletal Muscle; Human Performance
• Intervention / Treatment: Dietary supplement: Placebo; Dietary supplement: L-arginine

Detailed Description

After being enrolled in the study you will be measured on a number of parameters including: body circumferences, body composition via bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), height, weight, resting blood pressure, and resting heart rate.

All participants will be asked to complete the same protocol for this study. The study design is a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, cross-over type of study. What this means is that each participant in the study will complete two exercise sessions after ingesting either a placebo (dextrose - a sugar molecule) or the active ingredient [insert supplement] plus dextrose. Neither you nor the research assistant testing you on the exercise sessions will know which ingredient you are ingesting before each exercise trial (i.e., the double-blind portion of the study). We will also randomize the order of which supplement plus placebo or placebo alone you will ingest so neither you nor the research assistant testing will know this either. The cross-over part of the study is that you will complete 2 testing sessions to assess some physical performance variables (grip strength, jump height and power, and anaerobic energy system power output) with one-week of a wash-out period between them. This will allow us to compare the placebo session to the active nutritional supplement plus placebo condition to evaluate if the supplements improve exercise performance acutely.

You will also be asked to fill in a 24-hour food and fluid log for the period before your initial exercise test. Then you will be asked to repeat this food and fluid intake when completing the second session. No caffeine, alcohol, or vigorous exercise will be allowed for the 24-hours prior to each trial.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 20
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Stephen M Cornish, PhD; Phone Number: 204-381-7296; Email: Stephen.Cornish@umanitoba.ca
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Mikal Thrones, BSc; Email: thronesm@myumanitoba.ca

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Manitoba
    • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R3T 2N2
      • Recruiting
      • Applied Research Centre; Active Living Centre
      • Contact: Stephen M Cornish, PhD; Phone Number: 204-381-7296; Email: Stephen.Cornish@umanitoba.ca

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Recreationally physically active individuals will be recruited for the study. In this context it means all participants perform 1-hour of exercise per day over 3-days per week at a minimum for 1-month. All participants will be between the ages of 18-39 years of age.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Exclusion criteria for the study includes: 1) smokers; 2) unhealthy (have cardiovascular, metabolic, neurological, or psychological disease); 3) taking medication for any condition; 4) any known allergy to the supplements of interest (L-arginine or placebo [dextrose]).

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: L-arginine; Participants will ingest 2 grams of L-arginine before completing three anaerobic exercise tasks (grip strength, vertical jump, and Wingate cycle ergometer test).	Dietary supplement: L-arginine; 2 grams iof L-arginine will be ingested before an acute testing bout of exercise tasks in 250 mL of cranberry juice.
Placebo Comparator: Placebo; Participants will ingest 2 grams of placebo (dextrose) before completing three anaerobic exercise tasks (grip strength, vertical jump, and Wingate cycle ergometer test).	Dietary supplement: Placebo; Placebo

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Grip Strength	Grip strength measurement in kilograms of force produced on a hand held dynamometer.	5 minutes
Counter movement vertical jump	Counter movement vertical jump performance height in centimeters.	3 minutes
Wingate anaerobic cycle ergometer test	Maximum pedaling power output for 30 seconds of all-out sprinting on a cycle ergometer.	30 seconds

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Manitoba

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 14, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 20, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 25, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): June 26, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 26, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 25, 2024
• Last Verified: June 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: HE2024-0063

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No