Does beetroot juice work for female athletes? 🥤
A spanner in the works for this ergogenic aid?
Dietary nitrate supplementation does not improve resistance exercise performance in resistance-trained women
Study Details
This new study recruited 18 resistance-trained women to a crossover design where they supplemented with…
1️⃣ Beetroot juice (~400mg nitrate)
2️⃣ Nitrate-depleted beetroot juice
…2.5 hrs prior to resistance-exercise ⏰
Key Findings
There were no differences between conditions for back squat and bench press 🙅♀️
Performance actually declined in with beetroot juice compared to placebo…
…in 60%1RM bench press mean power and velocity ‼️
Conclusion
These results suggest that beetroot juice may not enhance resistance-exercise power-related performance in female athletes ❌
Or perhaps larger doses are required to elicit performance effects? 📈
Not the only time the ergogenic effects of beetroot juice for female athletes have been questioned though 🧐
Reference
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00421-026-06206-9
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