This investigation examined the impact of Montmorency tart cherry concentrate (MC) on physiological indices of oxidative stress, inflammation and muscle damage across 3 days simulated road cycle racing. Trained cyclists (n = 16) were divided into equal groups and consumed 30 mL of MC or placebo (PLA), twice per day for seven consecutive days. A simulated, high-intensity, stochastic road cycling trial, lasting 109 min, was completed on days 5, 6 and 7. Oxidative stress and inflammation were measured from blood samples collected at baseline and immediately pre- and post-trial on days 5, 6 and 7. Analyses for lipid hydroperoxides (LOOH), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-1-beta (IL-1-β), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and creatine kinase (CK) were conducted. LOOH (p < 0.01), IL-6 (p < 0.05) and hsCRP (p < 0.05) responses to trials were lower in the MC group versus PLA. No group or interaction effects were found for the other markers. The attenuated oxidative and inflammatory responses suggest MC may be efficacious in combating post-exercise oxidative and inflammatory cascades that can contribute to cellular disruption. Additionally, we demonstrate direct application for MC in repeated days cycling and conceivably other sporting scenario’s where back-to-back performances are required.

(2015) Recovery facilitation with Montmorency cherries following high-intensity, metabolically challenging exercise. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 40 (4 Northumbria University has developed Northumbria Research Link (NRL) to enable users to access the University's research output. Copyright © and moral rights for items on NRL are retained by the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. Single copies of full items can be reproduced, displayed or performed, and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given, as well as a hyperlink and/or URL to the original metadata page. The content must not be changed in any way. Full items must not be sold commercially in any format or medium without formal permission of the copyright holder. The full policy is available online: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/policies.html This document may differ from the final, published version of the research and has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies. To read and/or cite from the published version of the research, please visit the publisher's website (a subscription may be required.) performance was examined following a bout of high intensity stochastic cycling. Trained cyclists (n = 33 16) were equally divided into 2 groups (MC or isoenergetic placebo [PLA]) and consumed 30 mL of 34 supplement, twice per day for eight consecutive days. On the fifth day of supplementation, 35 participants completed a 109 minute cycling trial designed to replicate road race demands. 36Functional performance (maximum voluntary isometric contraction [MVIC], cycling efficiency, 6-37 second peak cycling power) and delayed onset muscle soreness [DOMS] were assessed at baseline,

Strenuous physical activity can result in exercise-induced muscle damage. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of a lower limb compression garment in accelerating recovery from a marathon run. Twenty four subjects (female, n = 7; male, n = 17) completed a marathon run before being assigned to a treatment group or a sham treatment group. The treatment group wore lower limb compression tights for 72 hours after the marathon run, the sham treatment group received a single treatment of 15 minutes of sham ultrasound after the marathon run. Perceived muscle soreness, maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), and serum markers of creatine kinase (CK) and C-reactive protein (C-RP) were assessed before, immediately after, and 24, 48, and 72 hours after the marathon run. Perceived muscle soreness was significantly lower (p ≤ 0.05) in the compression group at 24 hours after marathon when compared with the sham group. There were no significant group effects for MVIC, CK, and C-RP (p > 0.05). The use of a lower limb compression garment improved subjective perceptions of recovery; however, there was neither a significant improvement in muscular strength nor a significant attenuation in markers of exercise-induced muscle damage and inflammation.

The prevalence of allergy in recreational marathon runners was similar to that in elite athletes and higher than that in the general population. There was a strong association between a positive AQUA and URT symptoms. The low proportion of households in which both runners and nonrunners were symptomatic suggests that the nature of symptoms may be allergic or inflammatory based rather than infectious. Allergy is a treatable condition, and its potential effect on performance and health may be avoided by accurate clinical diagnosis and management. Both athletes' and coaches' awareness of the potential implications of poorly managed allergy needs to be raised.

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Limited observational studies have described the relationship between sleep duration and overall diet. The present study investigated the association between sleep duration on weekdays or social jetlag and empirically derived dietary patterns in a nationally representative sample of UK adults, aged 19–64 years old, participating in the 2008–2012 UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey Rolling Programme. Survey members completed between three to four days of dietary records. Sleep duration on weekdays was categorized into tertiles to reflect short, normal, and long sleep duration. Social jetlag was calculated as the difference between sleep duration on weekends and weekdays. The association between sleep duration/social jetlag and dietary patterns, derived by principal components analysis, was assessed by regressing diet on sleep, whilst accounting for the complex survey design and adjusting for relevant confounders. Survey members in the highest tertile of sleep duration had on average a 0.45 (95% Confidence Interval (CI) −0.78, −0.12) lower healthy dietary pattern score, compared to middle tertile (p = 0.007). There was an inverted u-shaped association between social jetlag and the healthy dietary pattern, such that when sleep on weekends exceeded weekday sleep by 1 h 45 min, scores for indicating a healthy dietary pattern declined (p = 0.005). In conclusion, long sleep duration on weekdays and an increased social jetlag are associated with a lower healthy dietary pattern score. Further research is required to address factors influencing dietary patterns in long sleepers.

Soccer players often experience eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage given the physical demands of soccer match-play. Since long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3PUFA) enhance muscle sensitivity to protein supplementation, dietary supplementation with a combination of fish oil-derived n-3PUFA, protein and carbohydrate may promote exercise recovery. This study examined the influence of adding n-3PUFA to a whey protein, leucine and carbohydrate containing beverage over a 6 week supplementation period on physiological markers of recovery measured over 3 days following eccentric exercise. Competitive soccer players were assigned to one of three conditions (2 × 200mL): FO (n=10) contained n-3PUFA (1100mg DHA/EPA -approx. 550mg DHA, 550mg EPA), whey protein (15g), leucine (1.8g) and carbohydrate (20g); PRO (n=10) contained whey protein (15g), leucine (1.8g) and carbohydrate (20g) and CHO (n=10) contained carbohydrate (24g). Eccentric exercise consisted of unilateral knee extension/flexion contractions on both legs separately. Maximal force production was impaired by 22% during the 72 hour recovery period following eccentric exercise (p<0.05). Muscle soreness, expressed as AUC during 72 hour recovery, was less in FO (1948±1091 mm×72 h) than PRO (4640±2654 mm×72h, p<0.05) and CHO (4495±1853 mm×72h p=0.10). Blood concentrations of creatine kinase, expressed as AUC, were ~60% lower in FO compared to CHO (p<0.05) and tended to be lower (~39%, p = 0.07) than PRO.No differences in muscle function, soccer performance or blood c-reactive protein concentrations were observed between groups. In conclusion, the addition of n-3PUFA to a beverage containing whey protein, leucine and carbohydrate ameliorates the increase in muscle soreness and blood concentrations of creatine kinase following eccentric exercise in competitive soccer players.

Limited observational studies have described the relationship between sleep duration and overall diet. The present study investigated the association between sleep duration at weekdays and empirically derived dietary patterns in a nationally representative sample of UK adults, aged 19-64 years old, participating in the 2008-2012 UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey Rolling Programme. Survey members completed between three to four days of dietary records. Sleep duration at weekdays was categorised into tertiles to reflect short, normal and long sleep duration. Social jetlag was calculated as the difference between sleep duration at weekends and weekdays. The association between sleep duration/ social jetlag and dietary patterns, derived by principal components analysis, was assessed regressing diet on sleep whilst accounting for the complex survey design and adjusting for relevant confounders. Survey members in the highest tertile of sleep duration had on average 0.45 (95% CI -0.78, -0.12) lower healthy dietary pattern score compared to middle tertile (p =0.007). There was an inverted u-shaped association between social jetlag and a healthy dietary pattern, such that when sleep at weekends exceeded weekday sleep by 1h 45min, scores for indicating a healthy dietary pattern declined (p =0.005). In conclusion, long sleep duration at weekdays and an increased social jetlag are associated with a lower healthy dietary pattern score. Further research is required to address factors influencing dietary patterns in long sleepers.