The aim of this study was to examine the effects of fish oil supplementation on the magnitude and time-course of postresistance exercise muscle soreness. This study was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. Nonresistance trained females were randomized into one of two groups: fish oil supplementation (6 g/day; 5:1 eicosapentaenoic acid to docosahexaenoic acid (EPA:DHA)) or placebo (6 g/day corn/soy oil). After consuming the supplements for one week, participants underwent a single bout of resistance exercise consisting of 10 sets to failure of elbow flexion and leg extension machines. Muscle soreness was measured daily over the next week via grounded visual analog scale while participants continued to consume their assigned supplement. At 48 hours and one week postexercise, soreness during functional movements and limb circumferences were measured. The fish oil group perceived less static and functional muscle soreness than placebo, although the differences were not statistically significant. Effect sizes for resistance exercise-induced static and functional soreness responses were 33 to 42% lower in fish oil versus placebo without changes in upper arm and thigh circumferences. Supplementing the diet with 6 g per day of fish oil may alleviate muscle soreness experienced after resistance training in young untrained females.

No abstract

McKinley-Barnard, SK, Andre, TL, Gann, JJ, Hwang, PS, and Willoughby, DS. Effectiveness of fish oil supplementation in attenuating exercise-induced muscle damage in females during midfollicular and midluteal menstrual phases. J Strength Cond Res 32(6): 1601-1612, 2018-The purpose of this study was to determine whether the differences in estrogen levels during the female menstrual cycle and fish oil supplementation would attenuate eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage and delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). In a double-blind fashion, 22 physically active females (20.9 ± 1.4 years, 63.5 ± 9.0 kg, 165.2 ± 7.5 cm) were randomly assigned to ingest either 6 g of fish oil (n = 11) or placebo (n = 11) daily for 21 days. Participants underwent an eccentric exercise bout of the knee extensors on 2 occasions during the midfollicular (MF) and midluteal (ML) phases of the 28-day menstrual cycle. Before (PRE), at 6 (6HRPOST), and at 24 hours postexercise (24HRPOST) for each session, participants underwent assessments of DOMS, muscle strength, and had venous blood samples and muscle biopsies obtained. Data were analyzed using a 2 × 2 × 3 repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance for each criterion variable (p ≤ 0.05). Further analysis of the main effects for the test was performed using separate 1-way analyses of variance. Delayed-onset muscle soreness was significantly greater at the 6HRPOST and 24HRPOST timepoints compared with PRE (p < 0.001). Superoxide dismutase and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) concentrations were significantly higher at the MF phase compared with the ML phase (p < 0.001 and p = 0.05, respectively). There were no statistically significant differences observed for muscle strength, myoglobin, NF-Kβ p50, or NF-Kβ p65. This study demonstrates that higher levels of estrogen may exert a cytoprotective effect on the sarcolemma.

The expression of human skeletal muscle UCP-3 as a result of exercise might be controlled by factors other than BAIBA.

Andre, TL, Gann, JJ, Hwang, PS, Ziperman, E, Magnussen, MJ, and Willoughby, DS. Restrictive breathing mask reduces repetitions to failure during a session of lower-body resistance exercise. J Strength Cond Res 32(8): 2103-2108, 2018-The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of restrictive breathing mask (RBM) on muscle performance, hemodynamic, and perceived stress variables during a session of lower-body resistance exercise. In a crossover design, 10 participants performed 2 separate testing sessions, RBM and no mask, consisting of squat, leg press, and leg extension. The paired-samples t-test was used for session rating of perceived exertion (S-RPE), perceived stress before and after, heart rate (HR), pulse oximetry, and a 2 × 4 (session [mask, no mask] × time [squat exercise, leg press exercise, leg extension exercise, total resistance exercise session]) factorial analysis of variance with repeated measures (p ≤ 0.05). A significant decrease was found in total repetitions during the RBM condition (p < 0.01). A majority of the decrease in repetitions to failure occurred in the squat (p < 0.05) and in the leg press (p < 0.01), whereas no difference was observed in leg extension (p = 0.214). A significant increase was observed in S-RPE during the RBM session (p < 0.01). A significant increase was found in prestress (p < 0.01) and poststress (p = 0.01) in the RBM session. No significant difference existed for HR between exercise sessions (p = 0.08). A significant decrease existed in pulse oximetry during the RBM session (p < 0.01). The use of an RBM had a negative effect on the number of repetitions completed during an acute session of lower-body resistance training.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute messenger (mRNA) expression of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) isoforms, insulin-like growth factor-1Ea (IGF-1Ea), and myostatin in response to 2 resistance exercise intensities. In a uniform-balanced, crossover design, 10 participants performed 2 separate testing sessions involving a lower body resistance exercise component consisting of a lower intensity (50% of 1-repetition maximum; 1RM) protocol and a higher intensity (80% of 1RM) protocol of equal volumes. Muscle samples were obtained at before exercise, 45 min, 3 h, 24 h, and 48 h postexercise. Resistance exercise did not alter total PGC-1α mRNA expression; however, distinct responses of each PGC-1α isoform were observed. The response of each isoform was consistent between sessions, suggesting no effect of resistance exercise intensity on the complex transcriptional expression of the PGC-1α gene. IGF-1Ea mRNA expression significantly increased following the higher intensity session compared with pre-exercise and the lower intensity session. Myostatin mRNA expression was significantly reduced compared with pre-exercise values at all time points with no difference between exercise intensity. Further research is needed to determine the effects of the various isoforms of PGC-1α in human skeletal muscle on the translational level as well as their relation to the expression of IGF-1 and myostatin.

International Journal of Exercise Science 8(3): 243-255, 2015.Caffeine enhances aerobic performance, but research is equivocal regarding anaerobic performance. This study examined effects of caffeine (7 mg/kg) on anaerobic performance in anaerobically active males (n = 10). Participants completed counterbalanced, double blind caffeine (Caf) and placebo (Pl) trials including a) 6 x 15 s upper body Wingates (UWant), b) 6 x 15 s lower body Wingates (LWant) and c) 6 x15 s maximal effort static hand grip test (HG) with 3 min recovery between bouts, 30 min between exercises. Peak power (Ppeak), mean power (Pmean), and heart rate (HR) as well as perceptual measures included ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), muscle pain perception (MPP), and perceived recovery status (PRS) were recorded per bout. Session RPE (S-RPE) (15 min post) for each exercise mode and trial RPE (T-RPE) [10 min post relative to testing period for each treatment (Caf vs. Pl)]. A series of 2 (trial) x 6 (bout) ANOVA's assessed differences and Tukey's LSD post hoc test were used when necessary. Results showed increased performance (main effect) (UWant) for Ppeak (Caf: 6.72 + 1.2 W/kg vs. Pl: 6.41 + 1.0 W/kg); and Pmean (Caf: 5.39 + 0.8 W/kg vs. Pl: 5.18 + 0.8 W/kg); however no significant main effect for LWant or HG was observed. No significant differences were observed for perceptual measures. Caf improved anaerobic performance in repeated UWant (bouts 1-4) but not LWant or HG. Further studies are warranted to examine Caf ergogenic properties in repeated exercises dominated by anaerobic metabolic pathways given the equivocal results.

The purpose of this study was to determine if resistance exercise intensity, in the context of equal volume load, differentially affected myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoform messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in resistance-trained men. In a crossover, uniform-balanced design, 10 male participants (23.7 ± 2.8 years, 178.8 ± 5.9 cm, 85.9 ± 9.2 kg) completed 2 lower-body resistance exercise sessions of different intensities with equal volume load. For the higher-intensity exercise session, participants performed 5 sets of 6 repetitions at 80% of 1 repetition maximum (1RM). For the lower-intensity exercise session, participants performed 3 sets of 16 repetitions at 50% of 1RM. Muscle samples from the vastus lateralis were acquired before exercise (PRE), 45 minutes postexercise (45MINPE), 3 hours postexercise (3HRPE), 24 hours postexercise (24HRPE), and 48 hours postexercise (48HRPE). Statistical analyses of mRNA expression were performed using separate 2 × 5 two-way repeated-measures analyses of variance for each criterion variable (p ≤ 0.05). There were no statistically significant interactions between intensity and time. Likewise, there were no significant differences between exercise intensity in MHC expression. Expression of mRNA for all MHC isoforms decreased at all postexercise time points, except 3HRPE (p = 0.051), compared with PRE following both exercise bouts (p ≤ 0.05). The results of this study found no difference in mRNA expression of MHC isoforms as a function of resistance exercise intensity. In addition, in contrast to results found in previous studies of untrained men, MHC mRNA expression seems to decrease in response to acute resistance exercise in previously resistance-trained men.