Carbohydrate Mouth Rinses before Exercise Improve Performance of Romanian Deadlift Exercise: A Randomized Crossover Study

Abstract

(1) Background: This study compared the effects of mouth rinsing with a carbohydrate trial (CMR) and a placebo trial (PL) on concentric and eccentric contraction strength in multi-joint resistance exercise performance. (2) Methods: Twenty healthy adult men (age: 22.4 ± 3.7 years, body mass index: 26 ± 3.8, peak power: 378.3 ± 138.7 W) were recruited in this study. Participants were employed in a double-blind, randomized crossover design to divide participants into carbohydrate mouth rinsing trial (CMR) and placebo trial (PL). After warming up, participants used 6.6% maltodextrin (CMR) or mineral water (PL) to rinse their mouth for 20 s. Next, the participants underwent tests of maximum inertial Romanian deadlift resistance exercise comprising five sets of six reps, with 3 min rests between sets. After deducting the first repetition of each set, the mean values from the five sets were analyzed. (3) Results: The concentric peak power of the CMR trial was significantly higher than that of the PL trial (p = 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.46), the eccentric peak power of the CMR trial was significantly higher than that of the PL trial (p = 0.008, Cohen’s d = 0.56), and the total work of the CMR trial was significantly higher than that of PL trial (p = 0.002, Cohen’s d = 0.51). (4) Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that mouth rinsing with carbohydrates before exercise can improve concentric and eccentric contraction strength in multi-joint resistance exercise performance.