Effect of branched-Chain Amino Acid Supplementation on Muscle Soreness following Exercise: A Meta-Analysis
One article on PainSci cites Fedewa 2019: A Deep Dive into Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a symptom of exercise-induced muscle damage that occurs following exercise. Previous research has indicated that branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) supplementation may attenuate exercise-induced muscle damage that causes delayed onset muscle soreness, however the results are inconsistent. The primary aim of this study was to examine the previous literature assessing the effect of BCAA supplementation on DOMS following an acute bout of exercise in adults. This review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses), and identified peer-reviewed articles comparing a BCAA supplement to a placebo non-BCAA supplement following an acute bout of exercise. An electronic search of three databases (EbscoHost, Web of Science, and SPORTDiscus) yielded 42 articles after duplicates were removed. All studies included in the current analyis were: 1) peer-reviewed publications; 2) available in English; 3) utilized a random control design that compared a BCAA group to a placebo control group following exercise; 4) and assessed soreness of muscle tissue during recovery. DOMS was assessed in 61 participants following ingestion of a BCAA supplement over the course of these interventions. The cumulative results of 37 effects gathered from 8 studies published between 2007 and 2017 indicated that BCAA supplementation reduced DOMS following exercise training (ES = 0.7286, 95% CI: 0.5017 to 0.9555, p < 0.001). A large decrease in DOMS occurs following BCAA supplementation after exercise compared to a placebo supplement.
related content
- “Effects of protein supplements on muscle damage, soreness and recovery of muscle function and physical performance: a systematic review,” Stefan M Pasiakos, Harris R Lieberman, and Tom M McLellan, Sports Medicine, 2014.
- “Effect of Branched-Chain Amino Acid Supplementation on Recovery Following Acute Eccentric Exercise,” Trisha A VanDusseldorp, Kurt A Escobar, Kelly E Johnson, Matthew T Stratton, Terence Moriarty, Nathan Cole, James J McCormick, Chad M Kerksick, Roger A Vaughan, Karol Dokladny, Len Kravitz, and Christine M Mermier, Nutrients, 2018.
- “Branched-chain amino acids do not improve muscle recovery from resistance exercise in untrained young adults,” José Maria Estoche, Jeferson Lucas Jacinto, Mirela Casonato Roveratti, Juliano Moro Gabardo, Cosme Franklim Buzzachera, Erick Prado de Oliveira, Alex Silva Ribeiro, Rubens Alexandre da Silva, and Andreo Fernando Aguiar, Amino Acids, 2019.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
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