Acute Beetroot Juice Supplementation Enhances Intermittent Running Performance but Does Not Reduce Oxygen Cost of Exercise among Recreational Adults.

Nitrate (NO 3 - ) supplementation has been reported to enhance intermittent exercise performance; however, its impact on oxygen (O 2 ) cost during intermittent running exercise is unclear. The aim of this study was to assess if acute NO 3 - supplementation would elicit performance benefits in recreationally active individuals during the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 (Yo-Yo IR1) test, with its potential benefit on O 2 consumption (VO 2 ), in a double-blind, randomized, crossover study, 12 recreational males consumed NO 3 - -rich (NIT; ~12.8 mmol), and NO 3 - -depleted (PLA; 0.04 mmol) concentrated beetroot juice 3 h before completing the Yo-Yo IR1 test. VO 2 was measured at 160, 280 and 440 m (sub-maximal) and when the test was terminated (peak). Performance in the Yo-Yo IR1 was greater with NIT (990 ± 442.25 m) compared to PLA (870 ± 357.4 m, p = 0.007). The VO 2 was not significantly different at 160 m (1.92 ± 0.99 vs. 2.1 ± 0.88 L·min -1 ), 280 m (2.62 ± 0.94 vs. 2.83 ± 0.94 L·min -1 ), 440 m (3.26 ± 1.04 vs. 3.46 ± 0.98 L·min -1 ) and peak (4.71 ± 1.01 vs. 4.92 ± 1.17 L·min -1 ) between NIT and PLA trials (all p > 0.05). The present study has indicated that acute supplementation of NO 3 - enhanced intermittent running performance but had no effect on VO 2 during the Yo-Yo IR1 test in recreational young adults.