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THE ERGOGENIC EFFECTS OF ACUTE CITRULLINE MALATE SUPPLEMENTATION ON WEIGHTLIFTING PERFORMANCE IN TRAINED FEMALES

Abstract

Lauren N. Wethington, Jordan M. Glenn, Matthew S. Stone, Jarrion Lawson, Michelle Gray. University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas

Females represent 50.8% of the United States population and 65% of female athletes use nutritional supplements during their college careers. Although, there are morphological differences between genders, previous investigations evaluating citrulline-malate (CM) supplementation involved male subjects. PURPOSE: This investigation evaluated the ergogenic effects of CM supplementation on upper-body (UB) and lower-body (LB) submaximal resistance exercise performance in trained females. METHODS: This study used a randomized, double-blind, crossover design. Based on previous literature, an a priori sample of 14 subjects was required, as a result, this study included 15 female volunteers (age=23±3 years, height=162.64±19.17, weight=67.06±6.96, body fat=25.84%±5.49%, training history=5.1±3.94 years). Inclusion criteria included: 18-30 years of age, training at least twice a week over one year, and no CM supplementation within one year. Subjects reported to the Human Performance Laboratory for 3 visits. On visit one, demographic/body composition, and one-repetition maximum (1-RM) strength were measured. On subsequent visits, subjects consumed CM (8 g dextrose+8 g CM) or placebo (8 g dextrose) before undergoing the exercise protocol. Exercise protocol included six sets of upper-body exercise and six sets of lower-body exercise at 80% 1-RM. One-minute rest was allotted between each upper- and lower-body set. Two-minutes rest was allowed when transitioning from upper- to lower-body exercises. Outcome measures included: repetitions lifted during each set, total repetitions completed, repetitions completed during initial (sets 1-3) and final (sets 4-6) halves of each exercise, and repetitions completed during initial (sets 1-2), middle (sets 3-4), and final (sets 5-6) thirds of each exercise. RESULTS: During the final half of upper-body exercise, subjects completed significantly (P=.038) more repetitions when consuming CM (12.13±2.85) compared to placebo (11.13±2.75). Similar results were observed during lower-body exercise. Total repetitions (66.73±30.49 vs. 55.13±20.64, P=.027), repetitions completed during the middle third (18.36±6.71 vs. 15.29±5.78, P=.048), final third (17.57±7.19 vs. 14.21±7.15, P=.019), and final half (26.50±10.70 vs. 21.71±9.76, P=.035) of exercise were significantly greater for CM compared to placebo, respectively. CONCLUSION: In trained females, CM supplementation increased performance during submaximal resistance exercise. These data have attractive implications for female athletes competing in sports with strength-based requirements.

Funding provided by a Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship

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