Victor Magalhães Curty

Carbohydrate mouth rinsing improves resistance training session performance

We investigated the effect of carbohydrate mouth rinsing on resistance exercise performance. Fifteen recreationally trained women (age 26 ± 4 y; height 1.61.9 ± 5.1 m; weight 59.5 ± 8.2 kg) completed two resistance exercise bouts consisting of three sets of five exercises (half-squat, leg press, bench press, military press, and seated row) to volitional fatigue with a 10 repetition-maximum load. Immediately prior to and during the middle of each exercise bout, subjects mouth rinsed for 10 s with 100 mL of either a 6% maltodextrin solution (CHO) or an artificially flavored solution (PLA) in a randomized, double-blind, counterbalanced fashion. Heart rate and perceived exertion were compared between conditions using a 2 (conditions) × 15 (time points) repeated measures ANOVA. Significant main effects were further analyzed using pairwise comparisons with Bonferroni post hoc tests. Total volume (exercises * sets * repetitions * load) between sessions was compared with a Student’s t-test. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05 level of confidence. The CHO resulted in more repetitions performed during half-squat, bench press, military press, and seated row, for a significantly greater (∼12%) total volume load lifted versus PLA (p = 0.039, ES: 0.49). Rating of perceived exertion was also significantly lower in the CHO versus PLA (p = 0.020, ES: 0.28). These data indicate that CHO mouth rinsing can enhance high-volume resistance exercise performance and lower ratings of perceived exertion.

Blood flow restriction attenuates eccentric exercise‐induced muscle damage without perceptual and cardiovascular overload

The aim of this study was to evaluate the acute effects of high‐intensity eccentric exercise (HI‐ECC) combined with blood flow restriction (BFR) on muscle damage markers, and perceptual and cardiovascular responses. Nine healthy men (26 ± 1 years, BMI 24 ± 1 kg m−²) underwent unilateral elbow extension in two conditions: without (HI‐ECC) and with BFR (HI‐ECC+BFR). The HI‐ECC protocol corresponded to three sets of 10 repetitions with 130% of maximal strength (1RM). The ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and pain (RPP) were measured after each set. Muscle damage was evaluated by range of motion (ROM), upper arm circumference (CIR) and muscle soreness using a visual analogue scale at different moments (pre‐exercise, immediately after, 24 and 48 h postexercise). Systolic (SBP), diastolic (DBP), mean blood pressure (MBP) and heart rate (HR) were measured before exercise and after each set. RPP was higher in HI‐ECC+BFR than in HI‐ECC after each set. Range of motion decreased postexercise in both conditions; however, in HI‐ECC+BFR group, it returned to pre‐exercise condition earlier (post‐24 h) than HI‐ECC (post‐48 h). CIR increased only in HI‐ECC, while no difference was observed in HI‐ECC+BFR condition. Regarding cardiovascular responses, MBP and SBP did not change at any moment. HR showed similar increases in both conditions during exercise while DBP decreased only in HI‐ECC condition. Thus, BFR attenuated HI‐ECC‐induced muscle damage and there was no increase in cardiovascular responses.