Wang, B., Ding, Z., Wang, W., Hwang, J., Liao, Y.-H., & Ivy, J. L. (2012). Effect of an amino acid beverage on exercise recovery and subsequent anaerobic exercise performance. Presentation 1831 at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, San Francisco, California; May 29-June 2, 2012.

This study investigated the effect of two different doses of a mixture of five amino acids on exercise recovery and subsequent anaerobic exercise performance in healthy active individuals. After a two-hour intense cycling bout, Ss (N = 10; 27.5±2.0 years) received a carbohydrate high-amino acid mixture (1.2 g/kg BW CHO, 13 g amino acid mixture), a carbohydrate low-amino acid mixture (1.2 g/kg BW CHO, 6 g amino acid mixture), or carbohydrate alone (1.2g/kg BW CHO) supplement immediately and two hours post-exercise. Muscle biopsies were performed immediately and four hours post-exercise. After the second biopsy, a Wingate Anaerobic Test was performed.

The carbo/high-amino and carbo/low-amino treatments significantly decreased glucose response compared with carbohydrate-alone, which was supported by the finding that the glucose AUC for the two treatments was significantly lower than that for the carbohydrate-alone treatment. The glycogen storage rate was significantly lower in the carbo/high-amino treatment compared to the carbohydrate-alone treatment, but there was no difference between the carbo/low-amino and carbohydrate-alone treatment. Phosphorylation of AS160 and glycogen synthase did not differ across treatments. There were no differences in blood lactate, creatine kinase, or myoglobin responses, or Wingate Anaerobic Test performance across treatments.

Implication. An amino acid mixture lowers the glucose response to a carbohydrate supplement after strenuous exercise. However, it is not effective in facilitating subsequent muscle glycogen storage or anaerobic performance.

Return to Table of Contents for this issue.