Impact of Beetroot Juice Ingestion on Female Rugby Performance

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Rugby is a team sport characterized by high-intermittent efforts, due to the importance of realizing intermittent and explosive efforts in rugby the use of nutritional strategies such as beetroot ingestion should be explored with the aim to enhance the capacity for repeating high-intensity actions in female players.

Detailed Description
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Rugby is a team sport characterized by high-intermittent efforts, thus, to the importance of realizing intermittent and explosive efforts in field hockey is crucial. For this reason, the use of nutritional strategies in field hockey should be explored with the aim to enhance the capacity for repeating high-intensity actions. However, scientific evidence supports only a few numbers of dietary supplements that have reported good evidence for improving sports performance, between we can mention beetroot juice supplementation with doses > 5 mmol of NO3-. Beetroot juice is a NO3- precursor with recognized effectiveness to elicit performance due to different physiological mechanisms associated with its ingestion such as increment in vasodilatation, skeletal muscle contractility, or delaying fatigue development that could be linked with an enhance or performance in team-sports athletes. However, the majority of the studies has been realized in male athletes being female athletes underrepresented in beetroot juice supplementation research. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the effects of beetroot juice ingestion on neuromuscular performance in female rugby players.

Official Title
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Impact of an Acute Beetroot Ingestion on Neuromuscular Performance in Female Rugby Players

Conditions
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Nitric Oxide, Placebo

Intervention / Treatment
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* Dietary Supplement: Beetroot juice


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: More than 5 years of rugby training experience. Active rugby player Exclusion Criteria: Concurrently participating in other studies. Contraindications to beetroot juice ingestion. Physical limitations, health problems, or musculoskeletal injuries.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 40 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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Female

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: Quadruple


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Beetroot supplementation<br>One serving 140 mL of beetroot juice (12.8 mmol of NO3-; Beet-It-Pro Elite Shot, James White Drinks Ltd., Ipswich, UK) 3 h before initiating the testing session. | Dietary Supplement: Beetroot juice<br>* Acute effects of beetroot juice ingestion on neuromuscular performance in female rugby players<br>* Other names: Nitrate precursors;|
| Placebo Comparator: Placebo supplementation<br>One serving 140 mL of beetroot juice placebo (0.08 mmol of NO3-; Beet-It-Pro Elite Shot, James White Drinks Ltd., Ipswich, UK) 3 h before initiating the testing session. | Dietary Supplement: Beetroot juice<br>* Acute effects of beetroot juice ingestion on neuromuscular performance in female rugby players<br>* Other names: Nitrate precursors;|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Changes in Bronco Aerobic Fitness Test | Time to complete test using photocell timing gates | 1-week | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Changes in maximal isometric handgrip strength (kg) | Using a hand-held dynamometer | 1-week | 
| Changes in maximal jump height (cm) | Maximal jump height using a contact platform | 1 week | 
| Changes in 30-meters sprint time (s) | Time to complete 30-m sprints using photocell timing gates | 1 week | 
| Changes in rate of perceived exertion scale | Differences between placebo and beetroot juice in rate of perception exertion scale | 1-week | 
| Changes in side effects questionnarie | Differences between placebo and beetroot juice in side effects health aspects | 1-week | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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dietary supplements, nitrate, sports performance