Pre-workout Supplementation and Basketball

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Pre-workout supplements (PWS) consumption in recreationally or physically trained males lead to many performance-enhancing benefits, including improvements in mean power output during single and repeated sprints, agility, reaction times, lower body muscular endurance and reduced fatigue. PWS ingestion also improves anaerobic performance and prolongs time to exhaustion during high-intensity intermittent exercise. However, PWSs' effectiveness is not constant, as they do not alter anaerobic power, jumping performance or blood lactate concentrations after a training session, at least in recreationally trained males and strength-power athletes. Moreover, the effects of long-term PWS supplementation, where some nutritional agents were combined (e.g., β-alanine, creatine, citrulline malate, etc.) to assess endurance-trained runners or elite cyclists' performance, are mixed and less clear. Even though the popularity of PWS use has increased among trained/professional athletes, most of the data in this area are derived from recreationally and not from well-trained athletes of a competitive level (especially in team sports). Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the acute and chronic effects of a PWS, containing 200 mg caffeine, 3.3 g creatine monohydrate, 3.2 g βalanine, 6 g citrulline malate and 5 g BCAA per dose, on shooting, jumping, sprinting, agility, aerobic and anaerobic performance in well-trained basketball players.

Detailed Description
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According to a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, research design, 36 well-trained male basketball players will be recruited. During their first visit, they will complete a health history and exercise questionnaire and will sign a written informed consent. Participants' dietary profile will be evaluated using 3- day diet recalls and they will be instructed to follow the same dietary scheme for 3 days prior to the subsequent evaluations. During the second visit, participants will be familiarized with the performance evaluations (shooting, jumping, sprinting, agility, running-based anaerobic sprint test and Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 test). (Acute phase) One week later, Moreover, they will randomly be assigned in two groups (PWS and placebo) by a research member not involved in data collection. After that participants will visit the basketball court in the morning and a blood sample will be collected after overnight fasting. Afterward, the participants in each group will perform the evaluations without PWS or PL. The evaluations will be performed according to National Strength and Conditioning Association standards. Body composition, resting heart rate, blood pressure, basketball-specific shooting exercise, counter-movement jump, 20-m sprint, agility T-Test, running-based anaerobic sprint test and Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 test. One week later, all participants will visit the same basketball court at the same hour and will consume the PWS or placebo supplement and 30 minutes later their physiological characteristics and performance will be evaluated in the same sequence. (Chronic phase) Following the evaluations of the acute phase, participants will continue the consumption of the PWS or placebo, according to their allocation group, daily for a period of 4 weeks. At the end of the supplementation period, participants will visit the basketball court and a second blood sample will be collected after overnight fasting (the first blood sample, collected before the acute phase evaluations, will serve as baseline). Then, participants' performance will be evaluated in the same sequence as the previous visit.

Official Title
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The Effect of a Pre-workout Supplement on Basketball-specific Performance and Biochemical Profile of Well-trained Athletes

Conditions
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Sport Performance

Intervention / Treatment
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* Dietary Supplement: Multi-ingredient dietary supplement (caffeine, creatine monohydrate, β-alanine, citrulline malate, BCAA)
* Dietary Supplement: Placebo dietary supplement (97% maltodextrin)


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Male participants, 18-41 years old Absence of drugs, abuse or medications, which are known to affect the Shooting, sprinting, jumping, agility, anaerobic and endurance performance Consent to follow a regular dietary plan for basketball players Exclusion Criteria: Restraining orthopedic/neuromuscular problems Caffeine hypersensitivity Consumption of more than three servings of coffee per day Use of any supplement or steroids prior to the study Use of creatine, β-alanine, citrulline malate or BCAA-protein supplementation at least six months before the initiation of the study

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 41 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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Male

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: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Quadruple


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Multi-ingredient dietary supplement<br>20 g of a multi-ingredient dietary supplement. Composition: 200 mg caffeine, 3.3 g creatine monohydrate, 3.2 g β-alanine, 6 g citrulline malate and 5 g BCAA | Dietary Supplement: Multi-ingredient dietary supplement (caffeine, creatine monohydrate, β-alanine, citrulline malate, BCAA)<br>* Administration of a multi-ingredient dietary supplement consisting of 200 mg caffeine, 3.3 g creatine monohydrate, 3.2 g β-alanine, 6 g citrulline malate and 5 g branched chain amino acids<br>|
| Placebo Comparator: Placebo dietary supplement (97% maltodextrin)<br>20 g of isoenergetic placebo dietary supplement. Composition: 97% flavored maltodextrin, similar in color, flavor, taste and energy to the experimental multi-ingredient supplement | Dietary Supplement: Placebo dietary supplement (97% maltodextrin)<br>* Administration of an isoenergetic placebo comparator dietary supplement consisting of 97% maltodextrin<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Countermovement jump height | Jumping performance will be evaluated using a contact platform | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| 20 meters sprint running time | Sprint performance will be evaluated using photocell gates | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| Rate of agility T-test performance | Agility T-test will be evaluated using photocell gates | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| Rate of running-based anaerobic sprint test performance | Running-based anaerobic sprint test performance will be evaluated using photocell gates | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| Rate of Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 test performance | Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 test performance will be evaluated using a field-based test | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| Rate of basketball-specific shooting performance | Basketball-specific shooting performance will be evaluated with a test consisting of 30 free shoots, 30 middle-distance shoots and 30 long-distance shoots | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| Blood lactate concentartion | Blood lactate concentration will be measured using a portable blood lactate analyzer | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| Creatine kinase concentration | Creatine kinase activity will be measured on a clinical chemistry analyzer | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| Lactate dehydrogenase concentration | Lactate dehydrogenase will be measured on a clinical chemistry analyzer | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| Alkaline phosphatase concentration | Alkaline phosphatase will be measured on a clinical chemistry analyzer | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| Gamma-glutamyltransferase concentration | Gamma-glutamyltransferase will be measured on a clinical chemistry analyzer | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| Urea concentration | Urea will be measured on a clinical chemistry analyzer | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| Creatinine concentration | Creatinine will be measured on a clinical chemistry analyzer | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| Serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase activity | Serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase will be measured on a clinical chemistry analyzer | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| Serum glutamate-pyruvate transaminase activity | Serum glutamate-pyruvate transaminase will be measured on a clinical chemistry analyzer | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Body mass | Body mass will be measured using a calibrated digital scale | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| Body height | Body height will be measured using a stadiometer | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| Body fat mass | Body fat mass will be measured using a calibrated digital scale via bioelectrical impedance analysis | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| Systolic and diastolic blood pressure | Systolic and diastolic blood pressure will be measured using a blood pressure monitor | baseline and up to 4 weeks | 
| Heart rate | Heart rate will be measured using a heart rate monitor | baseline and up to 4 weeks |