International Journal of Sports Medicine (2001), Vol. 22, pp 68 – 75.
Methods
Nine active male subjects were recruited for this study. Two hours before exercise each subject consumed either a 1 g dose of vitamin C or identical placebo two hours before exercise. The exercise component of the study consisted of a 90 minute intermittent shuttle-running test, designed to simulate multiple-sprint sports.
Results
- Before exercise plasma concentrations of vitamin C were increased following Vitamin C supplementation. Plasma concentrations continued to increase during the shuttle-run to reach a peak of approximately 200 µmol x l-1 immediately after exercise.
- There were no differences in muscle soreness, and markers of both muscle damage (creatine kinase and aspartate aminotransferase) and lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde) after exercise following the consumption of Vitamin C or placebo.
Conclusions
The results of this study demonstrated that the acute supplementation of vitamin C had no beneficial effects on muscle soreness and damage following exercise. However, it is possible that such short-term vitamin C supplementation was ineffective because it occurred at an inappropriate time.
Thompson, D., Williams, C., Kingsley, M., Nicholas, C. W., Lakomy, H. K. A., McArdle, F. and Jackson, M. J.
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