Does Acute Beetroot Juice Supplementation Improve Neuromuscular Performance and Match Activity in Young Basketball Players? A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study

Abstract

Whereas beetroot juice (BJ) supplementation is shown to increase physical performance in endurance activities, its benefits in team sports has been barely studied. In this randomized placebo-controlled study, we investigated the effects of BJ acute supplementation in improving neuromuscular performance and physical match activity in basketball. Ten young male competitive basketball players aged 15–16 years received 140 mL of BJ or placebo (PLA) on two separated days in a balanced cross-over design. Testing sessions comprised a neuromuscular test battery consisting of a countermovement jump (CMJ), isometric handgrip strength, 10-m/20-m sprint and agility T-test, followed by a 40-minute simulated basketball match. Physical match activity (distances, speeds, accelerations, and decelerations) was monitored using an inertial tracking system (Wimu ProTM) Results revealed no significant effects of BJ on CMJ (p = 0.304, ES = 0.13), isometric handgrip strength (p = 0.777, ES = 0.06), 10-m (p = 0.820, ES = 0.10), and 20-m sprint (p = 0.540, ES = 0.13), agility T-test (p = 0.979, ES ≤ 0.01) and any physical match demands (p > 0.151, ES = 0.13–0.48). Acute moderate doses of BJ (12.8 mmol of NO3−) was not effective in improving neuromuscular performance (jump height, isometric handgrip strength, sprint, and agility) or physical match requirements in young trained basketball players the day of the competition.

Effects of Beetroot Juice Ingestion on Physical Performance in Highly Competitive Tennis Players

“…In comparison with PLA values, BJ ingestion showed no statistical differences in the performance variables analyzed, such as SVT (1.2%), IHS (4.1%), 10-m (−1.1%) and 5-0-5 in the DOM (−2.0%) and NO-DOM side (−1.1%). Overall, the results indicate that BJ in a dose of 70 mL does not produce an improvement of physical tennis performance in highly trained tennis players, that is in agreement with previous studies in other intermittent team sports (e.g., basketball), where no significant differences were found in agility, sprint, isometric strength, or even match play demands values [42].…”

“…According to previous literature, controversial findings have been reported regarding the ergogenic effect of BJ on sprint performance. While some investigations reported benefits from BJ ingestion (140 mL) [40], other studies did not find an effect [42,53]. To our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the effects of BJ on agility in tennis.…”

“…The ergogenicity of BJ has been evidenced in some intermittent sports (e.g., soccer, rugby, hockey) [39][40][41], however, other sports such as basketball showed no benefits with BJ ingestion [42]. To our knowledge, no previous studies have evaluated its efficacy on tennis physical performance.…”

“…Beetroot juice consumption promotes an enhanced endurance performance in several populations of athletes [26], potentially due to improved vasodilatation, which facilitates an increase in blood flow to the exercised muscles [22,23] and stimulates a reduction in the O 2 needed during submaximal efforts [25]. However, in intermittent efforts, there is controversial evidence regarding the ergogenic effect of BJ [40,42]. While several days of BJ administration may stimulate a modification of contractile properties of the muscle, allowing the generation of higher rates of power, enhancing speed in short distances and duration tests [27,29,30], no significant differences were found after the acute ingestion of BJ [28,36].…”

Acute Beetroot Juice Supplementation Does Not Improve Match-Play Activity in Professional Tennis Players

“…According to a recent study, a high portion of the participants consuming 140 mL of beetroot juice experienced side effects in the hours after ingestion like nausea (41%), gastrointestinal upset (17%), beeturia (17%) or acid reflux (8%; ( 14)). However, some studies cast doubt on the acute impact of beetroot juice supplementation (70-140 mL) in common sports-specific high-intensity efforts such as jumps, repeated-sprints or changes of directions (15)(16)(17)(18)(19). Furthermore, beetroot juice supplementation (140 mL) has been found inefficient to improve match play during a basketball competition (17) and to improve physical aspects of tennisspecific performance such as sprint velocity and agility.…”