SummaryWe have previously reported the preventive effects of light resistance exercise (voluntary tower climbing exercise) after ingestion of a high-protein snack (HPS) on muscle loss in glucocorticoid-injected rats. However, such studies have not been performed in humans. In this cross-over study, we examined the effect of light resistance exercise after ingestion of HPS on plasma branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) concentrations in humans. Seven healthy young adult females (aged 22.1 Ϯ 1.2 y) participated in this study. They were assigned to either an exercise group or a control group. Seven days after the first experiment, they were crossed over to the opposite intervention. The subjects ingested HPS (15 g protein, 18 g sugar) 3 h after breakfast (basal meal). The plasma BCAA concentrations increased at 30 min after HPS ingestion. The subjects in the exercise group performed light resistance exercise (15 min dumbbell exercise using 300 g brown-rice-filled fabric dumbbells) when the plasma BCAA concentrations were increased (60 min after the snack ingestion). The control group maintained a resting position during the experiment. Changes in the plasma BCAA concentrations between 60 and 90 min after HPS ingestion increased continuously in the control group ( ϩ 27 mol/L) but decreased in the exercise group ( Ϫ 37 mol/L). Therefore, light resistance exercise after HPS ingestion may be effective for utilization of plasma BCAA in humans. Key Words high-protein snack, light resistance exercise, branched-chain amino acids, muscular blood flow, dumbbell exercise Moderate exercise and protein intake are essential for maintaining and increasing skeletal muscle mass. Many studies have been conducted on the timing of exercise and protein or amino acid intake for efficiently increasing skeletal muscle mass ( 1 -5 ). In particular, branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) accounts for about 35% of the essential amino acids that constitute muscle protein ( 6 ), and leucine has been investigated for its protein anabolic and insulin-like effects ( 7 , 8 ).We have previously reported that the serum amino acid concentrations are not significantly increased after ingestion of basal meals, whereas the concentrations are rapidly increased after high-protein snack (HPS) ingestion in rats ( 9 ). It was considered that ingestion of HPS approximately 3 h after the basal meals is an effective method to supply muscles with sufficient amounts of amino acids ( 10 ).To examine whether the ingestion of HPS is effective in supplying amino acids to muscle and suppressing muscle loss, we have previously studied this phenomenon in glucocorticoid-injected rats ( 9 , 11 ). We found that muscle loss cannot be suppressed by providing HPS alone without light resistance exercise ( 9 , 11 ).In this study, we examined the effect of light resistance exercise after HPS ingestion 3 h after a basal meal on plasma BCAA concentrations and estimated whether the ingestion of HPS and light resistance exercise was effective for utilization of BCAA in humans.
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