Journal
JOURNAL OF SPORTS SCIENCES
Volume 33, Issue 14, Pages 1459-1466Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2014.990495
Keywords
supplement; amino acid; ergogenic aid
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Citrulline has been proposed as an ergogenic aid, leading to an interest in watermelon given its high citrulline concentration. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a single, pre-exercise dose of l-citrulline, watermelon juice, or a placebo on the total maximum number of repetitions completed over 5 sets, time to exhaustion, maximal oxygen consumption (VO(2)max), anaerobic threshold, and flow-mediated vasodilation. A randomised double-blind within-participants study design was used to examine these effects among 22 participants (n=11 males). Supplementation included either a 7.5% sucrose drink containing 6g of l-citrulline, 710mL of watermelon juice (~1.0g citrulline), or a 7.5% sucrose placebo drink. Supplementation was administered 1 or 2h before exercise testing to investigate a timing effect. There was no significant effect between the three supplements for the total number of repetitions, time to exhaustion, VO(2)max, anaerobic threshold, or flow-mediated vasodilation. There was also no interaction observed relative to gender or supplement timing (P>0.05). A single dose of l-citrulline or watermelon juice as a pre-exercise supplement appears to be ineffective in improving exercise performance; however, greater doses of l-citrulline have been shown to be safe and are currently left unexamined.
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