International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2006, 16, 270-280
© 2006 Human Kinetics, Inc.
Effect of High Dose Vitamin C Supplementation on Muscle Soreness, Damage, Function, and Oxidative Stress to Eccentric Exercise
This study investigated if vitamin C supplementation before and after eccentric xercise could reduce muscle soreness (MS), oxidative stress, and muscle function.Eighteen healthy men randomly assigned to either a placebo (P) or vitaminC (VC) (3 g/d) treatment group took pills for 2 wk prior and 4 d after performing 70 eccentric elbow extensions with their non-dominant arm. MS increased in both groups with significantly reduced MS for the first 24 h with VC. Range of motion was reduced equally in both groups after the exercise (P ≥ 0.05). Muscle force declined equally and was unaffected by treatment. VC attenuated the creatine kinase (CK) increase at 48 h after exercise with similar CK after this time. Glutathione ratio (oxidized glutathione/total glutathione) was significantly increased at 4 and 24 h with P but VC prevented this change. These data suggest that vitamin C pretreatment can reduce MS, delay CK increase, and prevent blood glutathione oxidation with little influence on muscle function loss.