Acute effects of beetroot juice vs. creatine supplementation on maximal strength, autonomic regulation, and muscle oxygenation during incremental resistance exercise

Oct 6, 2025Biology of sport

Immediate effects of beetroot juice and creatine on maximum strength, nerve control, and muscle oxygen use during increasing weight exercise

AI simplified

Circadian Biology on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Abstract

Eleven physically active males participated in a study where both beetroot juice and creatine significantly improved peak velocity during resistance exercises compared to placebo.

As exercise intensity increased, maximum repetitions decreased significantly across all conditions.
Beetroot juice supplementation led to lower peak heart rates and higher muscle oxygen saturation during exercises compared to both placebo and creatine.
Heart rate variability metrics improved with both beetroot juice and creatine, with beetroot showing greater benefits in certain measures compared to creatine.
Post-exercise, blood lactate and perceived exertion increased, while lower-limb strength performance and heart rate variability declined across all conditions.

AI simplified

This study investigated the acute effects of beetroot juice (BJ) and creatine (CR) supplementation on maximal strength, heart rate variability (HRV), and muscle oxygenation during incremental resistance exercise. Eleven physically active males (age = 21.36 ± 1.8 years) completed a randomized, double-blind, placebocontrolled, crossover protocol. Participants ingested either 0.3 g · kgof CR or 15 g of beetroot powder (7.26 mmol · Lor 450 mg of nitrate) two hours before each session. The three testing sessions included bench press and back squat at 60%, 70%, and 80% of one-repetition maximum (1-RM) until failure. Repetition-tofailure, peak velocity, power, Heart rate, and muscle oxygen saturation (SmO) were recorded during both exercises. HRV indices, lower-limb strength performance, blood lactate, and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured pre- and post-session. As intensity increased, maximum repetitions decreased significantly in all exercises and conditions (p < 0.05). Both BJ and CR improved peak velocity compared to placebo (p < 0.05). BJ led to lower peak heart rates at all intensities during BP and only at 80% of 1-RM during BS and higher SmOacross all intensities (p < 0.05) compared to PLA and CR. From pre- to post-session, lactate and RPE increased (p < 0.05) and lower -limb strength performance and HRV declined (p < 0.05), in all conditions, with no significant differences between BJ and CR. Compared to PLA, BJ showed significantly higher Root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), Standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals (SDNN), and high frequency (HF) power at both pre- and post-session (p < 0.05). CR supplementation resulted in significantly higher RMSSD values compared to PLA at both pre- and post-session time points (p < 0.001), while HF was significantly elevated only at post-session (p = 0.018), and SDNN showed no significant differences at either time point. Additionally, BJ revealed significantly higher RMSSD than CR at pre-session (p = 0.041). In conclusion, both BJ and CR significantly enhanced peak velocity during incremental resistance exercises compared to placebo. However, BJ provided additional benefits in muscle oxygenation and autonomic nervous system regulation, particularly during high-intensity efforts. -1 -1 2 2

Full Text

We can’t show the full text here under this license. Use the link below to read it at the source.

View full text ↗

Acute effects of beetroot juice vs. creatine supplementation on maximal strength, autonomic regulation, and muscle oxygenation during incremental resistance exercise

Abstract

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief

Abstract

Full Text

Related papers

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief