Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the interrelation between BCAA and performance capacity. 24 male endurance athletes were randomly divided in 2 groups. During 60 days they received respectively 15 g of BCAA (group AAR) or the same amount of a placebo (group PLA). Subjects performed 2 series of tests, at the beginning (TO) and at the end (T60) of the supplementation period. Each series comprised the following trials: anthropometric measurements (weight, height, fat and lean body mass); a treadmill test (40 min at 80 VO2 max followed by a period at VO2max until exhaustion) during which oxygen consumption (VO2), pulmonary ventilation (VE), heart rate (FC) and blood lactate concentration (La) were determined; a series of jump tests on an Ergojump springboard to measure muscular power of lower limbs. In both groups there were no significant differences between TO and T60 in the anthropometric parameters. During the treadmill test VO2, VE and (La) did not change significantly while only in the AAR group did we observe a significant decrease of FC (-2.5). Exhaustion time increased notably and significantly in the 2 groups from TO to T6O (+57.3 g AAR and +25.6 g PLA). Jump tests showed a general improvement of the performance only in the BCAA treated group. A significant variation was observed in performance of free load, 10 kg overload and repeated jump tests (+6.9, +8.2, +10.9). Results obtained suggest that an addition of BCAA to the diet of endurance athletes leads to a better adaptive response to training stimulus. Verf.-R.