Effect of carbohydrates versus carbohydrates plus proteins and antioxidants on oxidative stress and muscle damage induced by single bout resistance exercise

Although nutritional supplementation is controversial in the literature, the ergogenic value attributed to carbohydrate supplementation is recognized by delaying fatigue in resistance exercises. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of supplementation of a commercial carbohydrate compound plus protein and antioxidants (CPA) in muscle damage and oxidative stress induced by a single resistance training session. Ten healthy young subjects (24 ± 4 years; 23.2 ± 1 kg/m²; \( V{\text{O}}_{2\hbox{max} } \) 44.9 ± 10 ml/kg/min) performed three series of ten exercises until concentric failure, randomly ingesting water (WAT), isolated carbohydrates (CHO) or carbohydrates associated with proteins and antioxidants (CPA). Blood samples were taken before, immediately and 24 h after each exercise session for analysis of muscle damage markers, creatine kinase (CK) and malondialdehyde (MDA) oxidative stress. Blood glucose was measured before, during and after the end of the exercises. CHO or CPA resulted in significant increases in glucose of 24 and 9.5%, respectively, at post-exercise compared to pre-exercise values. WAT resulted in a significant post-exercise increase in CK (107.6 ± 34.9–227.4 ± 82.2 U/l; p = 0.02), while CHO promoted no significant increase (226 ± 90–318 ± 190 U/l; p = 0.02) and CPA did not promote a significant reduction (130 ± 125–121 ± 83 U/l). CHO or CPA did not affect the concentration of lipid peroxidation. This study revealed that ingestion of CHO or CPA during resistance exercise decreases muscle damage, but does not influence the lipidic peroxidation marker MDA.