Effects of dietary leucine supplementation on exercise performance

Branched chain amino acids (BCAA), particularly leucine, have been suggested to be ergogenic for both endurance and strength/power performance. This study investigated the effects of dietary leucine supplementation on the exercise performance of outrigger canoeists. Thirteen (ten female, three male) competitive outrigger canoeists [aged 31.6 (2.2) year, VO_2max 47.1 (2.0) ml kg⁻¹ min⁻¹] underwent testing before and after 6-week supplementation with either capsulated L-leucine (45 mg kg⁻¹ d⁻¹; n=6) or placebo (cornflour; n=7). Testing included anthropometry, 10 s upper body power and work and a row to exhaustion at 70–75% maximal aerobic power where perceived exertion (RPE), heart rate (HR) and plasma BCAA and tryptophan concentrations were assessed. Leucine supplementation resulted in significant increases in plasma leucine and total BCAA concentrations. Upper body power and work significantly increased in both groups after supplementation but power was significantly greater after leucine supplementation compared to the placebo [6.7 (0.7) v. 6.0 (0.7) W kg⁻¹]. Rowing time significantly increased [77.6 (6.3)–88.3 (7.3) min] and average RPE significantly decreased [14.5 (1.5)–12.9 (1.4)] with leucine supplementation while these variables were unchanged with the placebo. Leucine supplementation had no effect on the plasma tryptophan to BCAA ratio, HR or anthropometric variables. Six weeks’ dietary leucine supplementation significantly improved endurance performance and upper body power in outrigger canoeists without significant change in the plasma ratio of tryptophan to BCAA.