Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Clinical Trial
. 2016 Oct 20;11(10):e0160305.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160305. eCollection 2016.

Pomegranate Supplementation Accelerates Recovery of Muscle Damage and Soreness and Inflammatory Markers after a Weightlifting Training Session

Achraf Ammar  1   2 , Mouna Turki  3 , Hamdi Chtourou  1   4 , Omar Hammouda  3   5 , Khaled Trabelsi  6 , Choumous Kallel  7 , Osama Abdelkarim  2 , Anita Hoekelmann  2 , Mohamed Bouaziz  8   9 , Fatma Ayadi  3 , Tarak Driss  5 , Nizar Souissi  10
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Pomegranate Supplementation Accelerates Recovery of Muscle Damage and Soreness and Inflammatory Markers after a Weightlifting Training Session

Achraf Ammar et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of natural Pomegranate juice supplementation on performance and acute and delayed responses of muscle soreness and biomarkers of muscle damage after a weightlifting training session.

Methods: Nine elite weightlifters (21±0.5 years) performed two Olympic-Weightlifting-sessions after either placebo (PLA) or natural pomegranate juice (POMj) supplementations. Heart rate, blood pressure and blood samples (hematological parameters, muscle damage and C-reactive protein (CRP)) were collected at rest, 3min and 48h after each session. Weightlifting performance, RPE, and DOMS were also assessed after each training session.

Results: T-test showed higher performance (+8.30%) and lower RPE values (-4.37%) using POMj supplementation (p<0.05) in comparison with PLA. For the DOMS values, a significant improvement (13.4%) was shown only for the knee extensors (p<0.01) using the POMj. Compared to PLA condition, POMj attenuated the acute (i.e., 3min) increase of systolic blood pressure (SBP), HR, CK and LDH (p<0.05; -4.46%, -1.81%, -8.75%, -1.64%, respectively) and blunted the significant increase of ASAT, PAL and CRP (p>0.05). Additionally, during the 48h following the training session, POMj improved the recovery kinetic of SBP (p<0.01, 7.97%), CK (p<0.001, 11.34%), LDH (p<0.05, 7.30%) and ASAT (p<0.05, 6.77%). Indeed, the present study showed that 48h of recovery associated to natural POMj supplementation was sufficient to reach the resting values of the selected muscle damage markers after intensive training session.

Conclusion: Natural POMj seems to ameliorate the capacity to adhere to an intensive training program. Therefore, elite weightlifters are advised to use natural POMj during intensive training program and competition to accelerate muscle recovery.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02697903.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Experimental design.
NB: the pre sessions 1 and 2 values correspond to values of 48-h recovery; Weightlifting performance was calculated during both test sessions; Acute (RPE) and delayed (DOMS) perceived muscle fatigue and soreness were assessed respectively 3min and 48 after both test sessions.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Calculated performances with PLA and natural POMj supplementations.
*:Significant differences between PLA and POMj conditions.
Fig 3
Fig 3. RPE values using Placebo and natural POMj supplementations.
*: Significant differences between PLA and POMj conditions.
Fig 4
Fig 4. DOMS values using PLA and natural POMj supplementations.
*: Significant differences between PLA and POMj conditions; k: Significant differences between DOMS of knee extensors and DOMS of elbow flexors.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Gibala MJ, MacDougall JD, Tarnopolsky MA, Stauber WT, Elorriaga A. Changes in human skeletal muscle ultrastructure and force production after acute resistance exercise. J Appl Physiol. 1995; 78(2):702–8. - PubMed
    1. Sousa M, Teixeira VH, Soares J. Dietary strategies to recover from exercise-induced muscle damage. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2014; 65(2):151–63. doi: 10.3109/09637486.2013. 849662 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Trombold JR, Reinfeld AS, Casler JR, Coyle EF. The effect of pomegranate juice supplementation on strength and soreness after eccentric exercise. J Strength Cond Res. 2011; 25(7):1782–8. 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318220d992 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Liu JF, Chang WY, Chan KH, Tsai WY, Lin CL, Hsu MC. Blood lipid peroxides and muscle damage increased following intensive resistance training of female weightlifters. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2005; 1042: 255–61. 10.1196/annals.1338.029 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Pettersson J, Hindorf U, Persson P, Bengtsson T, Malmqvist U, Werkström V et al. Muscular exercise can cause highly pathological liver function tests in healthy men. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2008; 65: 253–259 10.1111/j.1365-2125.2007.03001.x - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Associated data