Comparison of pro-regenerative nutritive actions given by foodstuff or shake after strength exercise

Various studies suggest that ingestion of combined carbohydrates and proteins after exercise result in an decreasement of inflammatory processes and consequently in an increasement of regeneration and physical performance. Usually these nutritive actions are ingested by shakes containing isolated forms of carbohydrates (glucose-based-ingredients) and proteins (whey-protein). Recent studies compared the pro-regenerative effects of these shakes with the intake of foodstuffs on the skeletal muscle after acute endurance exercise. This project aimed to transfer this design on an strength based training. Therefore, twelve subjects run through a placebo checked double-blind crossover study with three groups. After a standardized training protocol the participants ingested either a placebo shake (placebo-group), a protein-glucose shake (shake-group) or a meal consisting white bread and sour milk cheese (food-group). All data were collected under standardised conditions. To evaluate the muscle damage effects, serum creatin kinase as an physiological parameter and 1RM-squat as a functional marker were measured at two times (t0, t24). In all groups, the serum creatin kinase increased significantly from t0 to t24. In comparison of the groups, no statistical difference could be determined. In regard to the effect size, a medium effect between the placebo- and food-group (cohans d = .334) and a medium-strong effect between the placebo- and shake-group (cohans d = .624) was found. In contrast, a clear difference could be detected within the functional parameter (1RM-squat). On the contrary to the shake- and food-group, the placebo-group had a statistically significant exercise induced drop in physical performance (p=0.021≤0.05). This data underlines the importance of pro-regenerative nutritive actions after exercise. However, the form in which this action is taken does not seem to be a major factor.