Beetroot Juice May Improve Muscle Endurance Performance

Beets are rich in natural chemicals called nitrates. The body changes nitrates into nitric oxide, which helps with blood flow and blood pressure and possibly making exercise less tiring. A new study has found that beetroot juice supplementation may help improve muscle endurance performance during resistance training.

Twelve healthy men who regularly practice recreational resistance training participated in the study. They drank 70 mL of beetroot juice or a placebo 2 hours before performing an incremental resistance training test that consisted of three sets of back squats and bench presses at 60%, 70%, and 80% of their repetition maximum. The researchers measured Movement velocity variables, total number of repetitions performed until concentric failure, blood lactate, and ratings of perceived effort post-training.

Participants in the beetroot juice group were able to perform a higher number of back squat repetitions compared to those in the placebo group. No differences were seen in bench presses.

The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Cordoba. It was published online ahead of print on June 28, 2020 in the journal Nutrients.