Influence of antioxidant supplementation on recovery from muscle damaging exercise

Exercise that is both unaccustomed and predominantly eccentric is commonly associated with damage to skeletal muscle that results in a delayed sensation of soreness and period of muscular dysfunction. It is also established that strenuous exercise is associated with a profound elevation in the generation of free radicals. The deleterious effects of these highly reactive molecules have been implicated in exercise-induced muscle damage and are believed to directly contribute to the symptoms of this physiological response to exercise. Although, regular exposure to physical activity results in adaptations to endogenous defence from free radicals this affords limited protection prior to a bout of strenuous or unaccustomed exercise. Subsequently, much attention has focused on the potential ameliorative role dietary antioxidant supplementation may play in reducing the detrimental effects associated with exercise-induced muscle damage. The series of investigations that follows attempts to elucidate this proposed protective role. [Continues.]