Acute Effect of Oral Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) Supplementation on Muscular Performance in Trained Adults

Abstract

Introduction

Adenosine Triphosphate is a molecule with the function of generating energy, where high levels are directly related to cellular and muscular health. Oral supplementation appears as a possibility to guarantee such levels, and is normally consumed in capsules, which can be acute or chronic.

Objectives

To verify the influence of a dose of ATP on muscular performance in adults.

Methods

This is an acute, crossover, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention study. 18 trained men were recruited, with an average age of 27.95 years. Two visits were made to the laboratory, where each of the protocols consisted of randomized supplementation of 400 mg of Peak ATP® or placebo, and 30 min later, five series were performed, where the first consisted of five repetitions and the following four of ten repetitions at 60° per second in knee extension and flexion on a Biodex® 4.0 isokinetic dynamometer, where the volunteers’ muscle strength and resistance to fatigue were measured. For data analysis, data normality was assessed using Shapiro Wilk, the ANOVA repeated measures test with Bonferroni post hoc. To identify the size of the effect, the Cohen test was performed, and the statistical package used was SPSS 25 with an applied significance of p < 0.05.

Results

Acute supplementation was unable to achieve significant improvements in muscle strength indicators. The supplement delays drops in strength as the exercise progresses in knee extension compared to the placebo.

Conclusions

An acute dose of 400 mg of ATP did not improve the volunteers’ muscle strength indicators, but it was able to reduce fatigue levels as the exercise progressed, enabling greater performance for longer.

Keywords:

• ATP
• supplementation
• strength
• training
• muscle fatigue
• physical performance

Acknowledgments

The authors thank a dedicated group of subjects, who kindly donated their time and effort to this study.

Authors contributions

DLF and CFS elaborated the study design. DLF and ELCN participated in data collection. DLF, ELCN and CFS analyzed the results obtained and the best way to present them. DLF wrote the paper and performed the statistical analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel) through a scholarship to the State University of Northern Paraná.