Acute metformin administration increases mean power and the early Power phase during a Wingate test in healthy male subjects

ABSTRACT

The present study tested the hypothesis that acute metformin would increase peak power measured during a Wingate test. Fourteen men (24 ± 6 years; 75.8 ± 10.2 kg; 177 ± 7 cm) participated in four test sessions, conducted in a crossover, counterbalanced, double-blind model. The first and second sessions consisted of anthropometric measurements and one Wingate test per day to assess test-retest reliability. In the last two sessions, the Wingate tests were performed on metformin (500 mg capsule, 1 hour before) or placebo (cellulose capsule, 1 hour before) condition. No differences were found between the placebo and metformin for peak power (1056.8 ± 215.8 W vs. 1095.2 ± 199.3 W, respectively; p = 0.24). Mean power (630.9 ± 87.8 W vs. 613.1 ± 94.8 W, respectively; p=0.01) and total work (18928 ± 2633 kJ vs. 18393 ± 2845 kJ, respectively; p = 0.01) in the metformin condition were higher than the placebo. The power were greater in metformin when compared to the placebo in moments 3 (p = 0.01), 4 (p = 0.01), 5 (p = 0.04), 6 (p = 0.04), 7 (p = 0.02), 8 (p = 0.03) and 9 (p = 0.01) seconds. There were no differences between conditions for the peak lactate (p = 0.08) and the rating of perceived exertion (p = 0.84). Acute metformin administration increased the early power phase and the mean power of a Wingate test.

KEYWORDS:

• Biguanides
• AMPK activity
• lactate
• anaerobic metabolism
• energy metabolism
• high-intensity exercise

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001.