CAN COMMON DIETARY ANTIOXIDANTS DELAY MUSCULAR FATIGUE?
As discussed earlier, it is known that exercise-induced radical production contributes to muscle fatigue during prolonged exercise. Therefore, it could be hypothesized that supplementation with dietary antioxidants could delay fatigue. In this regard, numerous studies have probed the ergogenic potential of dietary antioxidants on exercise performance. Specifically, studies have investigated whether common antioxidants such as vitamin E, vitamin C, and ubiquinone-10 can delay muscular fatigue. Collectively, these studies do not provide convincing evidence that these antioxidants are ergogenic during endurance exercise. Moreover, studies using antioxidant mixtures or selenium have not demonstrated improved exercise performance (Powers et al., 2004). Given that the antioxidant N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) can delay muscular fatigue during prolonged exercise, why are common dietary antioxidants incapable of providing a similar ergogenic benefit? Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer to t
