Impact of Nutritional Supplements on Muscle Recovery and Performance in Strength Sports

Abstract – The purpose of this research is to investigate how nutritional supplements, specifically protein, branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), and creatine, affect muscle rehabilitation and performance in strength sports. Fifty male athletes aged 18 to 25 from Himachal Pradesh took part in an 8-week randomized controlled trial. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of five groups: control, protein, BCAA, creatine or combination. Outcomes were one-repetition maximum (1RM) strength, delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) for recovery, and muscle mass. Results demonstrated that all the former outperformed the latter in term of strength, recovery, and muscle growth. Combined supplement group presented the most beneficial effects in all the outcome variables with an 18.46% increment in 1 RM, 57.53% decrement in DOMS, 4.0 kg of muscle mass gain. Of the individual supplements, creatine produced the greatest effect on strength and muscle mass, and BCAAs were the soundest bet for reducing muscle soreness. These observations provide rationale for recommending targeted and combined supplementation approaches to enhance athletic performance and recovery in strength sports.