Dietary nitrate supplementation does not improve resistance exercise performance in resistance-trained women

Dietary nitrate supplementation has been purported to enhance explosive exercise performance; however, research examining the efficacy of nitrate to improve resistance exercise performance, such as weightlifting, in women is scarce. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of an acute nitrate dose on neuromuscular performance during barbell back squat and bench press. Eighteen resistance-trained women were assigned in a randomized, double-blinded, crossover design to consume: (1) nitrate-depleted beetroot juice (PL; negligible nitrate) and (2) nitrate-rich beetroot juice (BR; ~ 6.7 mmol nitrate) 2.5 h prior to exercise. Participants performed explosive efforts during 1 set of 3 repetitions at 55%1RM, 60%1RM, and 65%1RM, with each set interspersed by 2 min of passive recovery. A linear transducer was used to assess peak and mean power and velocity of each set. There were no differences between conditions for back squat and bench press variables (P > 0.05) with the exception that performance declined in BR compared to PL in 60%1RM bench press mean power (BR: 201 ± 61 W vs. PL: 206 ± 61 W; P = 0.047, gz = -0.48) and mean velocity (BR: 0.68 ± 0.08 m/s vs. PL: 0.70 ± 0.08 m/s; P = 0.049, gz = -0.50). These results indicate that acute nitrate ingestion does not improve back squat performance and more research is required to elucidate if nitrate elicits ergolytic effects in resistance-trained women.