POSTEXERCISE CARBOHYDRATE-PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTATION IMPROVES SUBSEQUENT EXERCISE PERFORMANCE AND INTRACELLULAR SIGNALING FOR PROTEIN SYNTHESIS

Ferguson-Stegall, L, McCleave, EL, Ding, Z, Doerner III, PG, Wang, B, Liao, Y-H, Kammer, L, Liu, Y, Hwang, J, Dessard, BM, and Ivy, JL. Postexercise carbohydrate-protein supplementation improves subsequent exercise performance and intracellular signaling for protein synthesis. J Strength Cond Res 25(5): 1210-1224, 2011-Postexercise carbohydrate-protein (CHO + PRO) supplementation has been proposed to improve recovery and subsequent endurance performance compared to CHO supplementation. This study compared the effects of a CHO + PRO supplement in the form of chocolate milk (CM), isocaloric CHO, and placebo (PLA) on recovery and subsequent exercise performance. Ten cyclists performed 3 trials, cycling 1.5 hours at 70% <(V)over dot>o(2)max plus 10 minutes of intervals. They ingested supplements immediately postexercise and 2 hours into a 4-hour recovery. Biopsies were performed at recovery minutes 0, 45, and 240 (R0, R45, REnd). Postrecovery, subjects performed a 40-km time trial (TT). The TT time was faster in CM than in CHO and in PLA (79.43 +/- 2.11 vs. 85.74 +/- 3.44 and 86.92 +/- 3.28 minutes, p <= 0.05). Muscle glycogen resynthesis was higher in CM and in CHO than in PLA (23.58 and 30.58 vs. 7.05 mu mmol.g(-1) wet weight, p <= 0.05). The mammalian target of rapamycin phosphorylation was greater at R45 in CM than in CHO or in PLA (174.4 +/- 36.3 vs. 131.3 +/- 28.1 and 73.7 +/- 7.8% standard, p <= 0.05) and at REnd in CM than in PLA (94.5 +/- 9.9 vs. 69.1 +/- 3.8%, p <= 0.05). rpS6 phosphorylation was greater in CM than in PLA at R45 (41.0 +/- 8.3 vs. 15.3 +/- 2.9%, p <= 0.05) and REnd (16.8 +/- 2.8 vs. 8.4 +/- 1.9%, p <= 0.05). FOXO3A phosphorylation was greater at R45 in CM and in CHO than in PLA (84.7 +/- 6.7 and 85.4 +/- 4.7 vs. 69.2 +/- 5.5%, p <= 0.05). These results indicate that postexercise CM supplementation can improve subsequent exercise performance and provide a greater intracellular signaling stimulus for PRO synthesis compared to CHO and placebo.