Key result
Dietary nitrate supplementation improved repetitions-to-failure (SMD 0.43; 95% CI 0.156-0.699; p=0.002), mean power, and mean velocity during combined back squat and bench press exercise.
Why the study?
The influence of dietary nitrate supplementation on resistance exercise performance during back squat and bench press remained to be systematically evaluated.
Does dietary nitrate supplementation improve resistance exercise performance in adult resistance-trained males?
Meta-Analysis
Does dietary nitrate supplementation improve resistance exercise performance in adult resistance-trained males?
Standardized Mean Difference: 0.43 (95% CI 0.156–0.699)
p-value: p=0.002
Dietary nitrate supplementation has a small beneficial effect on repetitions-to-failure, mean power, and mean velocity during resistance exercise in trained males.
Nitrate may boost RTF, mean power, and velocity in resistance exercise; extends ergogenic data to strength metrics but remains limited by few studies.
This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the influence of dietary nitrate supplementation on resistance exercise performance according to the PRISMA guidelines. Searches were conducted on MEDLINE, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus and SPORTDiscus databases up to April 2023. Inclusion criteria were adult resistance-trained males who supplemented with a nitrate-rich supplement and nitrate-deficient placebo to assess repetitions-to-failure (RTF), peak power, mean power, peak velocity, and/or mean velocity during back squat and bench press exercise. A random effects model was performed on six studies and showed that nitrate supplementation improved RTF (standardized mean difference [SMD]: 0.43, 95% confidence intervals [95% CI]: 0.156 to 0.699, p = 0.002), mean power (SMD: 0.40, 95% CI: 0.127 to 0.678, p = 0.004), and mean velocity (SMD: 0.57, 95% CI: 0.07 to 1.061, p = 0.025) but had no effect on peak power (SMD: 0.204, 95% CI: −0.004 to 0.411, p = 0.054) or peak velocity (SMD: 0.00, 95% CI: −0.173 to 0.173, p = 1.000) when back squat and bench press were combined. Subgroup analyses revealed that back squats were more likely to be enhanced and that a dosing regimen may influence the efficacy of nitrate supplementation. Overall, nitrate supplementation had a small beneficial effect on some aspects of resistance exercise performance, but there were limited studies available and the variability was large. Additional studies that focus on upper and lower body resistance exercise and nitrate dosage are required to elucidate the efficacy of dietary nitrate supplementation on resistance exercise performance.
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Tan et al. (2023) conducted a meta-analysis in Resistance exercise performance. Dietary nitrate supplementation vs. Nitrate-deficient placebo was evaluated on Repetitions-to-failure (RTF) (SMD 0.43, 95% CI 0.156 to 0.699, p=0.002). Dietary nitrate supplementation improved repetitions-to-failure (SMD 0.43; 95% CI 0.156-0.699; p=0.002), mean power, and mean velocity during combined back squat and bench press exercise.
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