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Acute acetaminophen ingestion improves performance and muscle activation during maximal intermittent knee extensor exercise

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posted on 2017-12-22, 10:07 authored by Paul T. Morgan, Joanna L. Bowtell, Anni Vanhatalo, Andrew M. Jones, Stephen BaileyStephen Bailey
Aim: Acetaminophen is a commonly used medicine for pain relief and emerging evidence suggests that it may improve endurance exercise performance. This study investigated some of the physiological mechanisms by which acute acetaminophen ingestion might blunt muscle fatigue development. Methods: Thirteen active males completed 60 × 3 s maximum voluntary contractions (MVC) of the knee extensors with each contraction separated by a 2 s passive recovery period. This protocol was completed 60 min after ingesting 1 g of maltodextrin (placebo) or 1 g of acetaminophen on two separate visits. Peripheral nerve stimulation was administered every 6th contraction for assessment of neuromuscular fatigue development, with the critical torque (CT), which reflects the maximal sustainable rate of oxidative metabolism, taken as the mean torque over the last 12 contractions. Surface electromyography was recorded continuously as a measure of muscle activation. Results: Mean torque (61 ± 11 vs. 58 ± 14 % pre-exercise MVC) and CT (44 ± 13 vs. 40 ± 15 % pre-exercise MVC) were greater in the acetaminophen trial compared to placebo (both P<0.05). Voluntary activation and potentiated twitch declined at a similar rate in both conditions (P>0.05). However, the decline in electromyography amplitude was attenuated in the acetaminophen trial, with electromyography amplitude being greater compared to placebo from 210 s onwards (P<0.05). Conclusion: These findings indicate that acute acetaminophen ingestion might be ergogenic by increasing CT and preserving muscle activation during high-19 intensity exercise.

History

School

  • Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences

Published in

European Journal of Applied Physiology

Citation

MORGAN, P.T. ... et al, 2018. Acute acetaminophen ingestion improves performance and muscle activation during maximal intermittent knee extensor exercise. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 118(3), pp. 595-605.

Publisher

© The Authors. Published by Springer

Version

  • NA (Not Applicable or Unknown)

Publisher statement

This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported Licence (CC BY 4.0). Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Acceptance date

2017-12-19

Publication date

2018-01-13

Notes

This is an Open Access Article. It is published by Springer under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported Licence (CC BY). Full details of this licence are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

ISSN

1439-6319

eISSN

1439-6327

Language

  • en

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