Acute Nitrate Supplementation in Cyclists

Six days of dietary nitrate (NO3-) supplementation in the form of beetroot juice (\~0.5 L•d-1; 5.1-11.2 mmol NO3- •d-1) has been purported to reduce pulmonary oxygen uptake (VO2) during submaximal exercise and increase tolerance to high-intensity workloads. These results suggest that dietary nitrate supplementation has the potential to act as an ergogenic aid. Recently, we assessed submaximal oxygen uptake and 10 km time trial performance after 6 d of dietary nitrate supplementation in trained cyclists. We demonstrated an improvement in time trial performance compared to the nitrate-depleted placebo. However, the minimal dosage and duration of nitrate supplementation that is needed to elicit these performance effects remain largely unknown. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to assess performance capacity following an acute dose of nitrate supplementation consumed 3 h prior to the onset of exercise in trained cyclists. We will test the hypothesis that a single dose (140 mL; \~8 mmol NO3-) of dietary nitrate supplementation in the form of beetroot juice, ingested 3 h prior to exercise will improve time trial performance in trained cyclists compared to a nitrate-depleted placebo.