Ergogenic Effects of Green Tea Combined with Isolated Soy Protein on Increasing Muscle Mass and Exercise Performance in Resistance-Trained Mice

It is well known that supplementation with high protein after exercise can effectively promote muscle synthesis and repair, while green tea is rich in catechins that have antioxidant effects. We aimed to explore the effects of green tea combined with isolated soy protein on increase muscle mass in resistance-trained mice. A total of 32 male ICR mice (8-weeks old) were divided into four groups (n = 8/group), sedentary control group (SC), isolated soy protein with green tea group (ISPG), resistance training group (RT), isolated soy protein and green tea combine with resistance training group (ISPG + RT). All mice received control or ISPG by oral gavage for four consecutive weeks. Forelimb grip and exhaustive swimming time were used for exercise performance evaluation. In biochemical profile, we analyzed lactate, ammonia, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and glucose and muscle damage index creatine kinase (CK) after exercise as biochemical parameters of exercise fatigue. The grip strength, muscular endurance, and exhaustive swimming time of the ISPG + RT group were significantly increased than other groups (p < 0.05), and also significantly decreased in serum lactate and ammonia levels (p < 0.05, respectively). The ISP + RT group was not only increased in quadriceps weight, (p < 0.05) but also decreased EFP (p < 0.05). We recommend using a 4-week supplementation with ISPG, combined with RT, to increase muscle mass, exercise performance, glycogen storage, and reduce fatigue biochemical parameters after exercise. The benefits of long-term supplementation or application to human supplementation can be further explored in the future.

Comparison of Hamstrings and Quadriceps Femoris Muscle Thickness Increment between Agonist-Antagonist Paired Set and Traditional Set Resistance Training in Untrained Healthy Subjects

Background: Resistance training is an effective way to increase muscle mass. Resistance training with agonist-antagonist paired set method can be an alternative to increase muscle mass within a relatively short training time.Aim: To compare the increase in hamstrings and quadriceps femoris muscle thickness between agonist-antagonist paired set (APS) and traditional set (TS) resistance training in untrained healthy subjects.Material and Methods: This study was an experimental study on 16 untrained healthy men which were randomly assigned to the APS and the TS group. Each group got leg curl and leg extension exercises with equal training volume for 6 weeks. For the APS group, 1 set of leg curls was followed by 1 set of leg extensions, repeated for 3 sets. For the TS group, 3 sets of leg curls were followed by 3 sets of leg extensions. Muscle thickness was compared from pre- to post-training and between the intervention groups using B-mode ultrasound.Results: Muscle thickness of the hamstrings and quadriceps femoris increased significantly from pre- to post-training in both groups (p<0.05). The increase in muscle thickness between the two groups was not significantly different (p> 0.05).Conclusion: Resistance training with the APS method did not give a higher increment of hamstrings and quadriceps femoris muscle thickness compared to the TS method in healthy untrained subjects.