Antioxidants for preventing and reducing muscle soreness after exercise

Background and aim of the review

Muscle soreness typically occurs after intense or unaccustomed exercise. It peaks between 24 and 72 hours after the initial bout of exercise. Many people take antioxidant supplements such as vitamin C and/or E or antioxidant-enriched foods such as tart cherry or pomegranate juice before and after exercise in the belief that these will prevent or reduce muscle soreness after exercise.

Results of the search

We searched medical databases up to February 2017 for studies that compared antioxidant supplementation with a control intervention such as a placebo (a dummy pill or drink that had no antioxidant) or no treatment. We found 50 studies, all of which compared antioxidant supplementation with a placebo. These reported results for a total of 1089 participants. Of these, nearly 9 out of 10 were male. The age range for participants was between 16 and 55 years and their training status varied from sedentary to moderately trained. The studies were very varied such as in the type and dosage of the antioxidant supplement and the type of exercises used to cause muscle soreness. All studies used an antioxidant dosage higher than the recommended daily amount.

Key results

There is evidence that high dose antioxidant supplementation may slightly reduce muscle soreness at up to 6 hours and at 24, 48 and 72 hours follow-up but not at 96 hours. However, these reductions were so small that they were unlikely to make any difference. None of the trials reported on outcomes related to subjective recovery, such as return to previous activities without signs or symptoms.

Only nine studies reported on adverse effects and only two found adverse effects. All six participants in the antioxidant group of one trial had diarrhoea and four of these also had mild indigestion; these are well-known side effects of the particular antioxidant used in this study. One of 26 participants in a second trial had mild gastrointestinal distress.

Quality of the evidence

We considered the evidence for muscle soreness to be 'moderate' or 'low' quality. This was mainly because the majority of studies had aspects that could have affected the reliability of their results and in some cases because of variation in the results of the studies. This means there is some uncertainty about the findings and further research may provide evidence that could change our conclusions.

Authors’ conclusions

Antioxidant supplementation does not appear to reduce muscle soreness early on or at one, two, three or four days after exercise.

Authors' conclusions: 

There is moderate to low-quality evidence that high dose antioxidant supplementation does not result in a clinically relevant reduction of muscle soreness after exercise at up to 6 hours or at 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours after exercise. There is no evidence available on subjective recovery and only limited evidence on the adverse effects of taking antioxidant supplements. The findings of, and messages from, this review provide an opportunity for researchers and other stakeholders to come together and consider what are the priorities, and underlying justifications, for future research in this area.

Read the full abstract...
Background: 

Muscle soreness typically occurs after intense exercise, unaccustomed exercise or actions that involve eccentric contractions where the muscle lengthens while under tension. It peaks between 24 and 72 hours after the initial bout of exercise. Many people take antioxidant supplements or antioxidant-enriched foods before and after exercise in the belief that these will prevent or reduce muscle soreness after exercise.

Objectives: 

To assess the effects (benefits and harms) of antioxidant supplements and antioxidant-enriched foods for preventing and reducing the severity and duration of delayed onset muscle soreness following exercise.

Search strategy: 

We searched the Cochrane Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma Group Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Embase, SPORTDiscus, trial registers, reference lists of articles and conference proceedings up to February 2017.

Selection criteria: 

We included randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials investigating the effects of all forms of antioxidant supplementation including specific antioxidant supplements (e.g. tablets, powders, concentrates) and antioxidant-enriched foods or diets on preventing or reducing delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). We excluded studies where antioxidant supplementation was combined with another supplement.

Data collection and analysis: 

Two review authors independently screened search results, assessed risk of bias and extracted data from included trials using a pre-piloted form. Where appropriate, we pooled results of comparable trials, generally using the random-effects model. The outcomes selected for presentation in the 'Summary of findings' table were muscle soreness, collected at times up to 6 hours, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours post-exercise, subjective recovery and adverse effects. We assessed the quality of the evidence using GRADE.

Main results: 

Fifty randomised, placebo-controlled trials were included, 12 of which used a cross-over design. Of the 1089 participants, 961 (88.2%) were male and 128 (11.8%) were female. The age range for participants was between 16 and 55 years and training status varied from sedentary to moderately trained. The trials were heterogeneous, including the timing (pre-exercise or post-exercise), frequency, dose, duration and type of antioxidant supplementation, and the type of preceding exercise. All studies used an antioxidant dosage higher than the recommended daily amount. The majority of trials (47) had design features that carried a high risk of bias due to selective reporting and poorly described allocation concealment, potentially limiting the reliability of their findings.

We tested only one comparison: antioxidant supplements versus control (placebo). No studies compared high-dose versus low-dose, where the low-dose supplementation was within normal or recommended levels for the antioxidant involved.

Pooled results for muscle soreness indicated a small difference in favour of antioxidant supplementation after DOMS-inducing exercise at all main follow-ups: up to 6 hours (standardised mean difference (SMD) -0.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.56 to -0.04; 525 participants, 21 studies; low-quality evidence); at 24 hours (SMD -0.13, 95% CI -0.27 to 0.00; 936 participants, 41 studies; moderate-quality evidence); at 48 hours (SMD -0.24, 95% CI -0.42 to -0.07; 1047 participants, 45 studies; low-quality evidence); at 72 hours (SMD -0.19, 95% CI -0.38 to -0.00; 657 participants, 28 studies; moderate-quality evidence), and little difference at 96 hours (SMD -0.05, 95% CI -0.29 to 0.19; 436 participants, 17 studies; low-quality evidence). When we rescaled to a 0 to 10 cm scale in order to quantify the actual difference between groups, we found that the 95% CIs for all five follow-up times were all well below the minimal important difference of 1.4 cm: up to 6 hours (MD -0.52, 95% CI -0.95 to -0.08); at 24 hours (MD -0.17, 95% CI -0.42 to 0.07); at 48 hours (MD -0.41, 95% CI -0.69 to -0.12); at 72 hours (MD -0.29, 95% CI -0.59 to 0.02); and at 96 hours (MD -0.03, 95% CI -0.43 to 0.37). Thus, the effect sizes suggesting less muscle soreness with antioxidant supplementation were very unlikely to equate to meaningful or important differences in practice. Neither of our subgroup analyses to examine for differences in effect according to type of DOMS-inducing exercise (mechanical versus whole body aerobic) or according to funding source confirmed subgroup differences. Sensitivity analyses excluding cross-over trials showed that their inclusion had no important impact on results.

None of the 50 included trials measured subjective recovery (return to previous activities without signs or symptoms).

There is very little evidence regarding the potential adverse effects of taking antioxidant supplements as this outcome was reported in only nine trials (216 participants). From the studies that did report adverse effects, two of the nine trials found adverse effects. All six participants in the antioxidant group of one trial had diarrhoea and four of these also had mild indigestion; these are well-known side effects of the particular antioxidant used in this trial. One of 26 participants in a second trial had mild gastrointestinal distress.