Effects of Short-Term Golden Root Extract ( Rhodiola rosea ) Supplementation on Resistance Exercise Performance.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Individual randomized crossover trial
PubMed 34209617 · doi:10.3390/ijerph18136953
What was done
Ten resistance-trained males completed a double-blind, crossover, counterbalanced trial. Participants took either 1500 mg/day of Golden Root Extract (GRE; Rhodiola rosea) or a placebo (gluten-free cornstarch) for 3 days, followed by an acute 500 mg dose 30 minutes before testing. Exercise testing consisted of 2 explosive bench press repetitions at 75% of 1-repetition maximum (1RM) to measure mean concentric velocity via linear position transducer, followed by 3 sets to failure at 75% 1RM with 2 minutes of rest between sets. Capillary blood samples measured lactate, epinephrine, and norepinephrine pre- and immediately post-exercise.
What was found
Mean concentric velocity was significantly higher with GRE than placebo (p = 0.046). Conversely, total repetitions to failure were significantly lower with GRE compared to placebo (p < 0.001). Post-exercise blood lactate was higher in both conditions (p < 0.001), but GRE produced significantly greater post-exercise lactate values than placebo (p = 0.049). Epinephrine and norepinephrine increased from pre- to post-exercise across conditions (p < 0.001), with pre-exercise norepinephrine being significantly higher following GRE compared to placebo (p = 0.008). Absolute means and effect sizes were not reported in the abstract.
Why it matters
These findings suggest short-term Rhodiola rosea supplementation may enhance single-effort explosive velocity but may impair muscular endurance during repeated high-intensity resistance exercise.
Limits
The sample size was very small (n = 10) and restricted entirely to resistance-trained men. The abstract does not provide exact numeric values (means, standard deviations, or effect sizes) for any outcome measure. Only short-term supplementation and a single upper-body exercise (bench press) were evaluated.
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