The effect of beetroot juice taken at different doses on submaximal running performance

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of beetroot juice taken at different doses before exercise on submaximal running performance. 12 elite athletes between the ages of 18-25 voluntarily participated in the study. The average age of the participants was 19.0 ± 1.54; average height is 176.5 ± 5.3 cm and body weight average is 66.0 ± 4.7 kg. In the study conducted with a single blind cross-over trial model; 3 random trials, two beetroot juice (6 mmol and 10 mmol nitrate) and one placebo, were performed one week apart. In all trials, participants participated in the treadmill exercise at 85% of the heart rate reserve until 3 hours after the beetroot juice / placebo intake, until it was exhausted. In order to determine the effects of different doses of beet juice on submaximal exercise performance, exercise-exhaustion time and heart rate, blood pressure, subjective hunger and tiredness parameters during exercise and recovery were evaluated. In the analysis of the data, one way repeated measures and two way repeated measures analysis was used, and in case of a significant difference, LSD test was performed from Post-hoc tests to determine where the difference originated. SPSS 22.0 computer program was used for statistical analysis of data and significance was accepted as p <0.05. As a result of the statistical analysis; It has been found that beetroot juice consumed before exercise, increases running time, reduces systolic and diastolic blood pressure, affects the average heart rate during the trial, increases the maximum heart rate during exercise, decreases the minimum heart rate, reduces perceived fatigue and positively affects the running RR interval (p <0.05). When the difference between doses in running time, perceived fatigue and blood pressures is examined, beetroot juice containing 10 mmol nitrate has been found to be more effective than beetroot juice containing 6 mmol nitrate (p <0.05). Finally, the results also showed that beetroot juice consumed before acute exercise affects submaximal running performance positively.