Effects of short-term betaine supplementation on muscle endurance and indices of endocrine function following acute high-intensity resistance exercise in young athletes

Objective This study examined the effects of short-term betaine supplementation on muscle endurance, plasma lactate, testosterone and cortisol levels, and the testosterone to cortisol (T/C) ratio in response to acute resistance exercise (RE). Method Using a double-blind, crossover study design, 10 handball players (age ± SD = 16 ± 1 yrs) without prior-structured RE experience performed a high-intensity RE session (leg press followed by bench press; 5 sets to volitional fatigue using 80% baseline 1 repetition maximum (1RM)), before and after 14 days of either placebo (maltodextrin) or betaine (2.5 g·d−1) supplementation. A 30-day washout period separated each treatment. 48 h prior to testing sessions, participants recorded their food intake and did not perform strenuous exercise. Venous blood was sampled before supplementation, and before and after each RE session. Results After betaine supplementation, participants performed more repetitions (p < 0.001) during the leg press (Betaine: 35.8 ± 4.3; Placebo: 24.8 ± 3.6, Cohen’s d = 2.77) and bench press (Betaine: 36.3 ± 2.6; Placebo: 26.1 ± 3.5, Cohen’s d = 3.34). Betaine resulted in lower post-exercise cortisol (Betaine: 7.6 ± 1.7; Placebo: 13 ± 3.4 µg.dL−1, p = 0.003, generalized eta squared ($${\rm{\eta }}_{\rm{G}}^{\rm{2}}$$) = 0.49) and lactate (Betaine: 5.2 ± 0.3; Placebo: 6 ± 0.3 mmol.L−1, p < 0.001, $${\rm{\eta }}_{\rm{G}}^{\rm{2}}$$ = 0.96) and higher total testosterone (Betaine: 15.2 ± 2.2; Placebo: 8.7 ± 1.7 ng.mL−1, p < 0.001, $${\rm{\eta }}_{\rm{G}}^{\rm{2}}$$ = 0.87) and T/C ratio (Betaine: 0.21 ± 0.05; Placebo: 0.07 ± 0.02, p < 0.001, = 0.82). Conclusions Two weeks of betaine supplementation improved upper- and lower-body muscle endurance and influenced indices of endocrine function following an acute session of high-intensity RE in adolescent handball players.