Markers of Recovery from Intense Resistance Exercise

Strength training is commonly used as an intervention to increase muscle mass, thus improving a person's ability to undertake activities of daily living, or enhance athletic performance. The strength training regimen itself, while ultimately having beneficial effects, causes muscle fibers to be damaged, which the body has to recover from. As the body recovers, it rebuilds the muscle tissue and after multiple consecutive bouts of strength training, the muscle eventually becomes larger and stronger. Thus, it is the recovery from strength training exercise that ultimately determines how well the body adapts. Where inadequate recovery could eventually lead to overtraining and/or injury, optimizing the recovery process from strength training could maximize strength training adaptations. This concept of optimizing recovery has led to development of many supplements, including antioxidants, which may reduce the damage associated with strength training activities and therefore enhance positive adaptations. The purpose of this study is to assess the ability of a polyphenol rich supplementation to aid the recovery process from a demanding bout of resistance exercise