Nutrients for a Stronger Athletic Body

The Body’s Framework

Our supportive structures, the skeleton, muscles and joints, all experience stress and fatigue during periods of prolonged activity, making it extremely important and necessary to protect them. The skeletal muscle can be damaged due to repetitive, high-intensity exercise, which leads to a decrease in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and total adenine nucleotide (TAN) levels. Ribose, a naturally occurring pentose sugar, has been shown to enhance the recovery of myocardial or skeletal muscle ATP and TAN levels following ischemia or high-intensity exercise.⁵ Furthermore, ribose may modulate the production of oxygen-free radicals during and following exercise. In a study from the University of Florida, researchers implemented a double blind, placebo-controlled trial to determine the effects of four weeks of ribose supplementation on body composition and exercise performance in healthy, young male recreational bodybuilders aged 18 to 35 years.⁶ Subjects were randomly assigned to a ribose-supplemented group (10 g/d in powder formulation) or a placebo group (dextrose). Each subject participated in a heavy-resistance training program designed to increase skeletal muscle mass. The ribose-supplemented group experienced a significant pretreatment-to-post-treatment increase in the total work performed, whereas the placebo group did not change significantly. Additionally, the ribose-supplemented group experienced a significant increase in bench press strength, whereas the placebo group did not. Researcher concluded supplementation with 10 g/d of ribose for four weeks resulted in significant increases in muscular strength and total work performed in recreational bodybuilders in this study, although no significant changes in body composition were found.

Research has found ribose helps in ATP resynthesis.⁷ Eight subjects went through intense training for one week. After training, the subjects received either ribose (200 mg/kg body wt; Rib) or placebo three times per day for three days. Immediately after the last training session, muscle ATP was lowered in placebo and Rib. The results support the hypothesis that the availability of ribose in the muscle is a limiting factor for the rate of resynthesis of ATP. Furthermore, the reduction in muscle ATP observed after intense training does not appear to be limiting for high-intensity exercise performance.