Ammonia Inhalation Does Not Increase Deadlift 1-Repetition Maximum in College-Aged Male and Female Weight Lifters.

Vigil, JN, Sabatini, PL, Hill, LC, Swain, DP, and Branch, JD. Ammonia inhalation does not increase deadlift 1-repetition maximum in college-aged male and female weight lifters. J Strength Cond Res 32(12): 3392-3397, 2018-Ammonia inhalant use by powerlifters and weight lifters is a prevalent practice with little research support for improved performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of ammonia as a stimulant on athletic performance during a deadlift 1-repetition maximum (1RM) absolute strength test. Subjects (men: n = 10, mean ± SD age = 21 ± 1 year, mass = 72.5 ± 6.8 kg; and women: n = 10, age = 22 ± 5 years, mass = 66.2 ± 8.1 kg) were required to have at least 2 years of resistance training experience while lacking a history of asthma, lightheadedness, fainting, anaphylaxis, sickle cell traits, and other respiratory disorders. After a baseline 1RM test, subjects were paired by 1RM performance and gender, then randomly assigned in a counterbalanced treatment order to control (water) or ammonia trials after a minimum 72-hour recovery period for another 1RM test involving attempts at 100.0, 102.5, 105.0, and 107.5% of the established 1RM value. Testing was then repeated after the minimum rest period for the remaining trial. Results revealed the expected gender main effect for absolute deadlift 1RM (93.0 ± 29.5 [women]; 152.0 ± 29.5 kg [men]; p < 0.001), but no trial main effect (p = 0.874) or gender by trial interaction effect (baseline = 93.0 ± 15.3, 151.8 ± 42.3 kg; water = 92.0 ± 12.5, 150.9 ± 37.8 kg; ammonia = 92.5 ± 16.4, 153.4 ± 37.9 kg) for women and men, respectively (p = 0.559). Within the limitations of this study, there is no support for the practice of ammonia inhalation to improve deadlift 1RM in training or competition.

Aerobic training increases skin perfusion by a nitric oxide mechanism in type 2 diabetes.

It is well known that a number of locally released vasodilatory and vasoconstrictive compounds can affect skin perfusion. This study investigated the effects of aerobic training on the contribution of nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandins (PG), and endothelial-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) in stimulated dorsal foot skin perfusion in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Ten previously sedentary, older individuals with T2DM (57.0 ± 3.1 years) and nine sedentary controls (53.5 ± 3.2 years) were tested before and after undertaking six months of moderate aerobic training three times weekly in a supervised setting. All subjects underwent measurement of baseline (32°C) and heat-stimulated (40°C and 44°C) dorsal foot skin perfusion starting one hour after ingestion of a single, oral 325 mg dose of aspirin, a known inhibitor of PG synthesis. Before aspirin ingestion, a subcutaneous microdialysis probe was inserted into each foot dorsum to administer either saline (PG pathway only blocked by aspirin in the left foot) or L-NAME (N(G)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester; thereby inhibiting both PG and NO pathways in the right foot). Normative data collected previously on subjects undergoing saline administration via microdialysis without aspirin ingestion served as a control group. Significantly lower responsiveness of maximal perfusion was found with the EDHF pathway alone unblocked compared with NO and EDHF unblocked after training. Maximal suppression attributable directly to NO, PG, and EDHF was not significantly different when examined by subject group and training status. However, contributions of NO, PG, and EDHF to maximal perfusion were significantly increased, decreased, and unchanged by aerobic training, respectively, with diabetic and control subjects combined due to nonsignificant differences between groups. Improvements in maximally stimulated dorsal foot skin perfusion resulting from six months of aerobic training appear to have primarily an NO basis, with lesser contributions from PG following training, regardless of diabetes status.