Effect of increased protein intake before pre-event on muscle fatigue development and recovery in female athletes

Protein plays a vital role in facilitating muscle growth and also plays an important part in the optimal repair and recovery of the muscle after exercise. These benefits are achieved by consuming higher-protein diets. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of increased protein intake before the pre-event on muscle fatigue (MF) and ascertain if the increased protein intake before the pre-event contributes to improving recovery in female athletes.

The experimental study was conducted at the Sports Academy for Basketball in Zagazig, Egypt, from July 2 to August 12, 2023. The study was conducted on 20 female basketball players (age: 16.65 ± 0.47 years; body height: 165.42 ± 3.09 cm; body mass: 59.68 ± 3.63 kg; training age: 2.44 ± 0.56 years). They were divided into two equally sized groups: The group with higher protein intake before the pre-event (HPP) and the group with normal protein intake before the pre-event (NPP) group. Both groups consumed the same dosage of protein (1.2 g/kg/day) as instructed (American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommendation). Both groups performed the same training protocol, three times a week, over 6 weeks. All variables were assessed one week before the experimental program and after the 6-week training period. Data were collected using the Running-Based Anaerobic Sprint Test (RAST) to assess fatigue index (FI) and peak power (PP), and the Anaerobic Power Step Test to assess anaerobic capacity (AC). Moreover, changes in heart rate (HRC) to assess the recovery. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 22 software with the descriptive statistical test. The level of significance was set at P ≤ 0.05.

The results showed that both groups made significant improvements in all variables (FI-PP-AC-HRC), but the HPP group had significantly greater improvements than the NPP group. The percentage of improvement ranged from 7% to 27% for the HPP group, versus 3% to 15% for the NPP group.

The major conclusion drawn from this study was that increased protein intake before the pre-event has a positive impact on reducing MF development and enhancing recovery in female athletes.