Background: Omega-3 is a nutritional strategie that have been used to recover muscles from exercise-induced muscle damage in a preventive perspective.
Aim: To verify whether omega-3 (ω-3) supplementation after a session of resistance exercise facilitates muscle recovery in women undergoing a balanced diet.
Methods: This clinical trial was registered under the number NCT02839525. Thirty healthy women (22.2 ± 3.3 years) participated in this double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. They were randomly distributed into ω-3 (n=15) and placebo (n=15) groups. They ingested ω-3 fish oil (3200 mg/day) or placebo (olive oil) at the dinner after the exercise bout (10 sets of 10 unilateral eccentric contractions in a knee extension chair), as well as at lunch for the three subsequent days. In addition, both groups followed a balanced diet along the four days. Muscle soreness and maximal isometric and isokinetic voluntary contractions were assessed immediately before, and 24, 48, and 72 hours after the resistance exercise.
Main findings: There was no significant group-time interaction for any outcome. Participants presented increased levels of muscle soreness and reduced muscle strength capacity along the three days after exercise. There was no difference between placebo and ω-3 groups.
Conclusion: Supplementation of ω-3 fish oil for three days after resistance exercise provided no additional benefits compared to placebo supplementation on recovery of healthy young women following a balanced diet.
Keywords: Exercise; fish oil; muscle damage; muscle soreness; nutrition.