Beetroot juice – the key to better workout performance? A new study reveals surprising benefits

It seems beets won’t just give your summer salad a boost, but your workout performance too, as a new study has revealed that drinking beetroot juice could lead to improved VO2 max, muscle efficacy and even reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

While the vibrant beverage isn’t new in the world of sports supplements, with endurance events, like Hyrox, increasing in popularity, it seems beets is back on the radar.

The study

Published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, the aim of the study was to see whether taking beetroot juice before a tough mountain climb could help enhance climbers performance and improve their recovery afterwards.

Researchers took 27 experienced climbers and split them into three groups with nine people each:

• Control group – who just drank water
• Placebo group – who drank a fake supplement with no active ingredients
• Beetroot juice group – who drank 70 ml of beetroot juice (containing 400 mg of nitrates)

The climbers took part in various tests to measure their pressure pain threshold, isokinetic and isometric strength, horizontal jumping ability, swelling around the thigh and flexibility – pre, during and post-climb.

A week after the baseline tests, the three groups set off and ascended 3720 meters. A visual analog scale was used to assess DOMS in the quads, hammies and calves, two hours before setting off, immediately after and then 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours after descending.

The results

The researchers found that the group that had drunk beetroot juice had noticeable improvements with their pressure pain threshold, VO2 max, flexibility and isokinetic and isometric strength indicators, compared to the other groups. Plus, there was also a significant decrease in DOMS in the calves 24 hours post-descending, but not in the quads or hamstrings.

Although the study is small (and subject to climbers), it joins growing evidence that beetroot juice may enhance physical performance, support faster recovery, and reduce muscle soreness in a variety of athletic settings. Another study found that beetroot juice improved static muscular endurance performance and reduced DOMS in volleyball players, while another study found it led to quicker recovery in jump performance and reactive strength.

What does beetroot juice actually do?

More athletes seem to be turning to the red drink, with Hyrox athlete Jake Dearden, telling us that it’s one of his race day essentials, while CrossFit champ, Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr also mentioned in a recent YouTube video that beetroot juice has been included in her diet for years.

According to the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition: “Beetroot juice contains high levels of inorganic nitrate (NO3−) and its intake has proved effective at increasing blood nitric oxide (NO) concentrations.” Nitric oxide helps widen your blood vessels, and therefore may have the potential to improve blood flow and deliver more oxygen and nutrients to your muscles while you exercise.

Studies on beetroot juice aren’t like those of creatine, they’re more limited and the researchers concluded that more research into the timing, dosage, and manipulation of beetroot juice needs to be done.

For now though, the evidence looks pretty positive, so and it could be an easy way to speed up recovery and help your gym efforts go even further.

Always consult with a medical professional before making changes to your supplement routine