Pre-workout Supplementation and Basketball

According to a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, research design, 36 well-trained male basketball players will be recruited. During their first visit, they will complete a health history and exercise questionnaire and will sign a written informed consent. Participants' dietary profile will be evaluated using 3- day diet recalls and they will be instructed to follow the same dietary scheme for 3 days prior to the subsequent evaluations. During the second visit, participants will be familiarized with the performance evaluations (shooting, jumping, sprinting, agility, running-based anaerobic sprint test and Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 test). (Acute phase) One week later, Moreover, they will randomly be assigned in two groups (PWS and placebo) by a research member not involved in data collection. After that participants will visit the basketball court in the morning and a blood sample will be collected after overnight fasting. Afterward, the participants in each group will perform the evaluations without PWS or PL. The evaluations will be performed according to National Strength and Conditioning Association standards. Body composition, resting heart rate, blood pressure, basketball-specific shooting exercise, counter-movement jump, 20-m sprint, agility T-Test, running-based anaerobic sprint test and Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 test. One week later, all participants will visit the same basketball court at the same hour and will consume the PWS or placebo supplement and 30 minutes later their physiological characteristics and performance will be evaluated in the same sequence. (Chronic phase) Following the evaluations of the acute phase, participants will continue the consumption of the PWS or placebo, according to their allocation group, daily for a period of 4 weeks. At the end of the supplementation period, participants will visit the basketball court and a second blood sample will be collected after overnight fasting (the first blood sample, collected before the acute phase evaluations, will serve as baseline). Then, participants' performance will be evaluated in the same sequence as the previous visit.