Effect of Short-Term Ginger Supplementation on Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines and Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness Following Endurance Training with Increasing and Decreasing Overload Training Systems in Young Volleyball and Soccer Players

Studies show that heavy resistance exercises resulted in an increase in the DOMS and inflammation, but the effects of anti-inflammatory and analgesic supplementation of ginger on pro-inflammatory cytokines such as high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs- CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and markers related to delayed muscle soreness including creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), immediately and 24 hours after resistance exercise with two reverse overload systems in power athletes are not well known. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the short-term ginger supplementation on hs-CRP, IL-6, CPK and LDH following the increasing and reducing overload systems in male young volleyball and soccer players. 40 athlete males in a longitudinal design were divided randomly into four groups: training (experimental) groups and placebo groups with the overload systems of increasing and reducing. Subjects were investigated in two separate stages (with one week interval) with and without ginger supplement. Resistance exercise included special exercises for different parts of the body that were performed with 1RM during 3 sessions per week for one week. The experimental group orally received 3 capsules (Each capsule contained 1000 mg) of ginger rhizome powder three times a day for one week. Blood samples were collected before (T1), immediately (T2) and 24 hr (T3) after resistance training. Results showed that resistance training in both systems, particularly the decreasing overload pattern significantly increased LDH, CPK, IL-6 and CRP immediately and 24 hours after aforesaid exercise when compared to placebo group. Although ginger supplementation did not affect rest levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and delayed muscle soreness compared to the period before supplementation, it attenuated their increase following both systems particularly increasing pattern. The results showed that resistance exercise specifically with reducing overload method results in systemic inflammation and delayed onset muscle soreness even in prepared athletes and short-term ginger supplementation alleviates the systemic inflammation and delayed muscular soreness caused by the resistance training particularly the increasing overload system.