ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Sport and Exercise Nutrition
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1651457
This article is part of the Research TopicNutraceuticals in SportsView all 8 articles
A U-Shaped Dose-Response of Carbohydrate-Protein Supplementation on Rowing Performance
Provisionally accepted
- 1Sports Teaching and Research Department of Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
- 2Capital University of Physical Education and Sports, Beijing, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background and Aim: Co-ingestion of carbohydrate and protein supplement (CHO-PRO) is a common strategy to enhance endurance performance. However, the optimal dose-response relationship has not been established, which limits evidence-based nutritional guidance for individuals. This study aimed to characterize the performance dose-response curve of a 4:1 CHO-PRO during prolonged rowing. Methods: In a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group trial, 171 physically active male university students (age: 23 ± 2 years) from non-sports majors each completed a single experimental session. Each session involved a rowing protocol consisting of two 30-minute bouts. During the exercise, participants consumed one of eight distinct doses of a 4:1 CHO-PRO in aliquots every 15 minutes. The CHO delivery rates ranged from 0.5 to 1.2 g/kg/h. Total rowing distance served as the primary performance outcome and was analyzed using a one-way ANCOVA with baseline countermovement jump as a covariate. Result: A significant quadratic (U-shaped) dose-response relationship was found for rowing performance. The lowest dose CHO-PRO (0.5 g/kg/h CHO) resulted in significantly greater rowing distance compared to several higher doses (0.9–1.2 g/kg/h). No significant main effect of supplement dose was observed for heart rate, blood lactate, blood glucose, or rating of perceived exertion during exercise. Post-exercise recovery markers also did not differ significantly between the groups. Conclusion: For prolonged rowing, a lower dose of the CHO-PRO was more effective than higher doses, revealing a non-linear performance response. This non-linear response was characterized by significant performance decrements at several higher intake levels. These findings underscore the importance of dose optimization. Exceeding a certain intake threshold may impair endurance performance.
Keywords: Dose-response relationship, Optimal dose, carbohydrate-protein supplement, endurance performance, Rowing
Received: 21 Jun 2025; Accepted: 10 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Xiangyu Wang, 7175@cnu.edu.cn
Hao Wu, shoudutiyuan1@163.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.