Dietary nitrate supplementation enhances heavy load carriage performance in military cadets

Purpose To determine the effects of dietary nitrate (NO 3 − ) supplementation on physiological responses, cognitive function, and performance during heavy load carriage in military cadets. Methods Ten healthy males (81.0 ± 6.5 kg; 180.0 ± 4.5 cm; 56.2 ± 3.7 ml·kg·min −1 V O 2max ) consumed 140 mL·d −1 of beetroot juice (BRJ; 12.8 mmol NO 3 − ) or placebo (PL) for six d preceding an exercise trial, which consisted of 45 min of load carriage (55% body mass) at 4.83 km·h −1 and 1.5% grade, followed by a 1.6-km time-trial (TT) at 4% grade. Gas exchange, heart rate, and perceptual responses were assessed during constant-load exercise and the TT. Cognitive function was assessed immediately prior to, during, and post-exercise via the psychomotor vigilance test (PVT). Results Post-TT HR (188 ± 7.1 vs. 185 ± 7.4; d = 0.40; p = 0.03), mean tidal volume (2.15 ± 0.27 vs. 2.04 ± 0.23; p = 0.02; d = 0.47), and performance (770.9 ± 78.2 s vs. 809.8 ± 61.4 s; p = 0.03; d = 0.63) were increased during the TT with BRJ versus PL. There were no effects of BRJ on constant-load gas exchange or perceptual responses, and cognitive function was unchanged at all time points. Conclusion BRJ supplementation improves heavy load carriage performance in military cadets possibly as a result of attenuated respiratory muscle fatigue, rather than enhanced exercise economy.