Abstract:
In previous years, the question of whether an increased intake of magnesium would result in an increase in performance capacity has been dicussed in sports medicine. The few research studies that investigated the impact of magnesium on maximum strength and on muscle fatigue didnt show homogeneous results. Regardless by that, in sports medicine the short term application of centrally acting muscle relaxants for the treatment of acute muscular tension is repeatedly required. The effect of this application on several factors concerning the performance should be known by the attending physician. The current research investigated the effect of magnesium supplementation and intake of the centrally acting muscle relaxant Tetrazepam on maximum voluntary strength and muscle fatigue. Accompanying, the intensity and duration of the muscle soreness was measured. The study was carried out with 30 subjects (15 women and 15 men) in the cross-over-design. For the supplementation of magnesium a dosage of 20 mmol magnesium daily for 14 days was established, likewise an intake of 50 mg of Tetrazepam before the power measurement. The maximum strength and muscle fatigue was measured with isokinetic tests. Muscle soreness was quantified and analysed using a numerical rating scale. Neither the supplementation of magnesium nor the intake of Tetrazepam showed significant or by trend an alteration of the maximum voluntary strength or the muscle fatigue. Merely concerning the occurrence of muscle soreness, a reduction tended to show after intake of Tetrazepam. Also the differentiated analysis of the effect concerning the gender after intake of magnesium didn’t give an indication of influence on the researched measurements.