Jp. Fawcett et al., THE EFFECT OF ORAL VANADYL SULFATE ON BODY-COMPOSITION AND PERFORMANCE IN WEIGHT-TRAINING ATHLETES, INT J SP NU, 6(4), 1996, pp. 382-390
The effects of oral vanadyl sulfate (VOSO4) (0.5 mg/kg/day) on anthrop
ometry, body composition, and performance were investigated in a 12-we
ek, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving weight-training v
olunteers. Performance was assessed in the treatment (VS) and placebo
(P) groups using 1 and 10 repetitions maximum (RM) for the bench press
and leg extension. Thirty-one subjects completed the trial, with 2 VS
subjects withdrawing because of apparent side effects. There were no
significant treatment effects for anthropometric parameters and body c
omposition during the trial. Both groups had significant improvements
in performance but the only significant effect of treatment was a Trea
tment x Time interaction in the 1 RM leg extension (p = .002), which c
ould have arisen because the VS group had a lower performance at basel
ine in this test. It was concluded that oral vanadyl sulfate was ineff
ective in changing body composition in weight-training athletes, and a
ny modest performance-enhancing effect requires further investigation.