The effects of leucine and whey protein supplementation with eight weeks of resistance training on strength and body composition

BACKGROUND: In past few decades, supplementation has become very popular within professional and recreational athletes. Most interested among supplements are protein and amino acids. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of leucine supplementation in comparison to whey protein supplementation with placebo group on strength and body composition during 8 weeks of resistance training program. METHODS: Thirty male college athletes (mean age +/- SD =23.92 +/- 1.54 years) participated in this investigation and were randomly assigned to one of three groups: whey protein (WP, N.=10), leucine (LEU, N.=10) or placebo (PLA, N.=10). The WP, LEU and PLA performed resistance training for 8 weeks. Strength (1RM bench press, squat, shoulder press) and maximum pull-ups and body composition has been assessed and data was analyzed with mixed-design analysis of variance (P <= 0.01). RESULTS: The WP group achieved significantly greater (P <= 0.01) increases in 1RM bench press than the LEU and PLA groups (+16 kg for WP; + 7.5 kg for LEU and + 5 kg for PLA). The LEU group achieved significantly greater gains (P <= 0.01) in fat free mass, muscle mass and significantly decreases (P <= 0.01) in fat mass compared to WP and PLA groups. CONCLUSIONS: Whey protein supplementation in male collegiate athletes during resistance training achieved greater increase in strength than leucine and placebo groups, and leucine group achieved significantly greater improvement in body composition than whey protein and placebo groups.