The effects of d-aspartic acid supplementation in resistance-trained men over a three month training period: A randomised controlled trial.

Supplement study with a randomised, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled research design. Supplement: D-aspartic acid. Dose: 6 grams per day. Duration: Administered every day for 12 weeks. Mode: Oral administration by opaque pill capsules. Adherence to daily supplementation was controlled for via check-ups and prompts at supervised training sessions. Participants trained four days per week, with supervised sessions conducted a minimum of once per week, with additional monitoring of adherence conducted via training logs. Supervised resistance training sessions were conducted by a trained exercise physiologist at the University laboratory gym. The training sessions that the participants could not make at the University gym were conducted at the gym the participant normally exercised at. Both groups (DAA and Placebo) began training after baseline testing and continued for 12 weeks. The prescribed training involved five exercises that included 3-5 sets of various repetition maximum (RM) prescriptions (2RM – 10RM). Prescription of intensity was as close to failure on the last repetition, thus training intensity ranged approximately from 70% to 95% of the participant's one repetition maximum. A primary lift was prescribed for each day – deadlift, bench press, good morning/stiff-leg deadlift and squat, with accessory exercises for balance and volume. Types of equipment for the exercises included barbell, machine, dumbell and bodyweight. Each training session lasted for approximately 1-1.5 hours. There was no direct personalisation of the training program with respect to exercises and relative prescription, however, as the prescription was based on repetition maximums the absolute loads lifted and training volume was personalised session by session according to the RM target. If a participant found they could perform more or less than the load for an exercise the load was increased or decreased the following session to keep them with the repetition range target. All participants performed the same exercises, and no other personalisation of the training program was implemented.