Acute effect of orally intake N-acetylcysteine with regular resistance exercise on cardiac stress

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-26-2025

Publication Title

Comparative Exercise Physiology

Abstract

Resistance exercise (RE) imposes stress on the heart, as evidenced by single-set of RE protocols. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a supplement previously shown to reduce fatigue and improve cardiovascular function. This study aimed to examine the acute effect of oral NAC administration on cardiac stress during whole body regular RE. Nine recreationally strength-trained college students completed this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study. Each participant completed two sessions with one week apart, receiving either NAC (1,800 mg) or placebo (PLA) one hour prior to exercise. The RE protocol consisted of six exercises: leg extension (LE), seated chest press (SCP), leg curl (LC), seated row (SR), seated shoulder press (SSP), and lat pull-down (LPD). Participants performed 3 sets of 10 repetitions at 80% of one-repetition maximum (1RM) with two minutes rest between sets and exercises. Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) were measured at baseline and immediately after each set. Rate pressure product (RPP), an index of cardiac stress, was calculated from HR and systolic BP (SBP). Repeated measures ANOVA were used to compare RPP across interventions and exercises, with statistical significance set at P < 0.05. Results indicated no significant difference in post-exercise RPP between NAC and PLA. The post-exercise RPP and HR were significantly greater than 1RM in both NAC and PLA (P < 0.0001), and these results were consistent across all individual exercises. We conclude acute oral NAC intake does not reduce post-exercise cardiac stress during whole-body regular RE. The elevated cardiac stress observed during RE appears primarily driven by increased HR rather than SBP. Additionally, the 1RM test elicited lower cardiac stress compared to a regular RE workout. The findings suggest that regular RE is safe for a healthy population. However, monitoring RPP provides a more comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular stress than HR or SBP alone.

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