Research

Hormonal

Acute L-arginine supplementation (6–8 g) taken 60–90 minutes before strength training provides no ergogenic effect on muscular endurance, peak torque, or resistance rate.

Do not take L-arginine specifically to boost your strength training performance. Taking 6-8 grams an hour before lifting does not increase your strength, endurance, or muscle growth compared to a placebo. While it may increase blood flow, this does not help you lift more weight or do more reps.

ModerateRefutesMEDIUM confidence
Acute L-arginine supplementation provides no ergogenic effect on strength training performance.
Camila Pasa et al. · F1000Research · 2022

Why this rating

Moderate quality evidence based on GRADE score; limited by small sample size (n=30) and only 3 studies, but low risk of bias and heterogeneity.

Source

Effectiveness of acute L-arginine supplementation on physical performance in strength training: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Camila Pasa et al. · F1000Research · 2022

DOI 10.12688/f1000research.73905.2

Meta-analysis · 3 studiesCited 5×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →