Hydrogen Rich Water Consumption Positively Affects Muscle Performance, Lactate Response, and Alleviates Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness After Resistance Training
Botek M et al. · J Strength Cond Res. 2022;36(10):2792–2799.
Study at a glance
Human
Healthy young men completing a resistance-training protocol
1,260 mL hydrogen-rich water divided before, during and after the resistance-training session · 0.9 ppm dissolved H₂ reported in the author-uploaded full text.
Acute training session with recovery measurements through 24 hours; crossover design
Lunges were completed faster with H₂ water, lactate was lower during and immediately after exercise, and reported soreness at 24 hours was lower (26 ± 11 vs 41 ± 20 mm; p=0.002). Other recovery measures did not show a consistent advantage.
Very small male-only acute crossover study, multiple outcomes and a specialized resistance protocol. The results should not be read as proof of long-term recovery or injury prevention.
What kind of evidence is this?
Human
Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study
Exercise and recovery
H₂-rich water
Information not yet classified
Some editorial classification fields are still pending. The source-reported outcomes and result are shown below; Hydrogenology does not infer a positive or negative signal from prose automatically.
Methods
Healthy young men completing a resistance-training protocol
12 participants
Acute training session with recovery measurements through 24 hours; crossover design
1,260 mL hydrogen-rich water divided before, during and after the resistance-training session
H₂ dissolved in water — H₂ only, not Brown’s gas.
0.9 ppm dissolved H₂ reported in the author-uploaded full text.
Matched H₂-free placebo water
Outcomes and reported result
Exercise-set time, lactate, perceived exertion, creatine kinase, muscle soreness, countermovement jump and heart-rate variability
Lunges were completed faster with H₂ water, lactate was lower during and immediately after exercise, and reported soreness at 24 hours was lower (26 ± 11 vs 41 ± 20 mm; p=0.002). Other recovery measures did not show a consistent advantage.
Principal methods and results checked in the author-uploaded full text and PubMed record; independent appraisal remains incomplete.
A reported association, difference or mechanism is not automatically a clinical benefit.
Limitations and applicability
Very small male-only acute crossover study, multiple outcomes and a specialized resistance protocol. The results should not be read as proof of long-term recovery or injury prevention.
Healthy young men completing the reported resistance-training session.
No single-study GRADE certainty rating is assigned. Read how records and evidence assessments are prepared.
Sources and record status
PMID: 33555824 · DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003979
Publisher full text requires payment or institutional access.
Author-uploaded ResearchGate full text and PubMed bibliographic record.
10 August 2026
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