Beet Juice for Muscle Recovery and Strength: What Studies Show
Can beetroot juice reduce muscle soreness, speed recovery or build strength? A plain-language look at the trials and their limits.
Last updated October 9, 2026 • Reviewed by Dr. A. Reviewer, M.Sc. Nutrition • Based on peer-reviewed sources
Short answer: After hard eccentric exercise, beet juice reduced soreness and sped up recovery of jump performance.[Clifford et al., 2016 21]
Key takeaways
- ✓After hard eccentric exercise, beet juice reduced soreness and sped up recovery of jump performance.[Clifford et al., 2016 21]
- ✓It helped performance recover between bouts of repeated sprints.[Clifford et al., 2016 22]
- ✓A meta-analysis found small gains in muscular endurance but little change in maximal strength.[Evangelista et al., 2024 18]
Soreness and muscle damage
In a trial of 100 drop jumps, people given beet juice reported less muscle soreness and regained jump height faster than those on placebo.[Clifford et al., 2016 21]
Repeated sprints and power
Beet juice supported recovery of performance between repeated sprint sessions.[Clifford et al., 2016 22]
A single dose raised peak power in a 30-second all-out cycling test.[Domínguez et al., 2017 36]
Effects on intermittent high-intensity efforts are mixed across studies.[Domínguez et al., 2018 49]
Strength
Pooled studies in healthy men show a small improvement in muscular endurance, with little effect on one-rep-max style strength.[Evangelista et al., 2024 18]
Limits of the evidence
Most studies are small and in young men, so results may not apply to women, older adults or elite athletes.[Evangelista et al., 2024 18; Tian et al., 2025 19]
Educational information only — not medical advice. Talk to your clinician before changing your diet or medication.
Try it in a recipe
References6 peer-reviewed sourcesShow allHide
- 18.Evangelista JF, et al. Effects of beetroot-based supplements on muscular endurance and strength in healthy male individuals: systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Nutr Assoc. 2024;43(1):77–91. View source
- 19.Tian C, et al. Effects of beetroot juice on physical performance in athletes and healthy individuals: an umbrella review. Nutrients. 2025. View source
- 21.Clifford T, et al. The effects of beetroot juice supplementation on indices of muscle damage following eccentric exercise. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2016;116(2):353–362. View source
- 22.Clifford T, et al. Effects of beetroot juice on recovery of muscle function and performance between bouts of repeated sprint exercise. Nutrients. 2016;8(8):506. View source
- 36.Domínguez R, et al. Effects of beetroot juice supplementation on a 30-s high-intensity inertial cycle ergometer test. Nutrients. 2017;9(12):1360. View source
- 49.Domínguez R, et al. Effects of beetroot juice supplementation on intermittent high-intensity exercise efforts. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2018. View source
Claims marked [*] are awaiting a verified source.