**2. Nutritional intervention to minimize exercise-induced muscle injury**

For decades, dietary supplementation has been proposed in various physiological or patho‐ logical conditions. Based on the recent progress in our understanding of the cell signaling and *in vivo* metabolism of nutrients and on accumulating experimental results, the concept that dietary supplementation might have effects in prevention or treatment of several disorders is experiencing a new revival. To date several investigations have been focused on accumulating experimental evidence aiming to extend the use of specific nutritional supplements in the prevention and/or treatment of exercise induced muscle injuries. Anyhow available outcomes on potentially efficacious supplements are mixed and often conflicting and confident conclu‐ sions cannot be drawn. Several variables may concur to contradictory results including the wide number of supplements to be considered, their combined use, their dose and timing of administration. Furthermore the choice of the proper indexes to be analyzed is certainly a major bias for several published studies on the topic as a misinterpretation of results may follow the analysis of indirect instead of direct signs of muscle injury. Thus, although many nutrients are potentially able to impact on the mechanisms underlying the appearance of muscle damage following exercise, the final efficacy and safety of their supplementation deserves future rigorous investigation.

The present chapter discusses the potential role of antioxidants, creatine, carnitine and branched chain amino acids on exercise induced muscle damage.
