Study Limitations and Future Directions
It is important to note that there were several limitations to the current study. Firstly, improvements were found in specific, but not all parameters assessed. As example, change in time constant at the onset of exercise was noted within-group only for OliP and therefore should be interpreted with caution. Likewise, during acute recovery, whilst improvements were observed for T50%, other parameters using respiratory off-kinetics were not deemed significant, and again results should be interpreted carefully. However, where main interaction effects were identified (including relative changes in oxygen consumption and running economy at LT1 compared with PL) important adaptations following the inclusion of dietary OliP may be evident. It should, however, be noted that differences were not observed post-intervention between conditions which should be taken into consideration.Although improvements were observed particularly at LT1 with healthy, recreationally active volunteers, we did not specifically distinguish whether such effects were pertinent to gender, training status, or the type/intensity of habitual exercise. Further research may therefore be relevant to determine the potential applications of OliP in various cohorts. Additionally, the protocol used in the current study was designed to standardize the demanding aerobic run prior to the following day exercise performance session for all participants [As this was the first study to assess the use of OliP in an exercise domain, a parallel cohort design was employed to ascertain the influence of a single course of the phytocomplex (16 consecutive days) whilst minimizing potential for longer term training effects. Further research should investigate whether time course (>16-days), dose-response (>56 mL·d