The Study
The Effects of Watermelon Juice on Muscle Hypertrophy, Exercise Performance, and Muscle Soreness in Non‐Athlete Men Undergoing Endurance Training: A Randomized Controlled Trial
This study gave some guys watermelon juice before working out and found they felt less sore and their muscles got a little bigger — but it didn’t make them stronger. Because they knew who got the juice and who didn’t, we can’t be totally sure the juice caused it — maybe they just tried harder.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Men who drank watermelon juice before workouts for 8 weeks had less muscle soreness and thicker muscles than those who drank a placebo, but their strength and endurance didn't improve.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 574 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — less soreness means easier recovery, and thicker muscles suggest better long-term adaptation, even if workouts didn't get easier.
- 2Muscle thickness increased by 2.00 mm in chest and 1.70 mm in thigh; soreness dropped by 0.61 points on a 10-point scale 24 hours after exercise.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Food Science & Nutrition
Year
2025
Authors
Mostafa Norouzzadeh, Behrooz Gholami, Melika Samari, Hadi Atarod, F. Hosseini-Baharanchi, S. T. Rahideh
Related Content
Claims (5)
Non-athlete men who drink 710 mL of watermelon juice daily before endurance exercise experience a measurable reduction in muscle soreness 24 hours after exercise compared to those who consume a calorie-matched placebo.
Non-athlete men who drank 710 mL of watermelon juice daily for 8 weeks while doing endurance training showed an average increase of 2.00 mm in pectoralis major muscle thickness and 1.70 mm in rectus femoris muscle thickness.
In non-athlete men doing 8 weeks of endurance training, drinking 710 mL of watermelon juice every day does not change their exercise strength or endurance compared to a placebo drink with the same calories.
In non-athlete men doing endurance training, drinking 710 mL of watermelon juice daily for 8 weeks is linked to greater muscle thickness but no change in exercise performance.
Drinking watermelon juice that contains about 1.65 grams of L-citrulline per 710 milliliters is associated with increases in muscle size in men who are not athletes, possibly due to effects on nitric oxide and muscle protein synthesis.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.