Thirteen healthy, male volunteers (age, 22.2 ± 2.8 years; body mass, 76.5 ± 11.1 kg; mean ± SD) were recruited to participate in a randomized single-blind crossover study. Subjects were administered two fasting oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) to clarify if ALA enhanced their glucose uptake. Subsequently, on 2 different occasions with at least one intervening week, subjects cycled at 75% of VO2max for an hour and then completed three to four 5-min bouts at 90% of VO2max with 5 min of active recovery between bouts. Following exercise, subjects were supplemented with either 1g/kg bw of carbohydrate solution, or 1g/kg bw of carbohydrate and 4mg/kg bw of ALA every hour for 4 h post exercise. During this recovery period, venous blood samples were obtained and immediately assayed for plasma glucose concentration using an automated glucose analyzer. Serum insulin values were subsequently assayed using the IMMULITE 2000 immunoassay system. Both absolute concentrations and the areas under the curve for the glucose and insulin concentrations were compared between the ALA and placebo trials.