Fish Oil - Secret Ingredient to Strength Training?

Secret ingredient(s).  Coca-Cola and Kentucky Fried Chicken closely guard theirs.  In the original Kung Fu Panda, Po searched for the secret ingredient to his father's secret ingredient noodle soup.  If you ask most athletes, nutrition in the form of protein is of utmost importance and the secret to their strength & performance.  However, in a short, small randomized controlled study published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the authors demonstrated that compared to placebo, supplementation w/fish oil led to greater increase in strength & functional capacity.  

More specifically, 45 Caucasian women avg 64yo were randomly assigned to either placebo w/strength training only for 12 weeks, strength training w/fish oil 2g daily for 90 days, or 60 days of fish oil prior to strength training w/daily fish oil.  It turns out that fish oil in pre-training did nothing to improve strength.  However, the latter two groups who received fish oil both noted significant improvement compared to those who did not receive any fish oil.

What I find intriguing is that the fish oil used is fairly conventional stuff.  In other words, for each gram (1,000mg) of fish oil, only 180mg is EPA & 120mg is DHA, the former being more associated w/heart disease benefits while the latter comprises a large percentage of brain cell composition.  Regardless, this 30% purity is less than half that of Lovaza's 84% (465mg of EPA & 375mg of DHA), the only fish oil approved & indicated for human use by the Food & Drug Administration.  This isn't to say that over-the-counter fish oil of similar concentration can't be found.  

While the study was only of older women and was rather small in numbers and short in length, given fish oil's safety record, I think it's reasonable to consider supplementation w/this no-longer-secret ingredient (assuming you aren't already) if you're not satisfied w/your response to exercise.

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