Your New Athletic Advantage: The Potential Power of Cordyceps Pre Workout

The Power of Cordyceps: Athletic Performance Enhanced Naturally

If you’ve made an effort to improve your athletic performance in some way, you’ve probably tried a pre-workout supplement at some point. If you haven’t, that’s ok too. This is one of those sequels where you don’t need to have seen the other movies to appreciate this one.

If you’re looking for a natural way to give yourself an athletic boost, cordyceps pre workout is something you should consider.

Cordyceps Pre Workout for Improved Endurance and Enhancement

There’s been research to investigate cordyceps supplementation for its potential to enhance endurance, allowing athletes to sustain high-intensity exercise for longer durations.

A study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (2010) examined the effects of cordyceps on exercise performance in healthy older adults. The results demonstrated that cordyceps supplementation improved endurance capacity and increased resistance to fatigue, indicating enhanced aerobic performance.

This is simply one study. There are others that support these results, and there’s also a long history of cordyceps supplementation in the Asian community to help with vitality in the aging population, and to combat fatigue.

The real question is – can cordyceps pre workout work for you?

Fueling Performance: Energy Production and ATP Synthesis

Cordyceps is believed to stimulate energy production within cells by enhancing adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis, the primary energy currency of cells. ATP provides the energy necessary for muscle contractions during physical activity. I’m no scientist but that sounds like it could be beneficial for exercise.

This belief is not well-researched at this point, not in an official capacity at least. As previously mentioned, cordyceps supplementation has a long, seemingly successful, history in Asian culture.

There has been some research done, and we are likely to see that continue, or possibly increase. You can learn more about a few studies that have been done, here. These smart folks can tell you about several studies that have been done related to the potential benefits of cordyceps supplementation.

Here are a few takeaways from our review of these studies:

• Cordyceps supplementation DOES seem to be beneficial in combating fatigue and improving oxygen absorption.
• Not everyone sees results.
• Results are mild – cordyceps are not multiplying any performance metrics.
• Results take time – you should NOT look for improvement in the first workout that you consume cordyceps pre workout. You should expect improvement over weeks or even months.

If this is a topic you are interested in exploring, you should review some of the studies that are available on the interweb. We would love to learn about what you find.

You can also tune into our social media channels throughout this year as I (Founder of Life Leaf) prepare for a 24-hour obstacle course race called the World’s Toughest Mudder.

As part of my training, I’m currently testing a cordyceps supplement to see if it can help me improve my endurance as I train. We’re always looking for new natural remedies to bring y’all. What better way to know they work than to try them first-hand? Not just a token taste test. I’m running 15-25 miles per week to demonstrate how impactful natural remedies can be in our lives.

If you want to know if cordyceps works, stay tuned…

Unleashing the Recovery Potential: Cordyceps’ Impact on Post-Exercise Healing

You may not consider recovery to be part of a pre workout discussion, but proper recovery is the beginning of the pre workout for your next workout. Beyond its benefits for endurance, cordyceps has also been studied for its post-workout healing potential. There are compounds found in cordyceps that have demonstrated antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in studies.

Antioxidant Support: Combating Oxidative Stress

Cordyceps contain something called polysaccharides. It turns out these polysaccharides have a lot of benefits associated with them. Antioxidant effects are one of the benefits.

There are a lot of big words we could use to describe how polysaccharides antioxidant benefits work. Instead, let me summarize it and give you the study so you can go read the big words for yourself.

Aging involves oxidative stress. Antioxidants can reduce oxidative stress. Thus, the polysaccharides in cordyceps can help you combat aging.

Here’s the study where I learned some of these things from.

Cool, but why does this matter for your athletic activity?

Of course, good question. Reducing oxidative stress can actually help your brain work better, and help your muscles heal quicker.

You need your mind in the right state to start your workout, and to get a good workout. That’s easier to achieve when your mind is operating better because of reduced oxidative stress. You also need to be in the right state of mind post-workout.

Why?

To resist weakness urges. When you are fatigued after a workout you are much more likely to settle for something you shouldn’t: that tasty fast food, that cold beer, putting that thing you were supposed to do off until tomorrow.

When your mind is right, you’re more likely to stay disciplined to your post-workout routine.

Stretch!

Pass on the bad food, and get your nutrients with a whole food meal and some good supplements. Is that more work? Yes! Is it better for you and ultimately more fulfilling? Yes! When your mind is just as fatigued as your body, it’s much easier to forget these things.

Anti-Inflammatory Effects: Easing Exercise-induced Inflammation

Cordyceps has bioactive compounds that have shown anti-inflammatory effects. Intense exercise can lead to inflammation in your body, which contributes to muscle soreness and fatigue. Regular cordyceps supplementation can counter this inflammatory response and help reduce soreness and fatigue associated with working out.

If you put in a tough workout and find yourself reaching for (insert OTC medication that destroys your liver and stomach) to address the soreness, next time consider cordyceps and other natural anti-inflammatory supplements (like CBD perhaps…).

Integrating Cordyceps into Your Athletic Regimen: Best Practices and Considerations

Alright, you’re convinced. You’ve read enough about cordyceps. You’ve consulted your healthcare professional, and you’ve decided you want to add cordyceps supplementation to your diet.

Now what?

How much do I take?

When do I take it?

Which supplement is the right one?

Is there anything I shouldn’t take it with?

These are all great questions. Let’s try to answer some of them here.

Optimal Dosage and Timing: Maximizing Performance Benefits

While there are no official recommendations for daily consumption published, there is a range of recommendations that have been posted by different studies and outlets based on their own observations.

Some sources recommend 500-1000mg per day. Others recommend 3-6 grams per day.

It’s always wise to start low and increase as needed, but make sure you have consulted with your healthcare professional about dosing when you discuss adding cordyceps to your diet.

When it comes to timing, there are no real meaningful recommendations. Time of day does not seem to be relevant to the efficacy of cordyceps. The most important factor is consistency. Cordyceps seem to show benefits most clearly over a sustained period of consumption. So whether you prefer your daily supplements in the morning, with lunch, in the evening before bed, or anytime between, just pick what works best for you.

I’m personally incorporating about 1 gram of cordyceps pre workout each day around 1-2 hours before I exercise, or with breakfast if I’m not exercising that day. I’ve only been doing this for about a week, and can say I don’t have any noticeable results to present, but we’ll see if that holds up 6-12 weeks from now.

Unleash Your Athletic Potential with the RIGHT Cordyceps Supplement

What is the RIGHT cordyceps supplement for you?

That answer is going to be generally the same for everyone and every supplement – find a brand/product you trust. This requires a little digging on your part, but it’s worth it to make sure what you are buying is safe and effective.

Life Leaf Immune Armor capsules for example. Our capsules have a modest 125mg of cordyceps in them, much lower than most recommendations you’ll find online. However, this offers you a great opportunity to start with a low amount of cordyceps to see how they effect you. We also are of the belief that you actually don’t need as much cordyceps with our formula because of the synergistic effects of the other ingredients.

We’ve got a blog to explain in more detail if you are interested…

Now I mentioned that I am taking approximately 1 gram per day, so does that mean I’m taking 9-10x of the daily recommended Life Lead Immune Armor? No.

I’m actually using an in-house formula that was created by our talented manufacturer that is also responsible for the rest of our Life Leaf formulas. So the cordyceps supplement that I’m using isn’t available to you… yet.

If you are just dipping your toe in the cordyceps water, then Life Leaf’s Immune Armor formula might be a great place for you to start.

If you are really interested in a more focused and potent cordyceps supplement, get out there and use the internet resources you have to find a safe and effective product for you.

Feel better today, y’all!