Ginseng as a Pre-Workout

Venerable root herb ginseng may heighten mental performance and fatigue resistance during gym training.

From as far back as ancient China all the way to the modern day, the versatile ginseng herb has been used as a remedy in more or less every form of medical practice. The asian ginseng, Panax ginseng, in particular, may be especially useful for exercise, with such potential pre-workout benefits as:

• Sustaining physical performance. Asian ginseng may moderately increase exercise strength, endurance, and energy.
• Enhancing mental performance. Taking the herb may boost cognitive processes and audio-visual reflexes.
• Improving cardiovascular conditions. Ginseng seems to boost overall cardiac function.

Overview

For thousands of years, ginseng, Panax ginseng to be specific, has been recognized as a valuable source of restoration. The bittersweet herb was first taken in traditional Chinese medicine in order to fortify both physical vigor and mental aptitude, especially for the elderly.¹

It has a seemingly endless assembly of alleged uses in health and nutrition, some of which include increasing blood circulation, strengthening the immune system, improving vitality, and equally importantly, endowing its users with tranquility and clarity of mind.² While ginseng has customarily been consumed in times of sickness, research in recent years has shed light on its potential in promoting overall exercise performance.

On the list of purported advantages are increases in strength, boosts in physical performance, fatigue resistance, memory enhancements, and improvements in mental acuity.³ The combined collective of mental and physical benefits may have adaptogenic implications. All in all, the outlook appears to favor ginseng as a suitable pre workout supplement on multiple fronts.⁴

How Ginseng May Help Pre Workout Formulas

Enhancing Mental Acuity

Ginseng’s positive impact on the mind has been demonstrated on numerous occasions and on a variety of fronts.⁶ Doses of ginseng before memory tests, cognitive demand tasks, and arithmetic exams seems to consistently lead to improved scores. It seems ginseng may improve cognitive performance and focus during sustained mental activity all the while mitigating mental fatigue.⁷

Stimulating Cardiac Function

Ginseng supplementation reportedly enhanced coronary blood flow through ameliorating arterial stiffness all the while stimulating the cultivation of new blood vessels. In addition, the herb shows restorative promise in people with coronary heart complications.⁸

Facilitating Exercise Recovery

Ginseng seems to offer moderate physical performance enhancements, although some studies have actually shown no significant improvements.⁹¹⁰¹¹

Enhanced recuperation appears to be the name of the game with reduced muscle damage and inflammation, as well as limited lactic acid production at the end of workouts.¹²

Fortifying Fatigue Resistance

Taking ginseng before exercising not only facilitated post-workout recovery, but also reduced fatigue.¹³ Fatigue additionally seemed to be minimized in people with various medical conditions who took ginseng.¹⁴

Boosting Testosterone Levels

Ginseng additionally holds serious potential as a natural fitness and bodybuilding supplement due to its capacity to boost T-levels.

For starters, the ginsenosides found in ginseng root increase nitric oxide (NO) production by stimulating nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity, which results in higher blood flow throughout the body.¹⁶ Elevated overall blood flow, in turn, enhances the quality and duration of erections, which has positive implications for testosterone production.

In conjunction with the elevation in NO synthesis, ginseng root extracts also surge blood T-levels.¹⁷ Heightening blood flow and T-levels are prime characteristics of high caliber PWO supplements geared toward nearly every type of sport and exercise.

A particular clinical trial discovered that the steroidal saponins widely available in ginseng capable of increasing not only T-levels, but also those of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), luteinizing hormone (LH), and various androgens in both healthy and severely hypogonadal men.¹⁸ Lastly, it would be unjust to leave out the snippet that the herbal gem furthermore improves sperm parameters.

Ginseng PWO Benefits & Uses

Quite disappointingly, research suggests that physical performance enhancement is, at best, moderate. Although a number of select studies have demonstrated ginseng’s promise in improving workouts, one systematic review highlights its frequent inability to significantly impact exercise performance.

• Speedy recovery and fatigue reduction, then, appear to be the most reliable muscle-related advantages of taking ginseng.

The good news is that mental performance seems to be considerably enhanced through ginseng supplementation. An assortment of impressive cerebroelectrical effects may aid mentally demanding workouts¹⁹:

• Activating sympathetic nervous system²⁰
• Improving cognitive performance²¹
• Increasing dopamine, adrenaline, serotonin, and cAMP levels²²
• Augmenting cerebral blood flow

Subsequently, the likely nootropic effects of ginseng may farther boost reflexes and general awareness while simultaneously heightening activity and memory.

Research

Animal Research

Research indicates that ginseng has a wide-range of potential pre workout benefits:

• Neurological & cognitive boosts. A variety of animals given ginseng extract have displayed CNS-stimulating effects.²³
• Improved cardiac blood flow. Improved blood flow in the heart as well as limited infarction size were reported in rats.²⁴
• Anti-fatigue effects. In rats, ginseng ginsenosides elevated the total amount of time rats were able to swim.²⁵
• Modest endurance assistance. Ginseng mildly improved exercise performance in rats undergoing high intensity endurance training.²⁶

Human Research

Studies indicate that ginseng may be a potent pre workout supplement for its ability to boost cognitive processes, including memory and reflexes. Another critical workout benefit appears to be the cardiologic and vascular improvements ginseng offers. Research is conflicting in regards to physical performance: moderate strength and endurance improvements have been noted in certain situations but not in others.

Ginseng at 400 mg (4% ginsenoside) may improve performance and speed in memory and attention tasks

In this randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind investigation, cross-over designed investigation, 20 young adults were given 400 mg of ginseng with a 4% ginsenoside content and asked to complete a Cognitive Drug Research (CDR) test and two serial subtraction mental arithmetic tasks. Significant cognitive and self-rate mood improvements were recorded.

• The study concluded that ginseng “improved secondary memory performance on the CDR” as well as “improvement in the speed of performing memory tasks and in the accuracy of attentional tasks.”²⁷

Ginseng at 200 mg – 400 mg (4% ginsenoside) may reduce blood glucose and increase cognitive function
In this placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over design investigation, 27 adults consumed 200 mg or 400 mg ginseng capsules with 4% ginsenoside 60 minutes before completing 6 cognitive demand tests. Ginseng enhanced performance of the mental arithmetic task and subjectively diminished mental fatigue during later stages of the cognitive demand task. In addition blood glucose was reduced 7-12%.

• The study concluded that “Panax ginseng may possess glucoregulatory properties and can enhance cognitive performance.”²⁸

Ginseng at 400 mg may improve cognition along with well-being and calmness

In this placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover investigation, 30 adults were given 200 mg or 400 mg of ginseng before taking cognition and mood tests. The 200 mg dose failed to improve scores, but at 400 mg, ginseng improved mental arithmetic task scores at the end of the 2-week study. Both doses improved overall calmness.

• The study concluded that “400 mg dose improved calmness (restricted 2.5 and 4 h on day 1) and improved mental arithmetic across days 1 and 8.”²⁹

Ginseng extract at 20 g may reduce exercise-induced muscle damage and inflammation

In this placebo-controlled, double-blind investigation, 18 male college students ingested 20 g of red ginseng, mixed with 200 mL of water, thrice daily prior to completing an uphill treadmill exercise test. Plasma creatine kinase (CK) activity and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were significantly lower in ginseng takers after the treadmill test. Also, insulin sensitivity increased, which decreased plasma glucose levels.

• The study concluded that “RG supplementation could reduce exercise-induced muscle damage and inflammatory responses, resulting in improvements in insulin sensitivity.”³⁰

Ginseng at 3 g may increase blood flow by improving arterial stiffness

In this acute randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover investigation, 17 healthy adults were given 3 grams of Korean red ginseng (KRG). Compared to the placebo, ginseng users had a 4% reduction in augmentation index (AI), which indicates an improvement in arterial stiffness.

• The study concluded that “KRG may improve arterial stiffness as measured by AI,” and that “ginsenosides may be the principal pharmacologically active component of the root.”³¹

Ginseng at 200 mg may reduce lactate production but not affect the performance of male runners in the heat

In this placebo-controlled, double-blind investigation, 9 heat-adapted male recreational runners were asked to run in a heated environment one hour after taking 200 mg of Panax ginseng. Unfortunately, the endurance running times, heart rates, oxygen uptakes, and body temperatures of runners who used took ginseng did not significantly differ from those of the placebo. However, lactate production was reduced 60 minutes after the exercise began.

• The study concluded that “acute supplementation of 200 mg of PG did not affect the endurance running performance of the heat-adapted male recreational runners in the heat.”³²

Ginseng at 3 g may improve coronary blood flow and angiogenesis for those who have experienced myocardial infarction

In this double-blind investigation, 50 adults who previously underwent a myocardial infarction (MI) were given 3 grams of ginseng daily after coronary stenting. Coronary flow reserve (CFR) improved as well as circulating levels of angiogenic cells, such as CD34(+), CXCR4(+), and CD117(+).

• The study concluded that “red ginseng extract increased CD34(+) , CXCR4(+) and CD117(+) circulating angiogenic cell mobilization and decreased inflammation in AMI patients, thereby improving CFR”³³

Dosage for Pre-Workout

You can buy Ginseng in a few different supplement and dietary forms:

• A root extract product, 200 – 600 mg daily, 4 – 7 % ginsenosides
• A raw herb or dried root, some forms organic, 1 – 2 g
• Isolated ginsenosides, 20-30 mg
• Tea & drinks, either 1.5 g of dried root or 3 g of fresh root
• Adaptogen, 15% ginseng medium fermented with Lactobacillus paracasei A221

The multi-faceted herb is taken in various other forms for everyday purposes when combined with other compounds, including as a natural drink, candy, and paste, to mention a few.

References