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Ashwagandha And Gym Performance

The link between ashwagandha and gym performance was not commonly talked about for a long time, as while many people appreciated that it could be useful in this area, it was often felt that boosting a person’s workout was not one of ashwagandha’s primary functions.

As more studies have been done on the compound, though, it’s become clear that it is very useful in this area. However, as many people are still not aware of this fact or simply don’t understand how it will help them train harder, they are not bothering to try it, which means they are leaving lots of gains on the table.

That is why we have produced the following article on ashwagandha and gym performance. In it, we will explain exactly what ashwagandha is and how it enhances gym performance, to ensure that everyone can use it to take their workouts to the next level.

Table of Contents

What Is Ashwagandha?

Ashwagandha is an adaptogen made from the roots of an Asian evergreen shrub called the winter cherry, withania somnifera, or Indian ginseng. Used in Ayurvedic medicine and other forms of traditional medicine in Asia for decades, it is said to provide numerous health benefits for the human body.

In recent years it has become very popular in supplements, as clinical studies have proven it can offer benefits like reducing anxiety, depression, stress, inflammation, arthritis, diseases, infections, and other health issues, and boosting testosterone and energy production and levels, exercise performance, brain and heart health and functions, mood, sleep latency, cycle and quality, and blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels (1).

We recently analyzed all these benefits in two other articles that we published, which can be found here and here for anyone wanting to study them in more detail.

Ashwagandha And Gym Performance: How Does Ashwagandha Boost Your Training?

1. Increases Strength and Muscle Mass

Studies show that ashwagandha supplementation can significantly increase gains in both muscle strength and muscle size, particularly in people who follow strenuous resistance training programs.

For example, one 2015 study found that men who took ashwagandha for 8 weeks while regularly working out gained significantly more muscle mass and strength than those who took a placebo (2).

These increases in muscle mass and strength will help fuel future workouts, increasing the results of those too and making it essentially an endless cycle.

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2. Speeds Up Recovery and Reduces Muscle Damage

Ashwagandha possesses potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, which contribute to its muscle-protective effects. This will reduce or even prevent exercise-induced muscle damage, soreness, and inflammation, helping to improve a person’s recovery times between workouts.

As a result, you will be able to train far more often, which enhances your body’s capacity to improve. Not only that, but it will also help to prevent injuries to other parts of the body, such as the joints, which could prevent you from training and lead to you losing the gains that you have already made (3).

3. Reduces Stress and Cortisol

As a powerful adaptogen, one of the most popular benefits of ashwagandha supplementation is that it can help the body manage stress, which it achieves by lowering the production of cortisol, a hormone known as the stress hormone (4).

Studies show that lower cortisol levels can help prevent muscle breakdown (catabolism) and promote a better anabolic balance. This will lead to improved muscle growth, workout performance, and fat loss.

Ashwagandha and Cortisol

4. Improves Endurance and VO₂ Max

Some research suggests that ashwagandha supplementation may enhance cardiovascular endurance by increasing a person’s VO₂ max, which is the maximum amount of oxygen that your body can use during periods of intense exercise (5).

This is useful for both aerobic performance and stamina during long gym sessions and enables you to train harder for much longer. This will also help to reduce fatigue, which could prevent people from engaging in physical activity as often as they otherwise would.

5. Boosts Testosterone and Anabolic Hormone Levels, Especially In Men

Several studies have shown that ashwagandha can greatly increase testosterone production and levels, as well as the production and levels of other anabolic hormones, like Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA).

These effects appear to be particularly prominent in men, especially those with low or borderline-low levels (6). As higher testosterone levels can lead to far better muscle building and energy levels, it can also significantly boost a person’s workout performance.

Learn More About Ashwagandha and Testosterone Here

6. Enhances Mental Focus and Energy Levels

Ashwagandha can aid brain health and functions in many ways, including enhancing a person’s mental clarity and focus. When combined with its ability to reduce fatigue, this can support far more motivated and consistent workouts, all of which will help to boost your workout performance in general (7).

7. Helps You Sleep Better

Perhaps the most popular benefit of Ashwagandha is its ability to produce improvements in a person’s sleep quality and cycle. It achieves this by regulating the body’s stress response and stress hormone levels, reducing anxiety, promoting relaxation and calmness, and modulating the production of certain neurotransmitters, such as GABA.

This will lead to improvements in all facets of a person’s sleep-wake cycle, including their sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep quality, and circadian rhythm. This will help you feel more rested and avoid getting fatigued, and your body will recover far more effectively, all of which makes it much easier to complete effective workouts (8).

Ashwagandha and Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

8. Raises Energy Levels

Some studies show that ashwagandha supplementation can improve a person’s mitochondrial function through a combination of reducing stress and improving their sleep cycle and muscle strength.

As the mitochondria are responsible for producing energy in the human body, this will enhance your cellular energy production and overall energy levels. As a result, you will be able to perform far longer and more strenuous workouts, leading to significant improvements in your exercise performance (9).

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