Studies have evaluated coenzyme Q10 for it’s role in the possible enhancement of exercise performance but results have been mixed. According to 6 trials, coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) resulted in improvement of exercise capacity but 5 different trials showed no benefit of CoQ10 on exercise capacity. (22)
Garlic for Muscle Damage and Exercise Recovery:
Garlic use has shown evidence in reducing exercise-induced muscle damage. Researchers reported that administration of 80 mg of allicin (a component of garlic), increased muscle anti-oxidant levels and reduced exercise-induced muscle damage. Participants received either allicin or placebo for 2 weeks before and 2 days after a downhill treadmill run. Compared to placebo, Allicin reduced plasma creatine kinase (CK) (including CK-MM, muscle-specific), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and IL-6, and alleviated muscle soreness. Total anti-oxidant levels were also significantly higher with allicin supplementation. (26)
Citrulline malate and Resistance Training:
Citrulline is a non-essential amino acid which has previously been found to increase arginine in the body which converts to nitric oxide leading to dilation of blood vessels. Researchers examined the effects of citrulline malate (CM) on the performance of flat barbell bench presses in a randomized, double-blind, 2-period crossover study. Forty-one men each performed 2 consecutive training sessions of 16 sets of chest training. Each subject was given 8 grams of citrulline malate and a similar looking placebo, but randomly on either the first or second training session. Results show that when the subjects were using the citrulline malate they were able to perform more repetitions in the later sets (52.92% more repetitions), and also had significantly less reported muscle soreness—a decrease of 40% in muscle soreness at 24 hours and 48 hours after the training session. The only reported side effect was stomach discomfort experience by 14.63% of men. This study shows that CM may be beneficial to men in intensive high level training. (27)
Ashwagandha for Competitive Sports
Shweta et al (28) tested 40 Indian cyclist athletes competing at the state level for the effect of Ashwagandha upon exercise performance. Half of the athletes were randomized to take 500 mg of aqueous Ashwagandha extract twice daily for 8 weeks. The other half was randomized to a starch pill. Exercise performance improved in the treatment group with an increase of 13% in VO2 max from a baseline of 46 mL/kg/min to 52 m/kg/min. The placebo group showed no improvement in VO2 max over baseline after placebo. After 8 weeks, the time to exhaustion improved from 15.79 min to 16.93 min in the Ashwagandha treatment group and improved minimally, 0.02 min in the placebo group.