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PRE-WORKOUT PANAX GINSENG MAY ENHANCE MUSCLE PERFORMANCE



The world is changing from depending on artificial products to adopting natural products that provide immense health benefits. As the Pandemic era fades out, people are now more health conscious and exploring healthy options to substitute artificial workout supplements. Panax Ginseng, what was believed to be for Immunity is now in demand for effectiveness and energizing to boost your workout routine.


Many gym-goers swear by a pre-workout caffeine fix to fuel hard sessions. But cardio-heads, especially those looking to cull a few kilos, would do better to brew up a cup of tea – ginseng tea, that is.


Ginseng root doesn’t contain caffeine, but then the boost it gives you is not of the jump-leads kind. Rather, scientists at Konkuk University in South Korea have found that compounds in ginseng amp up fat oxidation during the first 20 minutes of exercise, so your body scorches through fat cells, not carbs.


The Asian ginseng, Panax ginseng 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.




Ginseng can either be wild or cultivated and grows naturally in mountains. These shade-loving plants mostly flourish in deep forest areas with 70% to 90% shade. They also thrive well in drained loam soil that gets 35 inches to 50 inches of rain.


Ginseng is gaining popularity for the advantages it offers, especially as a workout supplement. Due to its popularity, it was harvested before it could reproduce, leading to its extinction in China. It is now on the global endangered list.


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


Distinguishing ginsengs. There are 11 known species of plants that belong to the very same ginseng family and several variations within each species. Even narrowing it down just to similar roots with the same ginseng name, a handful of prominent plants can be identified, among them Siberian ginseng, American ginseng, Japanese ginseng, and crown prince ginseng.5



What happens to your body during a workout?

Apart from the well-known benefits of exercise like toning, weight loss, improved metabolism, and clear skin, workouts can also impact your body in other ways, such as:

· Increased need for organs like the kidneys to flush out waste products.

· Minute muscle tears

· Lactic acid buildup in the muscles

· Peripheral nervous system fatigue

· Soreness

· Depleted energy levels

· Hunger and Thirst

·

Be sure to check out GREENDORSE’S Korean Panax Ginseng Extract with a whooping 20% Ginsenoside. With one pack a day, it gives you strength to reap optimum results from your workout and to reduce the microtrauma that happens to the body, taking the right pre-workout supplement like Asian Ginseng is a great idea.


Brazilian researchers have studied the effect of Panax Ginseng on muscle force and muscle excitation during an eccentric-based exercise. They also studied the effect on subsequent muscle damage and delayed-onset muscle soreness. Eccentric-based exercise is defined as exercise that includes repeated muscle contractions under load.

More and more athletes use dietary supplements derived from herbs such as Panax Ginseng to reduce exercise-induced muscle damage. It has been reported, for example, that Panax Ginseng supplementation for a week decreases markers of muscle damage after uphill running. Panax Ginseng is considered a legal sports supplement, as it is not listed as a prohibited substance by the World Anti-Doping Agency.


The study was motivated by the lack of detailed information about the use of Panax Ginseng to attenuate the effects of a resistance exercise with eccentric emphasis. Resistance training with eccentric emphasis is largely used to enhance muscle force and prevent injuries in athletes. An excessive eccentric workload, however, may have a negative consequence on exercise performance.


Based on previous preliminary results, the researchers hypothesized that Panax Ginseng would increase muscle excitation and attenuate perceived effort during the eccentric-based exercise. That, in turn, would mitigate the muscle damage, delayed-onset muscle soreness, and force reduction over the recovery period.


A paper is published in Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. The researchers report the methods and results of a study of the effects of Panax Ginseng supplements on young male athletes. The participants in the study, ten young male runners, sprinters, and jumpers, had been regularly training six times per week and had competed at the national level in the year before the study.


The main finding of this study was that Panax Ginseng attenuated perceived effort and increased muscle excitation during a dynamic exercise with eccentric emphasis. The study did not confirm that Panax Ginseng reduced markers of muscle damage and delayed-onset muscle soreness after the eccentric-based exercise. But the study did confirm that Panax Ginseng accelerated the recovery of muscle force and increased the associated muscle excitation.


The researchers conclude that an 8-day protocol of Panax Ginseng might be used to improve muscle excitation and accelerate recovery of neuromuscular function after an eccentric exercise.


The researchers are persuaded that the results of this study are applicable to young athletes who practice sports with a high eccentric component, and to athletes who compete several times on the same day and/or over consecutive days. Panax Ginseng supplementation at doses of 100 mg per kilogram of body mass, administered in 3 doses a day for 8 days, may accelerate muscle recovery and improve muscle force.


Thrivous develops Surge Acute Nootropic to enhance energy and focus. Each serving provides a clinical dose of Panax Ginseng, along with complementary nutrients. As suggested by this study, Thrivous Surge may enhance muscle force and recovery. Purchase Surge online in the Thrivous store today!


Evidence of ginseng’s benefits on exercise performance:


Ginseng’s benefits on athletic performance are not all just speculation, either. A growing body of research backs up this herb’s ability to increase exercise performance by increasing energy and delaying fatigue. Below, find a brief roundup of current studies highlighting why you should take ginseng as a pre-workout.


Boosts endurance

Researchers in a 2005 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research randomly assigned 29 untrained adults to 2 groups. One group received 675 mg of Chinese ginseng, while the other received a placebo (i.e. a ‘fake’ treatment), to be taken before breakfast and dinner for 30 days. Researchers then measured the subjects’ time to exhaustion in a stationary cycle test where the resistance was gradually increased until they couldn’t pedal anymore. The findings? Those who’d taken ginseng for 30 days could cycle for 4 minutes longer than those in the placebo group.


Improves several performances measures

Ginseng can improve exercise performance measures in athletes. For instance, according to this 2000 review published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, German and Soviet researchers have studied ginseng’s effects on athletes’ performance over several decades. It was found that in various groups of young athletes, those who’d supplemented with ginseng showed an increase in maximum oxygen uptake, improvement in recovery time, and even lower serum lactate values. These are all physiological variables that are positively correlated with endurance exercise performance.


Amps up fat oxidation

Looking to shed those extra pounds from exercising? Then here’s another reason to take ginseng: scientists at Konkuk University, South Korea, have found that the active compounds in ginseng can help you to lose weight by amping up fat oxidation during the first 20 minutes of exercise–so your body melts fat cells, not carbs! Talk about bang for your buck. So the next time you plan on exercising. Don’t forget to get some ginseng into your system beforehand!


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 seem 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 by 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


Ginseng may be an ideal supplement for well-being. Ginseng appears to aid in empowering the general status of many adults. Although somewhat subjective, people reported an overall better sense of their quality of life after routine ginseng use. Improving mental health, state of being, and social functioning may all positively contribute to workout performance.15


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 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 further 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 has 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 regard to physical performance: moderate strength and endurance improvements have been noted in certain situations but not in others.


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 the performance of the mental arithmetic task and subjectively diminished mental fatigue during the later stages of the cognitive demand task. In addition, blood glucose was reduced by 7-12%.

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


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


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


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 the 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


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


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 supplements and dietary forms:

· A root extract product, 200 – 1500 mg daily, 4 – 20 % 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


GREENDORSE'S KOREAN GINSENG CONCENTRATE WITH 20% GINSENOSIDES IS IDEALLY SAFE TO BE CONSUMED UP TO 1000MG PER DAY. However, always start with a dose of 500mg per day.


The multi-faceted herb is taken in various other forms for everyday purposes when combined with other compounds, including Ashwagandha, Tongkat Ali, Black Maca, Horny Goatweed, candy, and Ginkgo Biloba, to mention a few


(ARTICLE INSPIRED BY “SUPPLEMENTS IN REVIEW”)

Credits to Supplements in Review.



References


1. Goldstein B. Ginseng: its history, dispersion, and folk tradition. Am J Chin Med. 1975;3(3):223-34.

3. Kim S, et al. Effects of Panax ginseng extract on exercise-induced oxidative stress. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2005;45(2):178-82.

4. Panax ginseng. J Soc Integr Oncol 2010;8(1):31-32.

5. Chen JK, Chen TT. Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology. City of Industry, CA: Art of Medicine; 2001

6. Chu S, et al. New achievements in ginseng research and its future prospects. Chin J Integr. Med 2009;15(6):403-408.

8. Lee NH, Son CG. Systematic review of randomized controlled trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of ginseng. J Acupunct Meridian Stud. 2011 Jun;4(2):85-97.

10. Engels HJ, et al. Effects of ginseng supplementation on supramaximal exercise performance and short-term recovery. J Strength Cond Res. 2001 Aug;15(3):290-5.

12. Engels HJ, et al. Effects of ginseng on secretory IgA, performance, and recovery from interval exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003 Apr;35(4):690-6.

14. Elam JL, et al. Methodological issues in the investigation of ginseng as an intervention for fatigue. Clin Nurse Spec. 2006 Jul-Aug;20(4):183-9.

15. Ellis JM, Reddy P. Effects of Panax ginseng on quality of life. Ann Pharmacother. 2002 Mar;36(3):375-9.

17. Fahim MS, et al. Effect of Panax Ginseng on Testosterone Level and Prostate in Male Rats. Journal of Reproductive Systems. 2009 Jul 9;8(4):261-3.

18. Salvati G, et al. Effects of Panax Ginseng C.A. Meyer saponins on male fertility. Panminerva Medicina. 1996, 38(4):249-54.

24. Arbuzov AG, et al. Phytoadaptogens-induced phenomenon similar to ischemic preconditioning. Ross Fiziol Zh Im I M Sechenova. 2009 Apr;95(4):398-404.


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