Imagine dropping to the weight of a small child after major intestinal surgery, then just months later, deadlifting 195kg and breaking powerlifting records.
This isn't fiction. It's the remarkable journey of Fifth Ray founder Manny, who discovered the transformative power of plants like ashwagandha during his recovery from Crohn's disease.
While Manny's story might seem exceptional, the science behind ashwagandha's exercise benefits is increasingly clear.
Research shows this potent plant can significantly enhance strength gains, accelerate recovery, and improve body composition for anyone serious about their fitness.
In this article we dive into the science, explain five evidence-based benefits of ashwagandha for exercise and how you can enjoy high-quality ashwagandha root in Cosmic Hue.
The Recovery Challenge
Recovery presents a significant hurdle in your fitness journey, whether you're a weekend warrior or a seasoned athlete. After an intense workout, your body speaks to you through muscle soreness, persistent fatigue, and longer recovery periods that can frustrate even the most dedicated fitness enthusiasts.
When you engage in high-intensity training, you create microscopic tears in your muscle fibers. This damage, while necessary for growth, triggers an inflammatory response in your body. Inflammation serves as your natural healing mechanism, but it brings discomfort along with it—the familiar ache that follows a challenging workout.
Traditional recovery methods like ice baths, compression garments, and foam rolling help, but they often fall short of addressing the deeper biochemical processes at work. Many fitness enthusiasts find that recovery becomes their primary limiting factor, preventing them from training as frequently or intensely as they'd like.
As athletes search for solutions to break through this recovery ceiling, ashwagandha has emerged as a particularly promising natural compound backed by substantial scientific research.
This ancient herb, a key ingredient in Cosmic Hue, offers an evidence-backed approach to speeding up your body's natural recovery processes, potentially allowing you to train harder and more consistently.
The Research on Ashwagandha Benefits for Exercise
1. Impressive Strength Gains
A significant 8-week study by Wankhede et al. tested ashwagandha using randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled methods, which are considered the most reliable in scientific research.
The results showed clear strength benefits. Participants taking ashwagandha increased their bench press strength by 46kg, while the placebo group only gained 26.4kg. For leg extensions, the ashwagandha group improved by 14.5kg compared to just 9.8kg in the placebo group.
These findings demonstrate ashwagandha's potential to nearly double your strength gains during regular training routines.
2. Muscle Size and Body Composition
The same Wankhede study revealed impressive changes in muscle size and body composition among participants taking ashwagandha.
For muscle growth, those taking ashwagandha saw their arm muscle size increase by 8.6cm² compared to just 5.3cm² in the placebo group. Chest measurements showed similar advantages, with the ashwagandha users gaining 3.3cm versus only 1.4cm in the placebo group.
Body fat percentages also improved more significantly with ashwagandha. Participants taking the herb decreased their body fat by 3.5% on average, while the placebo group only lost 1.5%.
These results are particularly noteworthy because they came from careful scientific measurement rather than the exaggerated claims often seen with supplements.
This consistent pattern of improvement across multiple physical parameters reveals ashwagandha's comprehensive influence on body composition transformation during training periods.
3. The Testosterone Connection
The physical improvements seen with ashwagandha could be linked to its effects on testosterone levels.
In the Wankhede study, participants taking ashwagandha experienced a substantial increase in testosterone, measuring 96.2 ng/dL compared to just 18.0 ng/dL in the placebo group.
A separate study by Lopresti et al. found similar results. They found that ashwagandha intake was associated with a 14.7% greater increase in testosterone compared to placebo.
This testosterone boost matters because the hormone plays several crucial roles in physical performance. It helps drive muscle protein synthesis, enhances recovery capacity, maintains energy levels, and contributes to overall wellbeing during training periods.
It's worth noting that healthy testosterone levels are important for all genders, though the effects may be more pronounced in males.
4. Enhanced Muscle Recovery
Beyond strength and muscle growth, ashwagandha shows specific benefits for post-exercise recovery by influencing important biomarkers of muscle damage.
One key indicator scientists use to measure muscle damage is creatine kinase, an enzyme that leaks into your bloodstream when muscle cells are damaged during intense exercise.
The Wankhede study found significant benefits in this area. According to the researchers, "Compared to the placebo subjects, the subjects receiving ashwagandha had significantly greater reduction of exercise-induced muscle damage as indicated by the stabilization of serum creatine kinase."
Rather than preventing the initial exercise stress necessary for growth, ashwagandha appears to enhance the body's recovery response. It shows better stabilization of damage markers over time compared to placebo groups.
These biomarker improvements translate to real-world benefits you can feel. You can feel less muscle soreness, faster recovery between training sessions, and the ability to train more frequently without overtraining.
This recovery advantage may be particularly valuable for athletes with demanding training schedules or fitness enthusiasts trying to maximize their workout frequency. The ability to bounce back more quickly from intense exercise creates a positive cycle where better recovery enables more consistent training, which leads to better long-term results.
5. Improved Cardiorespiratory Fitness
Ashwagandha's benefits extend beyond just muscle recovery and strength to include improvements in cardio fitness as well.
A comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis by Pérez-Gómez et al. examined the effects of ashwagandha supplementation on VO2max, the maximum amount of oxygen your body can utilize during intense exercise. This measurement is considered the gold standard for assessing cardio fitness and endurance capacity.
The researchers analyzed data from five randomized controlled trials involving 162 participants. Their findings showed that ashwagandha supplementation resulted in significant improvements in VO2max in both athletes and healthy non-athletes. The mean difference in VO2max was 3.00 (95% CI from 0.18 to 5.82).
This improved oxygen utilization capacity translates directly to enhanced endurance. You can train longer before fatigue sets in, potentially increasing your overall training volume and physiological adaptations over time.
The combination of better VO2max, enhanced recovery, and increased strength presents a comprehensive picture of how ashwagandha might support multiple aspects of physical performance simultaneously.
Cosmic Hue: Premium Source of Ashwagandha
At Fifth Ray, we have carefully incorporated high-quality ashwagandha root into our Cosmic Hue tea blend. This isn't simply about including the plant, but ensuring it's properly sourced and prepared to maintain the bioactive compounds responsible for the performance benefits.
The formulation includes complementary plants that work alongside ashwagandha root to provide holistic support for recovery, gut health and overall wellbeing.
The tea format also creates a calming ritual that can become part of your recovery routine. Taking time to prepare and mindfully enjoy Cosmic Hue provides a moment of pause in your day.
For anyone serious about optimising their recovery between workouts, Cosmic Hue provides a science-backed approach that harnesses the traditional wisdom of herbal medicine with modern research validation.
Conclusion
Research clearly shows that ashwagandha offers multiple benefits for exercise performance and recovery. Studies show significant improvements in strength gains, muscle size, body composition, testosterone levels, muscle recovery markers, and cardiorespiratory fitness.
The evidence comes from well-designed, placebo-controlled studies measuring concrete results rather than subjective reports, giving you confidence in ashwagandha's effectiveness.
Try Cosmic Hue to experience these research-backed benefits of ashwagandha root in a powerful tea blend.
References
Bonilla, D. A., Moreno, Y., Gho, C., Petro, J. L., Odriozola-Martínez, A., & Kreider, R. B. (2021). Effects of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) on Physical Performance: Systematic Review and Bayesian Meta-Analysis. Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology, 6(1), 20.
Lopresti, A. L., Drummond, P. D., & Smith, S. J. (2019). A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Study Examining the Hormonal and Vitality Effects of Ashwagandha ( Withania somnifera) in Aging, Overweight Males. American journal of men's health, 13(2), 1557988319835985.
Pérez-Gómez, J., Villafaina, S., Adsuar, J. C., Merellano-Navarro, E., & Collado-Mateo, D. (2020). Effects of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) on VO2max: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients, 12(4), 1119.
Salve, J., Pate, S., Debnath, K., & Langade, D. (2019). Adaptogenic and Anxiolytic Effects of Ashwagandha Root Extract in Healthy Adults: A Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled Clinical Study. Cureus, 11(12), e6466.
Wankhede, S., Langade, D., Joshi, K., Sinha, S. R., & Bhattacharyya, S. (2015). Examining the effect of Withania somnifera supplementation on muscle strength and recovery: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 12, 43.