Medicinal mushrooms are used by athletes to improve their athletic performance thanks to their beneficial properties on muscles, blood and tissue oxygenation and on the nervous system. Let’s find out better.
Athletic activity and performance
Athletic activity and athletic performance, in particular for competitive athletes, is very important and is determined by various factors, in part by physical characteristics, such as body structure, which can represent a predisposing factor for a given discipline, in part from training, through which specific adaptations can be induced in the athlete’s body in order to develop his potential to the maximum.
A specific training then induces adaptation processes of the organism of both a functional and morphological nature. As we know these factors for each individual can be modified with adequate training: for example, the volume of the heart can increase by several hundred milliliters in response to resistance training, just as muscles and bones can change qualitatively and quantitatively, in response to a sporting load.
The same considerations apply to the chemical-physical characteristics of the individual organs: for example, the liver of an individual who has carried out a specific resistance training has a greater quantity of glycogen. The nerve control of a single muscle, or of a group of muscles, is decisive in many sports, and even the humoral one requires specific conditions to achieve above average performance. The decisive characteristics for the purpose of sports performance are therefore: coordination, flexibility, strength, speed and endurance and among these, strength and endurance are fundamental.
Mushrooms useful for athletes
Cordyceps and Reishi are the 2 main mushrooms used for athletes, whether they are competitive athletes or simple fans of a sport.
Reishi is beneficial for the nervous system, muscles, heart, hormones and bones. It is an ally of sports performance because it contains a high concentration of two elements rare in nature: germanium which increases oxygenation and adenosine, which by determining a vasodilation of blood vessels, increases the volume of blood circulation throughout the body. The muscles, receiving greater quantities of blood, nourishment and oxygen, have a more powerful performance in the effort. We can say that Reishi fights performance anxiety, relaxes, but on the other hand it increases mental energy, improves mood.
Also thanks to the adenosine contained in the Reishi, which determines the vasodilation of blood vessels, distributing more blood throughout the body. The muscles, receiving more nourishment and oxygen with the blood, have a more powerful performance in the effort. Better nourishing the brain and heart is also important in sports performance.
Cordyceps contains Cordycepin, a beta-glucan that increases blood oxygenation by 30%, producing 30% more personal energy. Increasing blood oxygenation and distributing more blood to the whole body with a balance of mood and the so-called “performance anxiety” improves the athletic prowess of the athlete. They also improve aerobic performance and the elimination of lactic acid after exercise.
We can therefore say that medicinal mushrooms are real allies of sports performance on several fronts, acting entirely on the body.
Indications for the use of medicinal mushrooms for sports
Always contact a professional in the sector who will be able to indicate the type of mushroom or the best mushrooms to use will be evaluated according to the subject and its constitution. Furthermore, he will have to do some ground work first to ensure an excellent action of medicinal mushrooms on the whole organism.
