Vitamin C for improved workouts

I’ve recently started to focus on heavy lifting in the gym in order to look and feel better, and also so that when the time comes to intensify my running workouts for a race- I can ward off injuries through the additional bone density, musculature and joint strength which strength training is adding to my body.

My hope and understanding is that just like we buy cushioned shoes to attenuate the shock our legs receive from running- I’m building the cushioning within my legs through heavy lifting.

But this extra gym work coupled with regular running and bouts of cycling is affecting my performance at work and also making me look bloated/puffy. Yes, I look fatter by exercising more, even though I’ve dropped about half a kilogram in weight and I’m maintaining my food macros.

Ever since the heavy lifting started at a higher weekly frequency-- at work, I have lower energy; I have to focus harder on reading and analyzing documents; and I can also feel my attention span reducing. This is unacceptable in my field! Insecurities loom large and stakes are (unnecessarily) high; mistakes are not easily pardoned- a few slips and you’re out of the game.

So I’ve decided to blame Cortisol for this problem (after some research). Now that a finger has been pointed towards Cortisol, a simple solution has also been researched- Vitamin C chewable tablets. After a lot of reading up, it seems to be the key for maintaining an “intense exercise-work” balance.

Cortisol is a steroid hormone which is released when our bodies are under stress, and high intensity exercise coupled with work and family pressures translates into acute stress. Excess cortisol in the body negatively affects normal bodily functions such as protein synthesis, immune system response, metabolism/fat burning etc. It’s a vicious cycle- train more but look and feel worse, and also risk the chances of over-training.

One way to reduce Cortisol is to decrease exercise intensity, but that is blasphemy, especially for someone who is training for longer races or faster than average race times.

We tend to ignore Vitamin C by usually assuming that the citrus fruits which we consume are providing us the RDA (Required Daily Allowance). However, the current RDA of 60 mg is extremely low since research suggests that at least 1000 mg is required to make a significant dent in reducing Cortisol. Prehistoric humans tended to consume large amounts of Vitamin C in their diet, which was way higher than the 60 mg RDA.

In a 2008 study, twelve participants were given high doses of Vitamin C and the data from the study suggests that vitamin C supplementation can decrease post-exercise Cortisol in individuals performing exercise similar to that of a half-marathon or marathon in hot conditions (Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2008 Dec;3(4):516-30).

A 2001 study demonstrated a transient attenuation of Cortisol in runners who ran for prolonged times and supplemented with 1500 mg vitamin C per day when compared to < or = 500 mg per day (Int J Sports Med. 2001 Oct;22(7):537-43).

However, there are more scholarly articles to demonstrate that Vitamin C does not help in reducing Cortisol. But at Rs. 1 per 500 mg table, which is easily available at local pharmacies, it’s worth a shot.

I’ve started a 1000 mg per day dose divided into twice a day. It is advisable to not have all of it at once and rather spread the dose across a day since Vitamin C is readily absorbed and the effect in reducing cortisol is transient.

For the hippy herb preferring people, Amalaki (amla powder) capsules are available from Organic India, Himalaya and other decent brands. I’ll be trying these too soon.