Ashwagandha and Arjuna for increasing speed, power, VO2 max and lowering blood pressure

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) and Arjuna (Terminalia Arjuna) in their independent capacities have a very important place in Ayurveda. Ashwagandha is an adaptogenic herb and allows humans to adapt to physical and mental stresses. Arjuna on the other hand in commonly seen in use by heart patients.

This (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2996571/) year 2010 Indian study administered 500mg/per day of Ashwagandha root extract powder and 500mg/per day Arjuna tree bark extract powder, separately and together, to a control group of 40 healthy college going young adults with moderately active life style for a period of 8 weeks.

The participants were then made to perform the following physical activities, and their performances were assessed:

1.  Sprinting to find their respective maximum velocities.

2.  Vertical jumps to measure their average absolute and average relative power of the lower limbs.

3.  Balancing on a wobble board to measure changes in balancing.

4. Indoor cycling on a turbo trainer to measure their peak maximum oxygen consumption (ml/kg/min)

After 8 weeks, the researchers found that Ashwagandha increased velocity, power and VO2 max, whereas Arjuna increased VO2 max and lowered resting systolic blood pressure.

When given in combination, the improvement was seen in all parameters except balance and diastolic blood pressure.

The increases in the measured parameters (in percentage) are as follows:

S.No.	Parameter measured	Change (in %)
1	Maximum Velocity	1.3%
2	Average Absolute Power	10.17%
3	Average Relative Power	9.16%
4	Balance	NIL
5	VO2 max	6.3%
6	Systolic blood pressure	4.3%
7	Diastolic blood pressure	Almost NIL

(You may want to cross-check my maths. The figures above may not be exact, but more or less bearable)

So what do these numbers mean for a runner? The numbers suggest that even though the increase in power (absolute and relative) is astonishing at approximately 10%, for a runner it translates into only a 1.3% increase in velocity while sprinting. However, if you consider the increase in VO2 max at 6.3% and Power at about 10% and reduction in systolic blood pressure at 4.3%, an endurance athlete would see a significant increase in performance.

The icing on the cake is that both Ashwagandha and Arjuna are quite cheap to purchase (online/offline) and extremely beneficial for residents of areas with a high level of pollution, which for an Indian will be almost everywhere in India.

I’m using the Ashwagandha and Arjuna combination (500 mg powder each) for the last two months and on some fast workouts, I do feel better, but that may be attributable to a placebo effect. Maybe if I could give up my occasional but voluntary smoke inhalation, periodic junk food binges, and frequent but useless calorie laden alcohol intake, I could be faster and stronger. Till then, I’ll just use the (extremely flawed and pathetic) self-love excuse and march forward with blinders. As Socrates said, "Excuses are like assholes. Everybody has one, and they all stink".

Carpe (Excuses-Excuses) Diem.

- Aman Yadav