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Cordyceps Are the Adaptogenic Mushrooms That Can Help You Meet Your 2022 Fitness Goals
New year, new you, new fuel.
Oh, January, thou art predictable: “New Year, New You” rhetoric swirls (oops, guilty!), workout studios lure you in with car dealership-style tactics, and “detoxes” abound. While the month’s exaggerated promise of rebirth and renewal tends to underdeliver year-after-year, the idea of starting fresh continues to hold an irresistible allure nonetheless. This ambition may as well be seized while it lasts, and for those resolving specifically to transform their physical fitness in 2022, we suggest breaking the, er, mold by introducing a new mushroom to your workout routine. Enter: Cordyceps.
For the uninitiated, cordyceps (Cordyceps sinensis) are fungi that live on certain types of caterpillars in China’s high mountain regions. Why, you ask, do cordyceps grow on innocent insects? (Trigger. Warning.) Essentially: Cordyceps lodge their spores into an insect's muscles and overtake the insect in a The Conjuring-style possession. The cordycep then forces the caterpillar to move to a place where it can safely reproduce before making the creature adhere to a leaf until… it perishes. It’s dark.
Gnarly origin story notwithstanding, these insistent fungi offer wide-ranging medicinal benefits that have been appreciated across cultures for centuries. Ancient healers in China and Tibet entrusted cordyceps with treating an estimated 21 different ailments including cancer, jaundice, and (yup) erectile dysfunction. But in recent years, a growing body of research has explored what cordyceps can do for your workouts. Although the science still needs larger, more robust studies, the fledgling findings are promising for your high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts, Pilates, and strength training habits.
Cordyceps increase the body’s production of a molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is essential for delivering energy to your muscles. In swole-speak, this means that consuming cordyceps pre-workout may help your body use oxygen in a more efficient way as you move from workout set to workout set. Case in point: A small study of 30 adults divided into a placebo group and a group who received three grams of synthetic cordyceps (CS-4) per day found that the latter group’s VO2 max (the amount of oxygen your body uses while exercising) had increased by seven percent by the end of the trial period. This indicated that those who took CS-4 increased their overall fitness level.
Still more research on healthy, older adults found that CS-4 didn’t increase VO2 max, but did improve other key metrics of exercise performance, including increasing participants’ metabolic threshold, or the highest exercise intensity that one can sustain for a given period of time, by over 10 percent. It has also been shown to improve the human body’s tolerance for HIIT workouts, and one study conducted on rats found that cordyceps show promise for boosting endurance.
In short, the data is new, but cordyceps’ status as a super-shroom is not. If you want to add one of the world’s most savage mushrooms into your savage new exercise routine, keep scrolling.
RealMushrooms Organic Cordyceps Extract Capsules, $30
RealMushrooms grows its shrooms in house to keep a more watchful eye on processes so they can guarantee you the most active, beneficial compounds. The review section of this potent, 100 percent cordyceps capsule is chock-full of workout warriors pleased with their purchase (not to mention their most recent sweat session).
Alpha Dynamics Ignite, $54
If you just can’t swallow another supplement, try mixing this pure cordyceps powder into a pre-workout smoothie, coffee, tea, or even water. Each sachet contains 3000 mg of 100 percent organic cordyceps extract.
Barcode Performance Drink 12-Pack, $48
This uber-hydrating, plant-based adaptogenic beverage includes not only cordyceps but also shiitake mushrooms as well as vitamin C, vitamin D, and a host of B vitamins. These ingredients combine to boost energy and endurance, support recovery and reduce inflammation, and improve overall well-being.
Balanced Tiger Cookie Dough Bar, $36
Sometimes the only way to motivate a workout is to dangle treats as an incentive, and while this cookie dough bar definitely fits that bill, it just so happens to offer pre-workout benefits, too. Each bar contains 1.5 grams of cordyceps alongside other healthful ingredients like pea protein and almonds.
Otzi Cordyceps Gummies, $20
When it comes to supplements, sometimes gummies are the only way to go; when it feels impossible to swallow *a billion* capsules, it’s somehow easy to take down as much "medicine" as necessary when it’s mixed with a few spoonfuls of sugar. This variety is made from organic cordyceps grown sustainably in California.