Cordyceps for Endurance Athletes: The Fungi That Might Just Help You Go the Extra Mile

tl;dr

Cordyceps — that funky, parasitic fungus straight out of traditional Chinese medicine — is starting to make a lot of noise among endurance athletes. Research hints that species like Cordyceps sinensis and Cordyceps militaris could improve your VO₂ max, help you power through brutal workouts without gassing out, and even make tough training sessions feel a a little easier. Big asterisk here though: you probably need a hefty dose, and scientists still have some blanks to fill in.

The Full Breakdown

Boosting Your VO₂ Max and Breathing Efficiency

First on the list: VO₂ max — a crucial number that shows how much oxygen your body can hustle through during intense activity. It’s pretty much the gold standard for measuring endurance potential. In a solid, well-controlled study, older adults who took a fermented form of Cordyceps sinensis cranked their VO₂ max up compared to those on a placebo [4]. Another piece of research backed this up, showing that a 12-week run with Cordyceps supplements led to sharper improvements in both VO₂ max and something called ventilatory threshold (how much you can push before your breathing gets out of whack) [1].

Hanging Tough During High-Intensity Efforts

Cordyceps doesn’t just help you during chill, steady-state workouts. In a study by Hirsch and crew (2017), participants took Cordyceps militaris and managed to handle high-intensity training sessions without falling apart as fast. They lasted longer before hitting serious fatigue, and their breathing stayed more efficient even as the sessions got nasty [2]. Basically, Cordyceps might give you more gas in the tank when your body is begging you to quit.

Fighting Off That “I’m Toast” Feeling

Performance isn’t just about muscles and lungs — it’s also about what’s happening between your ears. Interestingly, people in the Hirsch study reported lower ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) during hard workouts [2]. In plain terms: they didn’t feel as miserable. That mental edge could be huge in a sport where the fight is often more in your head than your legs.

Teamwork: Cordyceps Plus Other Performance Boosters

Things get even more interesting when Cordyceps pairs up with other supplements. One study gave athletes a combo of Cordyceps, caffeine, creatine, and amino acids — and after three weeks of nasty, high-intensity workouts, they showed bigger gains in both aerobic and anaerobic performance compared to a placebo group [3]. It’s hard to pull apart exactly what Cordyceps brought to the table, but the blend clearly worked better than nothing.

A Few Things to Watch Out For

Here’s the fine print: a lot of the Cordyceps studies aren’t super clean — meaning Cordyceps is often mixed in with other stuff. Plus, the amount you take really matters. Some research that used smaller doses (less than 1 gram) didn’t find much of anything [5], while the studies that used higher doses (3 grams or more) are the ones showing benefits [2]. So if you’re skimping on dose, don’t expect miracles.

Ready to put the science into action? BeElevated’s formulas feature premium Cordyceps to help you boost VO₂ max, fight fatigue, and train stronger.

Research Roundup

• Chen S, Li Z, Krochmal R, Abrazado M, Kim W, Cooper CB. Effect of Cs-4 (Cordyceps sinensis) on exercise performance in healthy older subjects: a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. J Altern Complement Med. 22010;16(5):585-590. DOI:10.1089/acm.2009.0226

• Hirsch KR, Smith-Ryan AE, Roelofs EJ, Trexler ET, Mock MG. Cordyceps militaris Improves Tolerance to High-Intensity Exercise After Acute and Chronic Supplementation. J Diet Suppl. 2017;14(1):42-53. DOI:10.1080/19390211.2016.1203386

• Smith AE, Fukuda DH, Kendall KL, Stout JR. The effects of a pre-workout supplement containing caffeine, creatine, and amino acids during three weeks of high-intensity exercise on aerobic and anaerobic performance. J Int Soc Sports Nutr.2010 2010;7:10. DOI:10.1186/1550-2783-7-10

• Yi X. Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial and assessment of fermentation product of Cordyceps sinensis (Cs-4) in enhancing aerobic capacity and respiratory function of the healthy elderly volunteers.

• Earnest CP, Morss GM, Wyatt F, et al. Effects of a commercial herbal-based formula on exercise performance in cyclists. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004;36(3):504-509. DOI:10.1249/01.mss.0000125157.49280.af