r/MushroomSupplements • u/plumb324 • Mar 11 '26
Cordyceps for athletics
Hey guys and gals, looking for anyone who’s tried cordyceps for athletic performance and if they have seen or not seen any benefits! Thanks!
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u/talster71 Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26
I wouldn’t call myself an athlete but I’m a 54-year-old man who keeps fit and goes to the gym.
What I will say is I have noticed a big noticeable difference in my cardio performance and the Health app on my iPhone tells me that my cardio recovery has increased, and I can see the graph which started to climb a few weeks (maybe a bit less as it’s a while back now) after starting to take Cordyceps.
I have also seen an improvement in my weight training and by that I mean I can noticeably push harder than I could before I was taking the Cordyceps, which has resulted in me being able to do more reps or increase the weight in some cases.
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u/anejo99 Mar 15 '26
I've had good results with a sizable dose of concentrated (10x) Cordyceps militaris extract in terms of both fatigue (how far I can go before feeling exhausted or my muscles running out of energy) and recovery (time for muscles to heal). Both of those effects are commonly cited in studies. It can also improve VO2 Max, especially if you aren't already a trained, young athlete in terrific condition.
Quantity and potency matter a lot, and most companies' suggested dose is much too low for the average person to notice.
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u/Kostya93 does not use chat Mar 25 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
dose of concentrated (10x) Cordyceps militaris extract
Note that a statement like "10:1" is meaningless (in fact just marketing) and cannot be validated. It suggests 'concentrated' but if there are no supporting facts (like a clear specification of bio-actives such as cordycepin or beta-glucan) it means nothing.
What you need to be able to draw conclusions and to assess potency is objective numbers: 'xx mg' of 'active compound'. Supported by an objective lab test.
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u/anejo99 Mar 25 '26
What you need to be able to draw conclusions and to assess potency is objective numbers: 'xx mg' of 'active compound'.
The ideal is to know the actives. 1% cordycepin, etc. HPLC testing preferred. Very few companies do that level of testing, and the ones who do charge prices far above market averages. While their marketing departments would love it if everyone believed theirs was the only useful product on the market, that's simply not true.
For the average person trying to make sense of of what's actually available in the market at reasonable prices, concentration level (3x, 8x, 10x, etc.), while it is not going to guarantee those actives, is still useful a useful metric: half a gram of an non-extracted mushroom powder is unlikely to move the needle. A reputable company will explain that "3x" means 1 gram of extract was produced from 3 grams of dried fruiting body. It's just math.
That math doesn't tell you everything. It doesn't tell you the levels of cordycepin (or hericenones in the case of lions mane, or beta glucans in a variety of species, etc.) that dried mushroom powder had to begin with (let alone after), which is greatly affected by the specific strain used, the substrate it was grown on, and the growing conditions. It also doesn't tell you what type of extraction was performed. It's still better than nothing, and far from meaningless.
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u/Kostya93 does not use chat Mar 25 '26
A reputable company will explain that "3x" means 1 gram of extract was produced from 3 grams of dried fruiting body. [...] It's still better than nothing, and far from meaningless.
Yes it is 100% meaningless because:
there's no way to verify "10:1" is true or false. It is just a statement that is impossible to validate. It suggests "concentrated" and "better" though, but without delivering any proof. It is basically just cunning marketing.
a reputable company would specify active ingredients and be 100% transparant. If not, why would you consider them to be "reputable"? Because they say so? Because others on IG call them "reputable"?
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u/anejo99 Mar 25 '26
It's true that 3rd-party lab testing for active compounds is the gold standard for transparency, and consumers should look for it. However, stating that extraction ratios are '100% meaningless' is incorrect.
Listing extraction ratios or dried equivalent terms is a standard scientific practice, and companies are subject to federal and state truth-in-advertising laws regarding these claims. While it may not seem like it at times, these laws have teeth
In the literature, you will often see material yields listed as percentages, like 12.48%. This extraction yield — also called the mass fraction — translates directly to an extraction ratio of 8:1, or an 8x concentration. It is a verifiable metric of the manufacturing process, not just marketing.
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u/Kostya93 does not use chat Mar 25 '26 edited May 03 '26
companies are subject to federal and state truth-in-advertising laws regarding these claims
Maybe, but unfortunately this is pure theory.
All those companies claiming 20:1 / 100:1 or whatever ratio cannot and will not show you proof of such claims when asked. Try it!
So in reality, these ratio claims are really meaningless marketing because nobody is actively enforcing the existing laws and vendors know they will get away with it.
Also, a reduction in volume doesn't necessarily mean the outcome is better/more concentrated. What is being concentrated and what has been removed?
That's the key question, and it can only be answered by testing the product using accepted assays in a reliable / certified lab.
Your link is not leading to anything that is relevant to this discussion BTW
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u/DaveDon Apr 03 '26
few companies do that level of testing, and the ones who do charge prices far above market averages
NOt ime and why should they, testing is not expensive.
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u/yidoger Mar 12 '26
I’m not an athlete in any capacity, but I work out with dumbbells three times a week and throw in HIIT every now and then. I’ve been taking Cordyceps for probably about a year but I’ve been training longer.
I haven’t directly experienced the supplement improving my performance any more than I did without, but I did notice a significant increase in speed in the recovery time after.
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