Herbal Support for Sports and Fitness
By the Seed SistAs
As herbalists, we have a keen interest in all aspects of health and wellbeing. We’ve had active lives living on the road, putting up our space at festivals each weekend, packing and unpacking the vehicles and enjoying exploring the wild outdoors wherever we go. We have studied yoga for more than two decades and in more recent years pilates, swing dance and even karate; all of which has nurtured our knowledge to herbal medicine for sports and exercise.
Along the way, we have picked up injuries that require long-term support. We both have lower back issues, and work with herbs and specific exercises to manage our bodies as we’ve moved into midlife. In the various communities we are connected to, we see multiple injuries from Plantar fasciitis, sprains, compressed discs, arthritic injuries, boney spurs, and even fractures and breaks. Herbs can provide amazing support, speeding up healing and creating lasting improvements to physical health.
One way to prevent injury is to improve your own stamina and performance and recovery rate after exercise. There are lots of herbs that can protect adrenal function and help to avoid burnout, as well as help to increase performance and stamina for more endurance based sports. These adaptogenic herbs will also help the body to recover afterwards.
To explore herbal medicine for sports, we’ll look at herbal support for adrenal protection, stamina, performance and recovery, and then look at herbs for some of the most common issues, soft tissue damage of muscles and ligaments.
Herbal support for athletic performance and post training recovery
Adaptogens are known to improve performance and recovery. Much of the research has been conducted on herbs commonly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine where the idea of adaptogenic herbal support is embedded in approaches to medicine.
You can read more on adaptogens and the nervous system in this blog
Astragalus membranaceusis applied in herbalism to protect and support the immune system, to lower blood pressure, and manage blood sugar regulation and is most famed as an adaptogen.
Astragalus has shown time and time again in research to recuse lactic acid concentration in muscles, improve stamina and also grip strength even in one or two doses before exercise.
In a review of astragalus research, Astragalus membranaceus looked at research conducted looking at individuals and sports, such as martial arts, mountain hiking, basketball, rowing, running, aerobic exercises, and strength training. Ages were from age 8 to 120!!! And Astragalus was taken at a daily dose of 1 to 4 g for several weeks. Improvements were observed in aerobic performance, oxidative status, and response to acclimatisation, without a specific effect on the athletes’ strength. Better post-exercise immune functions were also observed, and no adverse effects were described. Astragalus supplementation has the potential to decrease fatigue, enhance aerobic performance, and mitigate post-exercise immune suppression in athletes.
Rhodiola rosea is a herb that we work with to improve response to stresses. As a garden escape, it is found occasionally in quarries and on walls. It is also found in the wild above 300 m, reaching 1,208 m on the north face of Ben Nevis, and is native to Britain and Ireland. Rhodiola can be quite stimulating and has shown promise that it may prolong time-to-exhaustion and improve time trial performance in sports activities.
Astragalus and Rhodiola are herbs that can be utilised as part of a programme or combination of herbs to recover from athletic fatigue, repair injuries and improve physiological functions.
Herbs for Soft Tissue Damage
Injuries that affect the musculoskeletal system comprises of a whole plethora of muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, and other tissues that enable movement and provide joint stability. Soft tissue injuries, involving muscles, tendons, and ligaments, are super common. Muscles assist with movement, posture and joint stability. Tendons connect muscles to bones and ligaments connect bones together. Soft tissue injuries include strains or tears; contusions or bruises; and can of course be mild or more severe reflected by the level of pain, swelling and bruising. Key herbal actions to support these types of injuries have pain relieving properties, anti-inflammatory action and in some instances will help to dissipate bruising under the skin.
Some herbal medicine for sports and exercise can work very well when used externally, such as the more common ones below: 
Arnica montana is an alpine herb that is renowned for bruising. The saponins in the herb help to break down pooled blood that causes bruising. Arnica interferes with the inflammatory cascade, causing less inflammation whilst still allowing healing to take place. We have a whole debate about inflammation here. Arnica makes a great external cream to rub onto injured areas especially where there is aching and bruising. We also use daisy infused oil in this way made with Bellis perennis daisies.
Hypericum perforatum – St. John’s Wort is especially helpful where there is nerve pain or damage, being one of the only herbs that has shown to rebuild nerve damaged tissues. Hypericum also offers anti-inflammatory action and can soothe pain when applied externally as an oil or balm.
Symphytum officinale – Comfrey has the folk name knit bone for its ability to speed up the healing process of bone. This also applies to connective or soft tissue. We put comfy into a balm and apply to sort muscles, sprains or fractures too to help with speedy recovery. Comfrey heals so quickly that any one or joint needs to be back in the correct positioning before applying the comfrey to avoid any wonky healing. We look at more uses of comfrey here.
These blog articles are herbal education resources, produced by the Seed Sistas. Gain insights and join us in the evolution of healthcare, please do leave a comment or question. Wellbeing empowerment for all…
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