I’ve a bottle of “extra strength” Ginseng, essentially some capsules containing big doses of 3 different types of Ginseng.
Yesterday I was feeling like my batteries were totally drained. I was thinking to skip the workout.
But then I took a Ginseng capsule with my pre-workout drink, about 30 minutes before workout on empty stomach.
I noticed two things:
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It worked somewhat similar to Spike - while my actual physical “energy” increased only a bit, I had tremendous focus and resolution. It’s been a long time since I was able to push through the squats that hard.
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I always had issues of one kind or another with my joints. Bad material probably. But after taking the Ginseng capsule, nothing! No joint pains whatsoever.
I even had, for the last few days, what seemed to be shoulder impingement and I foolishly decided to work through it. I thought I was going to pay for that today. Well - guess what. My shoulder is fine, there’s no pain whatsoever.
This is not the first time I’m taking Ginseng. I used to take it occasionally a few years ago, and I did notice elevated energy and - I’m not sure how to describe it, it’s like my joints felt “tighter” or stronger, not as “loose” as usual.
But this is the first time I’m taking it in a resistance training context and the dosage is higher than what I was used to.
Of course, just one case does not make a rule. But the results were surprising yet pretty clear.
I will do some more experiments when I feel tired again and/or I have issues with my joints. I’ll let you know.