The Power Couple: Arjuna and Ashwagandha

The best kept secret in the performance world is the use of Arjuna and Ashwagandha.

Arjuna, a tree bark, has been used in Ayurvedic medicine to help in the proper functioning of the heart by strengthening the heart muscles. It also has anti-hypertensive property that helps reduce the levels of high blood pressure.

Ashwagandha, which touts a multitude of benefits, is described to promote health and longevity.

These natural ingredients, separately, can positively impact athletic performance and together, a small study has shown that they have the potential to be a performance powerhouse.

In a study of 40 healthy subjects:

10 received Arjuna only

10 received Ashwagandha only

10 received a combination of both

10 received a placebo

The subjects took the regimen for eight weeks. They were tested on maximum velocity, average absolute and relative power, balance, maximum oxygen consumption (VO2 max) and blood pressure in humans.

The results?

Those who took Ashwagandha-only increased velocity, power and VO2 max whereas the participants taking arjuna-only increased VO2 max and lowered resting systolic blood pressure. When given in combination, the improvement was seen in all parameters except balance and diastolic blood pressure.

More human studies are needed to further prove out performance benefits, but we have quite a bit of evidence supporting this trial. Flow and Flow Pro, by Cerus Performance, contains both Arjuna and Ashwagandha. We conducted our own third-party VO2 Max testing on six trained athletes and saw increases in VO2 Max as has as 20% and all six people increased work capacity.

In terms of anecdotal evidence, we’ve sold thousands of bottles of Flow and Flow Pro and have received feedback such as:

• “I feel like I have a third lung.”
• Lots of PRs
• I immediately saw a difference in my breathing and endurance through the workout.
• I live and train at high altitude and I've had some lung challenges when exercising. I tried FLOW and saw a big difference immediately.
• Better oxygen exchange during hard workouts.
• Flow pro made a huge difference on are long runs definitely made running suck less.
• And more!

The point is this: in athletics, when seconds count, Arjuna and Ashwagandha can give you a competitive edge.