There are ways to boost sports performance and resorting to the risky route of anabolic-androgenic steroids is definitely a bad decision. That is true to most professional athletes.
For most non-professional athletes and sports amateurs, sports supplements are used to boost training outputs and accelerate our health goals.
This point to natural sports supplements such as Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma Longifolia) – an anabolic adaptogen plant that is increasingly popular amongst sports amateurs and professional athletes.
Tongkat Ali is consumed widely as a pre-workout and post-workout supplement to boost sports performance.
But how does Tongkat Ali benefit sports performance for professional athletes, or amateurs who are on a regular exercise regime?
Is Tongkat Ali suitable for all kinds of sports? And more importantly, are the improvements marginal or significant?
This article aims to answer fundamental questions on the usage of Tongkat Ali as a sports supplement (both as a pre and post workout), how it works and how you can benefit more from your sport activities.
Sports supplements are mainly used to boost sports performance for amateurs and semi-professional athletes.
Sports supplements are helpful to reduce your time to achieve your peak performance and here are some of the key ingredients contained in the top sports supplements that are available in the market today:
Tongkat Ali is widely studied for its ergogenic effects in sports (i.e effects that enhance energy production, use and recovery). And only few sports supplements are tested to bolster strength or endurance in sports.
Against the backdrop of sports enhancing supplements such as Fadogia Agrestis, Turkesterone and other conventional sports supplements such as creatine and protein, the energy-boosting capability (driven by testosterone) of Tongkat Ali has been a subject of interest by medical experts and health professionals. This is backed by growing scientific evidence in recent years.
Here are key questions and answers that may guide you when using Tongkat Ali supplement as part of your daily diet.
Tongkat Ali is scientifically proven to enhance sports performance; mainly underpinned by its proven adaptogen and anabolic properties to boost testosterone and maintain energy requirements when your body is exposed to strenuous activities during training/competition.
Scientists believe boosting testosterone is a key winning advantage to bring a competitive edge in sports.
Despite that the relationship between higher testosterone and sports performance is an ongoing debate, researchers and scientists believe that testosterone may promote athletic performance through long-term anabolic actions.
Decades of clinical trials showed Tongkat Ali as one of the best natural testosterone supplements for sports performance alongside Ashwagandha, Fadogia Agrestis and Panax Ginseng.
Tongkat Ali may benefit you greatly if you already have high predisposed testosterone levels, for example:
Let’s find out how Tongkat Ali can enhance sports performance.
The most significant effect of Tongkat Ali on sports performance across multiple studies is the higher anaerobic Peak Power Output (PPO) when subjected to resistance training.
In one of the studies involving the consumption of 200 mg of Tongkat Ali daily, the results below showed the anaerobic peak power output improved by 12-15% after 8 weeks of group consuming Tongkat Ali (EIJ) and subjected to Resistance Training (RT).
Wingate Anaerobic Test is touted to be the best fitness test and higher anaerobic peak power from Tongkat Ali consumption showed a strong correlation to running performance.
Anaerobic studies showed that Tongkat Ali may be used by long-distance runners to gain more endurance as it restores your testosterone, cortisol and energy conversion more efficiently.
Here are six potential benefits from Tongkat Ali that may enhance sports performance:
There are sufficient clinical trials and research studies to support Tongkat Ali as an effective sports supplement that benefit sports activities across various age groups.
Here are some of research findings from various clinical trials:
Title: The Ergogenic Effect of Eurycoma Longifolia Jack: A Pilot Study
Hamzah & Yusof (2003)
Test participants: 14 men
Dosage: 100mg daily
Duration: 5 weeks
Findings:
Title: Tongkat Ali as a potential herbal supplement for physically active male and female seniors
Henkel et. al (2013)
Test participants: 13 male, 12 female (57-72 years)
Dosage: 400mg daily
Duration: 5 weeks
Findings:
Title : The Eurycoma Longifolia Freeze-Dried Water Extract-Physta® Does not Change Normal Ratios of Testosterone to Epitestosterone in Healthy Males
George et. al (2013)
Test participants: 40 men (30-55 years)
Dosage: 300mg daily
Duration: 12 weeks
Findings:
Title: Combined effects of Eurycoma longifolia Jack supplementation and a circuit training programme on bone metabolism markers, muscular strength and power, and immune functions in adult men.
Ooi FK et. al – (2015)
Test participants: 40 men (35-55 years)
Dosage: 400mg daily
Duration: 8 weeks
Findings:
Research Title: Effects of Eurycoma Longifolia Jack Supplementation Combined with Resistance Training on Isokinetic Muscular Strength and Power, Anaerobic Power, and Urinary Testosterone: Epitestosterone Ratio in Young Males
Chen et. al – (2019)
Test participants: 40 men (19-25 years)
Dosage: 200mg daily
Duration: 8 weeks
Findings:
Here is a quick scientific explanation.
The above provides reasoning behind why supplementation of Tongkat Ali between 400mg to 600mg daily may work effectively for sports; more so if you require extra strength or energy before your workouts, or if you are into serious competitive sports.
Tongkat Ali is best suited for sports activities that require muscle strength, energy and stamina (endurance) such as:
Most real-life encounters of Tongkat Ali displayed noticeable effect of “instant boost of energy”, prolonged stamina during anaerobic exercises, and greater strength during strength or weight training.
We will cover more about that later in the article, and how various clinical trials validated the ergogenic effects of Tongkat Ali when your body is subjected to sports-related activities.
Whichever clinical studies you refer to, Tongkat Ali has been tested for decades to have positive impact on sports activities, with notable effect on endurance
If you are into endurance sports activities such as cycling, marathons (or long-distance running, triathlons), Tongkat Ali may benefit you in a surprising way.
Taking Tongkat Ali effervescent may help you stay hydrated whilst ensuring higher bioavailability from Tongkat Ali. This is an excellent choice for long-distance running or marathon.
Here is one aspect how Tongkat Ali can benefit endurance sports.
Here are other Tongkat Ali benefits that is associated with endurance-related sports:
Whether you choose to take Tongkat Ali coffee or Tongkat Ali effervescent, Tongkat Ali helps faster muscle recovery from overtraining. Here is why Tongkat Ali is important in such a situation.
There are many studies that showed Tongkat Ali’s ability to restore hormonal balance in your endocrine system. As a result, this minimizes further neuroendocrine disorders from overtraining.
Here is what you need to know when you are overtrained.
There are symptoms of overtraining that can be reduced by taking Tongkat Ali. Overtraining syndrome is a neuroendocrine disorder characterized by:
Tongkat Ali benefit most from weight training and resistance training. Both types of exercises are naturally a good fit to boost and maintain a healthy testosterone after workouts.
Aside from clinical studies on Tongkat Ali, real-world performance of Tongkat Ali showed significant increase in energy, muscle growth and fat loss after consuming 200-400 mg of Tongkat Ali daily for a minimum of four weeks.
A four-week Tongkat Ali experience by James from the United Kingdom is one of many real-world reviews of Tongkat Ali’s performance. It worked amazingly well for James who spends his time intensely 5 days a week.
To complement his health stack, James reported that taking 400mg of Tongkat Ali “made a world of difference” in his daily workouts, with increased reps. He further added that he could carry 20% more weights after consuming Tongkat Ali.
There are long-term reviews of Tongkat Ali too, so do check out our six-week review when paired with twice a week exercise. This review is ideally if you are on a less-intense exercise regime.
Consuming Tongkat Ali will not make you run, climb or cycle faster. There are no sports supplements in the market today that will improve sports performance related to speed.
So if you expect Tongkat Ali will cut down your 0-100m sprint by few seconds, than you will be greatly disappointed.
If you notice an improvement in your sprint time after taking Tongkat Ali, that has to do with your limb muscles growing stronger coupled with your training regime.
However, when consumed in higher doses of 200mg-400mg daily, Tongkat Ali may have a positive impact to your overall endurance if you are doing a 800m running, or even in marathon.
The impact of testosterone flowing through your blood as your heart pumps more blood throughout the training session (or competition) serves as a key advantage from consuming Tongkat Ali.
Aside from the list of sports which we have listed earlier, you may consume Tongkat Ali 1 hour before your workout to gain more from the following exercises:
In recent years, Tongkat Ali has grown into a popular supplement for yoga. So, if you want to maximize your yoga performance and benefits, get a healthy dose of clinically-tested Tongkat Ali and feel the difference!
Two questions if you are sports amateur, or a non-professional athlete.
For many of us who are not professional athletes, we ought to know that our testosterone fluctuates throughout the day, and in most cases drops by almost 50% as we age.
Sports supplements such as Tongkat Ali is beneficial to optimize our testosterone levels before indulging in our regular training or leisure / regular exercises.
Tongkat Ali is the only sports supplement that can be taken daily or over a prolonged period without side effects.
And for most sports amateurs, Tongkat Ali comes in handy as an ideal sports supplement to restore the testosterone dip, especially as you age. Optimal testosterone is necessary during sports activities or when performing exercises.
Or, if you are planning to get back in shape – Tongkat Ali is the ideal 1st time sports supplement that cuts down your time by promoting weight loss and improve lean muscle development.
Our six week Tongkat Ali review is a real-world testament of how Tongkat Ali can be your ideal sports supplement to get fit in no time!
A highly potent clinically tested Tongkat Ali such as Physta® showed a significant increase of testosterone by up to 600% by test participants consuming 200mg Tongkat Ali daily over four to six weeks, and paired with multivitamins.
Standardized Tongkat Ali extract with high eurycomanone reported to deliver superfast reaction time (efficacy) from Tongkat Ali’s unique bioactive ingredients (i.e eurycomanone, eurypeptides, glycosaponin) to enable your hormonal glands in order to produce more testosterone to fuel your muscles, energy and stamina.
So, be sure to purchase Tongkat Ali that is clinically tested with the highest potency to deliver maximum performance for your sporting needs.
Related Article: Finding the Strongest Tongkat Ali Potency
Are you on the national team or competing in regional, international events, or even in the Olympics?
For well-trained elite athletes, you may gain more muscle strength from taking Tongkat Ali, albeit marginal improvement compared to non-professional athletes.
Recent placebo-controlled group study in 2020 showed Tongkat Ali supplementation increased the strength of concentric leg press and eccentric leg press of elite rugby players by 20% after 3 weeks of consuming 400mg Tongkat Ali daily.
The above study showed higher strength improvements from concentric leg press in the group consuming Tongkat Ali after 3 weeks.
For sports amateurs 200 mg to 400 mg daily dose of Tongkat Ali helps to restore your lost energy, while higher dose of 400 mg to 600 mg is suitable for semi-professional athletes who are seeking peak performance during training or competition.
Related Article: Tongkat Ali Dosage Guide & Maximum Limits
Yes, it is safe to combine both Tongkat Ali and creatine as part of your sports supplement or daily stack. Creatine contains amino acids glycine, l-arginine and l-methionine whilst Tongkat Ali contain eurypeptides (i.e polypeptides comprising a chain of amino-acids). Both are essential in helping muscle development during post-recovery whilst restoring optimal hormonal levels during training.
However, you are advised to monitor any severe side effects when combining Tongkat Ali and creatine as part of your daily diet.
Related Article: Tongkat Ali Side Effects & Risk Mitigation
There are no studies to suggest any performance improvements in sports activities when combining Tongkat Ali and Ashwagandha together. Ashwagandha is primarily used to elevate mood whilst Tongkat Ali is used primarily to boost testosterone to optimize sports performance.
Related Article: Benefits of Tongkat Ali vs. Ashwagandha: Which is better?
Tongkat Ali is not on the banned list of substances by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Using Tongkat Ali may not exceed the Testosterone / Epitestosterone (T/E) limit ratio of 4.0 set by WADA.
A study published in the International Journal of Preventive Medicine showed the Testosterone vs. Epitestosterone ratio (i.e T:E ratio) of athletes consuming 400 mg of Tongkat Ali recorded an acceptable range of TE ratio between 0.63:1 and 0.74:1 after six weeks.
Due to the low T/E ratio, this study suggests that Tongkat Ali may be safe as long as the doping policy of the Olympics Committee or WADA remains unchanged.
Related Article: WADA List of Prohibited Substances
Tongkat Ali is one of the top natural sports supplements that drive ergogenic effects to give you a competitive edge, even if you are a sports amateur.
The misconception that Tongkat Ali is an anabolic steroid is not true and many athletes are beginning to realize the benefits of using Tongkat Ali for sustained stamina, energy and faster muscle development.
Besides Tongkat Ali, there are other herbal supplements that may boost your sports performance too. Read more of our review on Fadogia Agrestis, Turkesterone, and Panax Ginseng to find out if it benefits your athletic performance.
Have fun!
Naressa Khan contributes regularly on AKARALI. As a researcher and investigative journalist, Naressa is all about creating, deconstructing, and reassembling meaningful content through words and facts. With this approach always in mind, she eagerly explores the nuances in life via the aspects of lifestyle, culture, travel, health, and wellness in Malaysia .
Our articles are third party reviewed by our panel of experts and medical advisors to ensure the facts are accurate and credible. These are validated against multiple source references which include but not limited to research studies, peer-reviewed journals, pre-clinical studies, clinical tests and other credible publications.
Our panel of medical advisors and experts are highly experienced in their individual fields. However, they do not provide any medical advice or recommendations arising from content published in this article.
Disclaimer:
The content published on this website is for educational purposes and should not be viewed, read, or seen as a prescription or constitute any form of medical advice. We recommend you consult your nearest GP or doctors before consuming Tongkat Ali or any products which contain Tongkat Ali. For further information, kindly refer to our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for more information.
