Ginger Helps with Muscle Soreness from Running

by | Apr 12, 2016 | 2015, Botanicals, Fitness and Exercise, Ginger

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. College students who took 2.2g of ginger daily for 5 days prior to running, significantly decreased their level of soreness by 40% compared to the control group.

For competitive runners of marathons and triathlons, a consistent problem is being able to recover enough between runs to minimize risk of injuries due to soreness and pain. As a result, up to 70% of running athletes take over-the-counter painkillers in the form of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (1, 2). But NSAIDs come with a host of problems (3) that include suppressing muscle formation after exercise (4) which can then cause problems with cartilage formation after extensive running (4).

Even more serious is the harm to the digestive system that NSAIDs can cause (5) as well as lung problems in those with exercise-induced asthma (6). Finally, NSAID usage has been shown to result in hospitalization in runners (7) and the development of low sodium levels in the body, a condition called “hyponatremia” (8). As a result, finding a natural alternative to NSAIDs is “sorely” needed.

Now a new study (9) suggests ginger root may be an option. The study involved 20 college students (men and women) aged 19 to 22 . They were given either 2.2 grams of ginger root (8 students) or placebo (12 students) per day for 3 days before, the day of, and the day after a 20-22 mile training run, for a total of 5 days of ginger/placebo supplementation. Before supplementation started and 1 day after their training run, the runners rated their level of muscle soreness from their “low volume” training runs (no distance was given to specify “low volume”) and then their training run on a scale from 1 to 100 (called a Visual Analog Scale) along with performing a vertical squat jump to measure explosion.

After the 5 days of supplementation, soreness in the placebo group increased from 21.5 to 62 on the Visual Analog Scale from the “low volume” to the training run. The ginger group had an increase of 9 to 37, a 40.4% lower level of soreness (37 versus 62) (p = 0.04). No significant differences were seen between groups regarding the squat jump.

When suggesting how ginger helped decrease soreness in the runners, the researchers pointed to ginger’s ability to inhibit the activity of inflammatory enzymes called COX enzymes, thereby decreasing soreness from muscle damage (10). They concluded that “ginger root may modestly reduce muscle soreness stemming from long-distance running” and that “future studies should explore the mechanisms responsible for reductions in running-induced muscle soreness, as well as evaluate the benefit-to-risk profile of ginger root in the context of endurance training.”

Source: Wilson, Patrick B., et al. “Effectiveness of ginger root (Zingiber officinale) on running-induced muscle soreness and function: A pilot study.” International Journal of Athletic Therapy and Training 20.6 (2015): 44-50.

© 2015 Human Kinetics

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com.

References:

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  9. Wilson PB. Effectiveness of Ginger Root (Zingiber officinale) on Running-Induced Muscle Soreness and Function: A Pilot Study. Int Jou Athl Train Ther 2015; 20(6): 44-50
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