Kava and Sport Performance

[shuman]

Hello, i am still trying to figure out kava out. I finished 1 pound of Borugu coarse ground and waiting for some Micro staff from Ghk.
Quick question here, does anyone here does any endurance sports or high performance staff?
And still takes Kava?
I am by no means super ninja athlete but couple days ago while going on a hike with about 50lbs pack did notice quite a significant drop and struggled all the way through.
Of course could be variety of other factors but still would like your input.
I have taken about a cup of Borugu night before of ground root.

Also do you need to take this daily or can it be taken couple times a week and still give you a buzz/relaxation time.
I am trying to cut out booze from my life and while fighting cravings decided to use Kava.
But still have trouble figuring out dosage and frequency.
With busy household i have about 1 hour after dinner sometime way less to prep the product.
Anyone in the same boat? Any suggestions?

 

[Kavafied]

Hello, i am still trying to figure out kava out. I finished 1 pound of Borugu coarse ground and waiting for some Micro staff from Ghk.
Quick question here, does anyone here does any endurance sports or high performance staff?
And still takes Kava?
I am by no means super ninja athlete but couple days ago while going on a hike with about 50lbs pack did notice quite a significant drop and struggled all the way through.
Of course could be variety of other factors but still would like your input.
I have taken about a cup of Borugu night before of ground root.

Also do you need to take this daily or can it be taken couple times a week and still give you a buzz/relaxation time.
I am trying to cut out booze from my life and while fighting cravings decided to use Kava.
But still have trouble figuring out dosage and frequency.
With busy household i have about 1 hour after dinner sometime way less to prep the product.
Anyone in the same boat? Any suggestions?

We love the effects Kava has for sports performance. Sweating out all the Kavalactones the next day or even immediately after consuming it is a great feeling.

 

[verticity]

You might want to ask the member here named @nhoeg He is some kind of athlete and also kava drinker.

I think the general consensus is that it is not a good idea to use kava before a high intensity workout or athletic event. It can just sap your energy. Possibly very small amounts to manage anxiety might be OK, but generally people wait until after a sporting event.

 

[verticity]

As for dosage for helping you quit alcohol: you can drink it as often as you feel you need it. Some of us drink it daily without ill effect. When you feel a craving for alcohol that you cannot resist, just drink kava instead. It is not addictive, and much less harmful than alcohol. (Just be sure not to drink kava and alcohol on the same day)

You will get the best effect if you drink it on an empty stomach, that is, right before dinner; not after.

 

[verticity]

I'll just add one thing: you said you consumed 1 cup of Borogu: If you mean a cup of powder, that is a really large amount. I typically use 1/2 a cup of powder per "session" and don't drink it all at once. Maybe cutting down the amount would help your sports performance.

 

[kavayo]

I can't comment on your brand. But also beware that you should be drinking plenty of water well...all the time really. I find if I drink kava the night before a hunt and don't drink water I am slower and need more breaks getting to the top of the mountain.

 

[4bikes]

I do some endurance sports--biking, running, etc., pretty much every day and drink kava regularly. I race some, but nothing really competitive--it's all "weekend warrior" types of stuff. Exercise is my primary method for managing stress, so I'd stop drinking kava if I ever felt that it was ever getting in the way of exercise. I've never used kava either before or immediately after working out because I usually like to eat something around then and kava just doesn't sound good. Overall, I don't think that drinking kava has too much effect on my exercise performance, as long as the amount that I drank (the night before) was moderate. If I overdo it (I'm a lightweight), I know that my workout the next day is going to be off. It usually manifests itself as just feeling a little flat, taking longer to get out the door, some minor nausea during, and so on. It doesn't seem to impact performance (at my slow speeds, anyway) but just takes some of the fun out of exercise, so I don't like it and that helps me to pay attention to how much I'm drinking, how often. When I have a goal race coming up, I'll usually not have any kava for a couple of days beforehand, just in case. The only place where I can say that it truly seems to "help" in a way that is related to exercise would be when I'm sore or really tired and have some of the kavas that are more body-focused. Those kinds of kava seem to relax muscles and it really does feel extra good to be both physically tired from exercise as well as relaxed from the kava.

There was a case study published a few years ago where a guy drank kava, rode his bike, and collapsed. The contention in the article was that kava could be associated with Rhabdomyolysis, which was what caused the guy to collapse. I don't know if a single case with a million potentially confounding factors is enough to establish that link, but that researcher did.

 

[nhoeg]

@shuman
I think kava works fine with an active lifestyle. As @verticity says, kava is only meant to be consumed post-workout, since this is where we crave relaxation. Drinking kava before a workout or other sports-perfomance would just be utter stupid. I actually think post-workout kava is as important for athletes as eating the correct foods, since relaxation is so damn important after using your body in order to regenerate. I have had a really hard time to wind down my body and mind after doing sports, kava has helped me a lot with this.
The only thing that worries me with kava and sports combined in my life, is the massive dehydration that is caused by the kava. Sometimes, if I workout or go for a run in the morning after a night's kava-drinking I just feel like shit due to dehydration. Therefore I'm very strict with drinking lots of warm water every morning after my kava-sleep before I do anything else, and maybe wait some hours before the workout starts. The occasional "morning-brain-fog" happens from time to time when you drink kava, so doing your sports later at the day would be preferable, since the kava's effect still is somewhat present in your nervous system the morning after.

 

[shuman]

Thank you all for your input. I am new to this so trying to get as much info as possible. I agree day before you planned a nice arhletic jolt is not good idea to indulge.
Esp. If you are still figuring out dosages types that work for you. I was not aware re dehydration and my guess this was the issue.
I will continue my quest to fit kava in my lifestyle and replace alcomohol as my go to relaxant. Cheers and thank you.