Can coenzyme Q10 help in weightlifting?

Q&A Series – CoQ10

Q: “Can coenzyme Q10 help in weightlifting?”

A: There has in fact been a scientific study linking 300mg of coenzyme Q10 supplementation a day to increased fast-twitch muscle fiber composition in adults. What this means is that people ingesting at least 300mg of coq10 a day could expect to have higher concentrations of fast twitch muscle fibers. The only problem is…that coq10 isn’t cheap and if you’re going to be dedicated to consuming that much coq10 each day you better make sure and get the best deal possible. I actually tried an experiment myself in which I had a 400mg coq10 softgel in the morning with breakfast, a 100mg coq10 pre and post workout, and another 400mg coq10 softgel in the evening with dinner, giving me a total of 1g of coq10 a day. I did this for 4 weeks (before I ran out of course) but I can honestly tell you that it made a huge difference. To be fair, I was aware of the study and was expecting supernatural gains in fast twitch muscle fibers, which I definitely got, but I’m not sure how much of that was due to the placebo effect or the fact that I was training unusually hard because I wanted to maximize the results of the coq10. At the least I figured I’d have the healthiest heart in town 😉

If you’re curious about my results, here are some of my before/after achievements:

Bench Press: Before = 225 x 4 reps and 255 x 1 rep, After = 225 x 9 reps and 275 x 1 rep.

Squat: Before = 225 x 16 reps, After = 225 x 35 reps (took a video of this too!)

400m sprint: Before = 66 seconds, After = 53.4 seconds (by far my most impressive gain)

800m sprint: Before = 2:34, After = 2:11

Mile (1600m): Before = 5:53, After 5:28

I definitely recommend trying it, here are the two brands of coq10 I used:

1. 400mg Body First coq10– Great price and excellent quality for 400mg coenzyme q10 capsules.

2. 100mg Doctor’s Best high absorption coq10– Contains bioperine to ensure optimum absorption of the coQ10.