Does Ashwagandha Improve MUSCLE STRENGTH SIZE & RECOVERY?

Nature likes efficiency. We call the efficiency and balance of life "homeostasis." Homeostasis is a state of equilibrium that is tightly controlled, such that small changes can be easily adapted to and counterbalanced without shutting down the whole system

- Victor R. Prisk

For instance, the pH of your blood is tightly controlled by a complex interaction between the GI tract, the kidneys, and various buffers within your body. Blood pressure is tightly controlled by blood vessels, the kidneys, the heart, and many other biological molecules like nitric oxide. Body temperature is so tightly controlled that when it goes up, as in a fever, we know there's an infection throwing things out of whack.

Our bodies need to be efficient at expending energy to maintain homeostasis so as to not overtax the most important organ, the brain. Maintaining muscle requires a lot of energy, as the tissue is very biologically active. If you do not use your muscles, you will lose your muscles, because the body would find them to be useless consumers of valuable energy. Therefore, we must constantly shock the system into believing that we need those expensive muscles to survive the stress of training.

Enhancing Recovery

The intense training required to build muscle results in significant physical and mental stress. If that stress isn't counterbalanced with recovery, we fall into a recovery debt, leading to system failure; overtraining syndrome and injury. As bodybuilders, we look for ways to enhance that recovery so as to return to the gym in short order. Compounds from herbs called phytonutrients can help us "adapt" to the imbalances placed on our systems.