Can Hydrogen Water Increase Performance?
The short answer
Hydrogen-rich water has one reasonably encouraging study behind it, not a settled case. The paper the coaches break down reported that drinking hydrogen-rich water positively affected muscle performance, blunted the lactate response, and eased delayed-onset muscle soreness after resistance training. That is a real result worth knowing about, but it is a single study on a product with a very large marketing budget, so treat it as interesting rather than proven.
Episode 173 of The Garage Gym Athlete Podcast is up!
Can Hydrogen Water Increase Performance?
This week Jerred, Joe, and Ashley are back on the podcast! They are going over a study that is on hydrogen water and if it can increase your performance. The coaches give their applications and takeaways on this one! Next they go over this week's topic. They cover how to approach fitness with your family and friends over the holidays. Each coach give their take on this and how to encourage our closest loved ones! Lastly, this week's Meet Yourself Saturday is the Eo3 5K. The community gets to complete this one each Fit Week so try and improve on your last time!
IN THIS 47-MINUTE EPISODE WE DISCUSS:
- Eo3 5K
- How to Talk Fitness With Your Family
- New Cycle
- Hydrogen Rich Water
- Performance
- Tips For MYS
- Updates and Announcements
- And A LOT MORE!!
Diving Deeper…
If you want to go a little bit deeper on this episode, here are some links for you:
Study of the Week
Garage Gym Athlete Workout of the Week
Be sure to listen to this week’s episode:
What the research says
The featured paper is Hydrogen Rich Water Consumption Positively Affects Muscle Performance, Lactate Response, and Alleviates Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness After Resistance Training. The three outcomes in that title are the whole story: performance held up better, blood lactate rose less, and the soreness that shows up a day or two after hard lifting was reduced.
The mechanism usually proposed for hydrogen-rich water is antioxidant activity, the idea being that it mops up the oxidative stress that hard training produces. That framing is worth a note of caution that applies to every antioxidant on the shelf: some of the oxidative stress from training is part of the signal your body adapts to, which is the same reason megadosing antioxidants around workouts has backfired in other research. A study showing less soreness is not automatically a study showing better long-term adaptation.
So the honest read is a shrug in the positive direction. If you already own it, fine. If you are deciding whether to buy a hydrogen water machine on the strength of this, the coaches' standing advice on supplements applies: the boring inputs still outperform the exciting ones.
Want training that puts the boring, high-leverage stuff first? Become a Garage Gym Athlete.
Thanks for listening to the podcast, and if you have any questions be sure to add it to the comments below!
To becoming better!
Jerred
Frequently asked questions
Does hydrogen water actually improve performance?
One study says yes, reporting improved muscle performance, a reduced lactate response, and less delayed-onset muscle soreness after resistance training. That is a single result on a heavily marketed product, so it is worth knowing about but not worth treating as established.
What is hydrogen-rich water supposed to do?
The usual claim is antioxidant activity, meaning it helps counter the oxidative stress generated by hard training. That is also the reason for caution, since some training-induced oxidative stress is part of the adaptation signal.
Is hydrogen water worth the money?
For most garage gym athletes, no. Sleep, adequate food, enough protein, and reasonable training volume move recovery far more than any bottled water does, and they cost nothing extra.
Will it help with muscle soreness?
The study reported reduced delayed-onset muscle soreness. Keep in mind that less soreness is not the same thing as more muscle or more strength, and soreness is a poor gauge of whether a session worked.
Train like an athlete. For life.
Programming built this way: hard when it counts, sustainable the rest of the time.
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