Why Maca Root Boosts Performance

In the world of performance nutrition, maca root is often whispered about, sometimes misunderstood, but rarely ignored. For dedicated athletes, whether you’re lifting, running, climbing, or grappling, maca offers a holistic edge. At The Maca Team, we’ve seen firsthand how this adaptogenic superfood supports energy, recovery, and resilience. Our sponsored athletes already put it into practice, proving the benefits go from science to real life.

The Science Behind Maca for Athletes

When people talk about “maca for athletes,” they’re really referring to a plant that helps the body adapt to stress. It’s not a stimulant, but an adaptogen, meaning it assists your physiology in handling physical, mental, and hormonal stressors. For athletes, that means steady energy without crash, and better capacity to train harder, longer.

Another cornerstone is hormonal balance. Maca has been studied for its ability to support cortisol regulation, bioavailable testosterone, and estrogen balance. These hormones play pivotal roles in recovery, energy, mood, and muscle growth - all critical for consistent athletic progress.

Finally, intense training triggers oxidative stress and inflammation. Maca contains phytochemicals and antioxidants that help attenuate this damage, supporting faster recovery and reducing post-workout soreness.

Over time, maca can help you sustain high training volume with fewer energy dips, better mood stability, and smoother recovery cycles. That’s why so many athletes integrate it as a daily foundation, not just a pre-workout gimmick.

Real Athletes, Real Results

Two of our sponsored athletes who rely on maca in their training are Sasha Digiulian and Ed Urbano. Their stories highlight how maca integrates into elite-level routines.

Sasha Digiulian is a professional climber whose sport demands strength, grip, endurance, and mental presence. In her climbs, she must recover between high-intensity attempts, adapt to varying terrain, and sustain focus when fatigue sets in. Maca helps support all of these: stamina, recovery, and mental resilience. Climbing isn’t just moving upward - it’s recovery between moves, pacing, and maintaining composure. For Sasha, maca is one tool in her performance toolkit.

Ed Urbano competes as a natural bodybuilder well into his 70s, defying typical expectations of age and performance. His commitment to clean training and recovery is unmatched, and maca fits into that philosophy of supporting the body naturally. For Ed, maca root becomes part of the daily regimen that helps manage stress, support hormonal balance, and sustain energy for both training and recovery.

These athletes don’t just enjoy maca, they integrate it consistently. Their results offer a template for how you too can use maca as part of a performance and recovery system.

How to Use Maca as a Performance Supplement

In order for maca to truly become a performance supplement you trust, you need to use it correctly, matching form, dosage, timing, and consistency to your training goals.

1. Choose the Right Form

Maca most commonly comes in multiple forms: raw or gelatinized (pre-cooked) maca powder, maca capsules, or maca extracts. Gelatinized maca is easier to digest and often preferred by athletes who want all the benefits without gastrointestinal discomfort. Capsules or extracts offer portability, making them ideal for travel or competition days.

2. Start Conservatively, Then Adjust

Begin with modest dosing - say 1/2 teaspoon per day. Monitor how your body responds in terms of energy, soreness, libido, and recovery. Over a few weeks, you may increase your daily dosage, depending on your body, sport, and recovery demands.

3. Timing Strategy

Take maca earlier in the day or before training to tap into its energizing, adaptogenic effects. Post-workout, maca can support recovery when combined with protein, carbohydrates, and hydration. Because its effects are cumulative rather than acute, consistent use is more important than perfect timing.

4. Stack It Thoughtfully

Maca complements - but does not replace - good nutrition, sleep, rest days, hydration, and periodized training. Think of it as the foundation upon which those pillars rest, not a substitute.

What Athletes Often Experience

When athletes adopt maca over weeks and months, common shifts include:

• Sustained stamina: Longer workouts feel more manageable; energy dips become less frequent.
• Reduced soreness and faster recovery: Muscles bounce back more quickly after heavy sessions.
• More consistent mood and resilience: Day-to-day stress from training, life, or travel feels easier to shoulder.
• Better long-term adaptation: The body handles progressive training loads more smoothly, leading to steadier improvements.

With Sasha, you may hear about smoother transitions during multi-pitch climbs. With Ed, better recovery between heavy lifting cycles might be the story. These are the practical ways maca becomes part of sustainable performance.

Integrating Maca into Your Athletic Lifestyle

To get the most from maca as a performance and recovery tool, here are some recommendations:

• Create a daily protocol even on rest days to maintain hormonal balance and stress resilience.
• Use simple maca recipes (smoothies, oatmeal blends, post-workout shakes) to make intake easy and consistent.
• Track subjective metrics like energy levels, sleep, soreness, and mood so you can fine-tune your dosage or timing.
• Give it time. Many athletes notice subtle shifts within 2–4 weeks, but the full benefits appear over months of consistent intake.

When you think of training as more than just pushing hard, maca root becomes a powerful ally. 

Why Choose The Maca Team?

Our family-owned company sources our organic maca exclusively from the Peruvian Andes, where it’s sustainably grown and harvested by a local co-op of farmers. We’ve gone to great lengths to ensure that our customers are getting the highest-quality maca products out there. If you have any questions for us, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us using our web form, or call us toll-free at 888-919-8616.

Enjoy the Day!