What does magnesium do for strength training?

The energetics of a heavy set, because what magnesium does for strength training is written in the chemistry of a rep

What magnesium does for strength training is written in the chemistry of a rep, and following one heavy set through its energy systems is the honest way to answer. The first seconds of a set run on ATP already in the fibre and on phosphocreatine, the muscle's fast reserve, which regenerates ATP through the creatine kinase reaction, an enzyme that requires magnesium as a cofactor and whose substrate is magnesium-ATP, so that the system creatine supplementation saturates and the register's performance claim describes runs, at every step, on magnesium. Each rep spends that ATP at two sites: the myosin head, whose stroke against the thin filament hydrolyses magnesium-ATP and whose release from the filament needs a fresh magnesium-ATP to bind, and the calcium pumps that clear calcium back into its store to let the fibre relax between reps, calcium-ATPases that also run on magnesium-ATP, the help-muscle page's contraction-relaxation cycle. As the set goes on, glycolysis and then the mitochondria take over the ATP supply, and both are chains of magnesium-dependent enzymes, hexokinase, the kinases of glycolysis, the ATP synthase itself. A heavy set, then, is a few seconds of phosphocreatine and a few dozen seconds of glycolysis, all of it spending magnesium-ATP at the myosin head and the pumps, which is what the register's sentences mean when they say magnesium contributes to normal muscle function and normal energy-yielding metabolism, and what the protein-synthesis sentence means for the repair that follows: the cofactor is present at every step and drives none, a replete fibre has what it needs, and a fibre in a lifter whose training diet runs short could be limited at the cofactor, which repletion removes.

Why bodybuilders take magnesium glycinate, three reasons audited and one that survives, and the question filed

Why bodybuilders take magnesium glycinate, the variant asks, and the honest audit runs four reasons, three of which fail the register and one of which passes the diet audit. Sleep: the commonest reason and the sleep flagship's absent word, magnesium holding no sleep claim, its trials being small studies in older insomniacs, and the evening habit being for adherence and tolerance rather than a night, with bisglycinate chosen because it sits with dinner and stays out of the bathroom. Testosterone: the second reason and a claim magnesium does not hold, the one small athlete trial unreplicated and the trained-men trial null, zinc's maintenance sentence being the only lawful one and describing adequacy rather than a boost. Cramps: the third reason and a trial record that finds magnesium unlikely to help ordinary cramps, exercise cramps being neuromuscular fatigue, the shortfall case being the only one magnesium answers. The reason that survives is the diet phase: a bodybuilder's cut shrinks food volume and drops the nuts, seeds, wholegrains and legumes that carry magnesium, and a bulk built on white rice, chicken and shakes has volume without magnesium, so a bodybuilder is the reader most likely to run genuinely short, and a replete cofactor at every step of the set above is the thing a daily 300mg elemental as bisglycinate maintains through the phases, the weight lifters page's audit and the good reason under three bad ones. The question filed: magnesium is the cofactor in the energy of every rep, the creatine kinase reaction, the myosin stroke, the calcium pumps and the glycolytic and mitochondrial chains all running on magnesium-ATP, which the register's muscle-function and energy-metabolism sentences describe, and bodybuilders take glycinate for sleep, testosterone and cramps that hold no claim and for a cut that runs short that does, the worked example being the cofactor at a replete dose in the salt they reach for, £19.99 for 90 days at 22p.

The verdict, the cofactor in every rep and one honest reason to take it

What does magnesium do for strength training: it is the cofactor in the energy of every rep, phosphocreatine regenerating ATP through a magnesium-dependent enzyme, each myosin stroke and calcium pump spending magnesium-ATP and the glycolytic and mitochondrial chains running on magnesium-dependent enzymes, which the register's muscle-function and energy-metabolism sentences describe as maintenance of a replete cofactor, and bodybuilders take glycinate for three reasons that hold no claim, sleep, testosterone and cramps, and one that survives the audit, a cut or a rice-and-chicken bulk that runs short. The cofactor at a replete dose: Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate, bisglycinate, 300mg elemental at 80% NRV, £19.99 for 90 days at 22p a day.

What to check on the label

Questions people also ask

Why do bodybuilders take magnesium glycinate?

Usually for sleep, testosterone and cramps, none of which magnesium holds a claim for, and sometimes for the reason that survives an audit: a cut that drops magnesium foods or a bulk built on rice and chicken runs short, and a replete cofactor is maintained by 300mg elemental as bisglycinate.

What role does magnesium play in a heavy lift?

The cofactor in its energy: phosphocreatine regenerates ATP through creatine kinase, a magnesium-dependent enzyme, and every myosin stroke and every calcium pump that lets the fibre relax between reps spends magnesium-ATP.

Does magnesium improve strength training performance?

Only where a shortfall was limiting the cofactor: repletion restores normal muscle function and energy metabolism in a lifter who ran short, and adds nothing in a replete lifter, the trained-men trial being null and the novice trial unreplicated.

Does creatine need magnesium to work?

The creatine kinase reaction that turns phosphocreatine into ATP requires magnesium as a cofactor and uses magnesium-ATP as its substrate, so a replete cofactor is part of the system creatine saturates, though the two supplements neither help nor hinder each other's absorption.

Which magnesium do bodybuilders use?

Bisglycinate, because it is well absorbed and the least laxative salt, sitting with the evening meal and staying out of the bathroom, the salt built for a nightly habit whatever the reason it was started for.

Sources

1. The magnesium and ATP biochemistry: ATP is biologically active as a magnesium-ATP complex, so every ATP-dependent reaction, including the steps of protein synthesis and muscle contraction, requires magnesium as a cofactor, a necessary condition for the machinery rather than a driver of it. PubMed record
2. Kreider RB, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2017;14:18. PubMed record
3. The GB claims register, magnesium entries: magnesium contributes to a reduction of tiredness and fatigue, normal psychological function, normal nervous system function, normal muscle function and electrolyte balance, among others. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/great-britain-nutrition-and-health-claims-nhc-register
4. Lukaski HC. Magnesium, zinc, and chromium nutriture and physical activity. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2000;72(2 Suppl):585S-593S. PubMed record

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