Magnesium for Exercise, Runners and Athletic Performance: What the Latest Evidence Tells Us
- Alastair Hunt
- 7 hours ago
- 8 min read
Magnesium is a crucial mineral involved in more than 300 enzymatic reactions in the body, playing vital roles in energy production, muscle contraction, nerve transmission, and recovery. For physically active people - from weekend joggers to elite athletes - ensuring adequate magnesium intake might be key not only for maintaining health but also for enhancing training outcomes and preventing injury. Yet, many remain deficient, often without knowing it.
Regular exercise increases the body’s need for magnesium due to greater losses through sweat and urine, as well as higher demands on energy metabolism, muscle function and recovery. Magnesium is essential for producing ATP (the body’s energy currency), regulating muscle contractions and supporting cardiovascular and nervous system function. It also helps control inflammation and oxidative stress triggered by intense activity. These combined factors mean active individuals typically require more magnesium than sedentary people to maintain performance and prevent deficiency.
As ever, please talk to your doctor or medical practitioner most familiar with your medical history before implementing any changes in diet, exercise or lifestyle, especially if you are under treatment. Links to all studies at bottom of page.
Runners and their Supplementation Habits
Among endurance runners, supplement use is a common strategy to meet the elevated nutritional demands imposed by regular, intense training. According to the NURMI study, 50% of distance runners - including 10km, half-marathon and marathon participants - reported regular supplement use, with 59% taking supplements daily. Vitamin supplements were the most frequently consumed (43%), followed by minerals (34%) and carbohydrate/protein-based products (19%). Interestingly, supplement habits were consistent across all race distances and did not significantly differ by age, sex, or running experience.
Notably, magnesium emerged as the most commonly used mineral supplement, reflecting a broad awareness of its importance in exercise performance and recovery. These findings highlight the routine nature of supplementation among runners and reinforce the relevance of magnesium in athletic contexts.
Stress, Exercise, and Micronutrient Depletion: The Bigger Picture
Before diving into magnesium's specific role in athletic performance, it's important to understand how stress affects micronutrient status. A 2019 review by Lopresti summarised findings across human and animal studies, showing that both acute and chronic stress - including physical exertion - can deplete magnesium stores. Increased urinary magnesium excretion and lower blood levels were observed in response to psychological stress, sleep deprivation, environmental factors, and exercise. Notably, the most substantial losses occurred within the first month of exposure to high-stress conditions, suggesting that the body uses up or expels magnesium more rapidly during peak physical or emotional demands.
This sets the stage for understanding why athletes - who constantly place their bodies under controlled stress - may have a greater requirement for magnesium than sedentary individuals.
How Common Is Magnesium Deficiency Among Athletes?
Volpe’s 2015 review offered a comprehensive look at dietary magnesium intake among athletes, highlighting a common pattern of underconsumption, particularly in female and adolescent populations. Studies cited included dietary assessments of elite rhythmic gymnasts, Polish runners, collegiate soccer players, and adventure racers. Many fell short of the recommended daily intake, often by margins of 20 to 40%. Notably, even when computer models suggested athletes were consuming enough, direct analysis of their food revealed they were actually ingesting far less magnesium - raising concerns about overestimated intake from food records.
A deficiency in intracellular magnesium - such as that found within red blood cells - can affect muscle function, glucose metabolism, and increase perceived soreness after exercise, even when blood serum levels appear normal.
The Cellular Depletion Problem
Building on this, a 2022 study by Mariño et al. investigated erythrocyte concentrations of magnesium in three groups: sedentary adults, recreational exercisers, and elite cyclists. They found a strong inverse correlation between physical training intensity and intracellular magnesium levels. Despite similar dietary intakes, athletes had significantly blood cell magnesium levels than sedentary controls, suggesting that exercise-induced magnesium depletion occurs at the cellular level and may go undetected by standard blood tests.
This raises a crucial point: athletes may appear to have “normal” magnesium status in routine bloodwork, while actually experiencing intracellular depletion that impairs performance or recovery.
Performance
A 2020 study by Roca et al. examined how dietary intake affects both performance and cardiovascular health in non-elite male marathon runners. Dividing 37 participants into faster and slower groups based on race times, the study found that those with higher intakes of magnesium, potassium, iron and unsaturated fats ran significantly faster and displayed healthier cardiovascular markers. The slower group not only consumed less of these nutrients but also showed elevated biomarkers of muscle damage and cardiac stress post-race. Need help to eat more healthy fats? Learn more here.
These findings highlight that adequate mineral intake - particularly magnesium - alongside healthy fats, plays a crucial role in both endurance performance and protecting heart health in recreational athletes.
What Happens When You Supplement?
The 2019 systematic review led by Heffernan et al. was the most robust effort to evaluate magnesium’s direct impact on athletic performance. Of 22 magnesium-specific studies reviewed, only two were rated as high quality. Results were mixed: while magnesium supplementation had little consistent effect on endurance metrics like VO₂ max, there was more promising evidence for improved muscle strength, reduced inflammation and protection against oxidative damage - particularly at higher doses and over longer periods.
Further support comes from a focused 2024 review by Tarsitano et al, which examined magnesium supplementation's effects on delayed onset muscle soreness. Across four clinical studies, supplementation reduced perceived soreness, improved recovery time and decreased markers of muscle damage. These benefits were seen across endurance runners, basketball players and cyclists, with magnesium glycinate and oxide forms commonly used.
However, the review pointed out flaws in how magnesium supplements were used in the studies it assessed. Specifically, many studies did not time the supplements to be taken two hours before training, which is considered the best window for the body to absorb magnesium and potentially benefit during exercise. Additionally, most studies only used standard daily doses of magnesium. Only one study used a dose that was 10 to 20% higher than the recommended daily amount - a level believed to be more appropriate for people who exercise regularly, as their magnesium needs are likely higher due to physical exertion.
Supplementation, with a Food First Approach
If you exercise regularly - especially if you sweat heavily or follow a restrictive diet - it’s worth considering how to boost your magnesium intake. We always recommend a food first approach, to benefit from all the other nutrients (macro and micro) that are packaged with food itself.
Incorporate more magnesium-rich whole foods into your meals:
Pumpkin seeds (roasted) – Also try sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, sesame seeds.
Spinach (cooked) – Also try Swiss chard, kale, collard greens.
Almonds – Also try Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts.
Black beans (cooked) – Also try kidney beans, navy beans, lentils, chickpeas
Dark chocolate (70 to 85% cocoa) – Also try cocoa powder, cacao nibs, unsweetened baking chocolate.
Avocado – Also try bananas, sweetcorn, papaya (lower but still notable magnesium)
Tofu (firm) – Also try tempeh, edamame, soy milk.
Chia seeds – Also try hemp seeds, poppy seeds.
Cashews – Also try walnuts, pecans, pistachios.
Whole grains (e.g. quinoa, brown rice, oats) – Also try buckwheat, barley, bulgur, whole wheat bread.
Supplement Support...
Choose a bioavailable form such as magnesium glycinate, malate and citrate. Magnesium L-Threonate is a popular form, although typically taken to support cognitive function and sleep quality.
Take 300 to 500 mg per day, ideally with food and 1 to 2 hours before training.
Monitor for gastrointestinal side effects; divide doses if needed.
Final Thoughts
There’s growing consensus that while magnesium isn’t a guaranteed shortcut to better race times or personal bests, it plays an important supportive role - especially for athletes under frequent physical stress. Deficiency is widespread, particularly at the cellular level, and many active individuals likely need more than the general population. If you are a runner, cyclist or exercise regularly in tropical Singapore, understanding hydration and electrolyte needs is important both for workouts, recovery and daily life. Learn more here.
The strongest evidence supports magnesium’s role in reducing muscle soreness, improving recovery, and maintaining muscle integrity during high training loads. Its influence on endurance is less clear, but that may stem from inconsistent dosing, short trial durations and inadequate status testing.
Changing health for the better is about progress, not perfection, and even small changes can have a powerful and positive effect on health. For most people, improving health is about finding motivation and prioritising self-care - with an ultimate goal of taking action. If you want to take effective and targeted steps that fit into your unique lifestyle and circumstances, The Whole Health Practice is here to help.
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Stay Healthy,
Alastair
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Related Studies
Tarsitano MG, Quinzi F, Folino K, Greco F, Oranges FP, Cerulli C, Emerenziani GP. Effects of magnesium supplementation on muscle soreness in different type of physical activities: a systematic review. J Transl Med. 2024 Jul 5;22(1):629. doi: 10.1186/s12967-024-05434-x. PMID: 38970118; PMCID: PMC11227245.
Roca E, Nescolarde L, Brotons D, Bayes-Genis A, Roche E. Macronutrient and mineral intake effects on racing time and cardiovascular health in non-elite marathon runners. Nutrition. 2020 Oct;78:110806. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2020.110806. Epub 2020 Mar 19. PMID: 32460104.
Mariño MM, Grijota FJ, Bartolomé I, Siquier-Coll J, Román VT, Muñoz D. Influence of physical training on erythrocyte concentrations of iron, phosphorus and magnesium. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2020 Jan 29;17(1):8. doi: 10.1186/s12970-020-0339-y. Erratum in: J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2020 Jun 30;17(1):34. doi: 10.1186/s12970-020-00363-8. PMID: 31996219; PMCID: PMC6988285.
Siquier-Coll J, Bartolomé I, Pérez-Quintero M, Grijota FJ, Muñoz D, Maynar-Mariño M. Effect of heat exposure and physical exercise until exhaustion in normothermic and hyperthermic conditions on serum, sweat and urinary concentrations of magnesium and phosphorus. J Therm Biol. 2019 Aug;84:176-184. doi: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2019.07.010. Epub 2019 Jul 2. PMID: 31466751.
Zhang Y, Xun P, Wang R, Mao L, He K. Can Magnesium Enhance Exercise Performance? Nutrients. 2017 Aug 28;9(9):946. doi: 10.3390/nu9090946. PMID: 28846654; PMCID: PMC5622706.
Heffernan SM, Horner K, De Vito G, Conway GE. The Role of Mineral and Trace Element Supplementation in Exercise and Athletic Performance: A Systematic Review. Nutrients. 2019 Mar 24;11(3):696. doi: 10.3390/nu11030696. PMID: 30909645; PMCID: PMC6471179.
Volpe SL. Magnesium and the Athlete. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2015 Jul-Aug;14(4):279-83. doi: 10.1249/JSR.0000000000000178. PMID: 26166051.
Chinevere TD, Kenefick RW, Cheuvront SN, Lukaski HC, Sawka MN. Effect of heat acclimation on sweat minerals. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2008 May;40(5):886-91. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181641c04. PMID: 18408609.
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