Influence of 25-Hydroxy-Vitamin D Insufficiency on Maximal Aerobic Power in Elite Indoor Athletes: A Cross-Sectional Study
Sports Med Open. 2021 Oct 14;7(1):74. doi: 10.1186/s40798-021-00363-1.
Astrid Most 1, Oliver Dörr 2, Holger Nef 2, Christian Hamm 2 3, Timm Bauer 4, Pascal Bauer 2
Background: The impact of vitamin D on musculoskeletal health is well-established, although its influence on physical performance is unclear. Therefore, we conducted this study to evaluate the impact of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25-OH vitamin D) concentrations with maximal aerobic power of professional indoor athletes.
Results: A total of 112 male professional athletes were included in this cross-sectional study, consisting of 88 handball and 24 ice hockey players. The maximal aerobic power was assessed with a standardized cycling ergometer test. Athletes were assigned to two groups according to their 25-OH vitamin D status: insufficient (< 30 ng/mL) and sufficient (≥ 30 ng/mL). Thirty-four players (30.4%) displayed insufficient (21.9 ± 5.9 ng/mL) and 78 (69.6%) sufficient 25-OH vitamin D concentrations (41.6 ± 8.6 ng/mL). Athletes with sufficient levels achieved a higher maximal aerobic power (3.9 ± 0.9 vs. 3.5 ± 0.8 W/kg, p = 0.03) compared to those with insufficient levels.
Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of 25-OH vitamin D insufficiency in professional indoor athletes, even in summer. Insufficient 25-OH vitamin D concentrations were associated with lower maximal aerobic power in male professional indoor athletes. Further, the 25-OH vitamin D concentration was identified as the only independent predictor of maximal aerobic power in these athletes, highlighting the impact of 25-OH vitamin D on physical performance. Therefore, 25-OH vitamin D concentrations of ≥ 30 ng/mL should be maintained to ensure optimal physical performance in these athletes.
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Athletes are helped by vitamin D by:
- Faster reaction time
- Far fewer colds/flus during the winter
- Less sore/tired after a workout
- Fewer micro-cracks and broken bones
- Bones which do break heal much more quickly
- Increased VO2 and exercise endurance Feb 2011
- Indoor athletes especially need vitamin D
- Professional indoor athletes are starting to take vitamin D and/or use UV beds
- Olympic athletes have used UV/vitamin D since the 1930's
- The biggest gain from the use of vitamin D is by those who exercise less than 2 hours per day.
- Reduced muscle fatigue with 10,000 IU vitamin D daily
- Muscle strength improved when vitamin D added: 3 Meta-analysis
- Reduced Concussions
See also: Sports and Vitamin D category | 288 |
items
VitaminDWiki Sports pages containing MUSCLE in title
This list is automatically updated
Items found: 85
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Vitamin D and physical activity synergistically improve muscle health - Aug 2025 |
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12 Aug, 2025 |
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Protein helps muscles, sarcopenia, metabolism, and diabetes is aided by Vitamin D - Dec 2024 |
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16 Jul, 2025 |
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Little increase in muscles by adding exercise, protein and Vitamin D for 10 days (no surprise) - Feb 2025 |
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24 Apr, 2025 |
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Young adults eating Ultra-processed Foods 60% more likely to have lower Muscle Mass (Vitamin D can help) - Feb 2025 |
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13 Feb, 2025 |
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Protein, muscles, bones and Vitamin D - many studies |
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16 Dec, 2024 |
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Magnesium helps muscles in more than 10 ways - Dec 2023 |
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18 Oct, 2024 |
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Muscles and Vitamin D - many studies |
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13 Aug, 2024 |
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Muscle strength improved with Calfidediol (a form of vitamin D) - meta-analysis May 2022 |
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29 Feb, 2024 |
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Muscle Inflammation (idiopathic inflammatory myopathy) 3.2 X more likely if low Vitamin D – meta-analysis Feb 2024 |
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29 Feb, 2024 |
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Omega-3 helps muscles - many studies |
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16 Nov, 2023 |
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Skeletal Muscles regenerated with Vitamin D supplementation – review Oct 2023 |
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29 Oct, 2023 |
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Sarcopenia (muscle loss) fought by Vitamin D, exercise and protein - many studies |
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11 Jul, 2023 |
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Some excess calories diverted to muscle growth if high level vitamin D (exercising mice) – preprint May 2022 |
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02 Jun, 2023 |
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More muscle strength 80 years after being born in warm season (no surprise) – Nov 2022 |
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26 Nov, 2022 |
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Exercise-induced muscle damage fought when enough vitamin D used for long enough – review Sept 2022 |
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24 Sep, 2022 |
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Omega-3 improves elderly muscles – 2 meta-analyses |
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06 Jun, 2022 |
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High-Dose Vitamin D puts surplus calories into muscles instead of fat (mice) – May 2022 |
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20 May, 2022 |
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3X less muscle atrophy after ACL surgery if more than 40 ng of vitamin D – May 2022 |
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14 May, 2022 |
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Muscle Strength improved 1.4 to 19 percent by vitamin D3 (not D2) – systematic review June 2016 |
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13 Feb, 2022 |
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Less muscle inflammation after exercise if high level of Vitamin D (50 ng) -July 2021 |
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08 Jul, 2021 |
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Low muscle strength predicts low vitamin D level in elderly – March 2021 |
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06 May, 2021 |
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Adding just a little vitamin D does not help (muscle mass in this case) – meta-analysis Jan 2021 |
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06 Feb, 2021 |
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Low muscle mass at least 2X more likely if low Vitamin D (Korea, all ages) – Dec 2020 |
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04 Jan, 2021 |
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4,000 IU of vitamin D for 1 month does not help (muscles in this case) – RCT Jan 2020 |
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21 Sep, 2020 |
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Sarcopenia (muscle loss) is 1.6X more likely if poor Vitamin D receptor – July 2020 |
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23 Jul, 2020 |
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Less muscle loss associated with eating more fish (Omega-3, Vitamin D, Magnesium, etc) – Jan 2020 |
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30 Jan, 2020 |
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2X less muscle soreness after exercise if Omega-3 index higher than 4 – RCT 2014 |
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23 Dec, 2019 |
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Muscles not improved by just Vitamin D weekly (also need exercise) – Dec 2019 |
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17 Dec, 2019 |
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Low vitamin D resulted in reduced genes to make muscles (in rats) – Nov 2019 |
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11 Nov, 2019 |
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Active muscles store vitamin D in the winter - Oct 2019 |
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11 Oct, 2019 |
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Omega-3 helps muscles – Aug 2019 |
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24 Aug, 2019 |
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Muscles of senior women not helped by just vitamin D (also need exercise) – Aug 2019 |
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10 Aug, 2019 |
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Mechanisms of vitamin D action in skeletal muscle – June 2019 |
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22 Jun, 2019 |
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Vitamin D supplementation increases strength of lower muscles – Meta-analysis April 2019 |
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01 May, 2019 |
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Vitamin D does not help gain muscle mass (when only use small doses) – March 2019 |
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03 Mar, 2019 |
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Muscle loss (sarcopenia) may be both prevented and treated by Omega-3 – Feb 2019 |
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23 Feb, 2019 |
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Protein aids muscle gain – meta-analysis March 2018 |
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02 Jan, 2019 |
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Vitamin D and muscle – April 2019 |
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07 Dec, 2018 |
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Exercise plus vitamin D increases elderly muscles (Nordic walking in this case) – RCT Sept 2018 |
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14 Sep, 2018 |
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Postmenopausal women need Vitamin D, protein and exercise to prevent loss of muscle and bone – Aug 2018 |
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21 Aug, 2018 |
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Dietary Protein, Muscle and Physical Function in the Very Old – July 2018 |
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17 Aug, 2018 |
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Disability was 1.9 X more likely if weak muscles and low vitamin D two years before – Aug 2018 |
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06 Aug, 2018 |
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Muscle fatigue 4X less likely in rugby players getting Omega-3 and protein – July 2018 |
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14 Jul, 2018 |
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Muscle problems are both treated and avoided by Vitamin D – April 2018 |
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03 Jul, 2018 |
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Muscle, etc. problems if consume little vitamin D (mice) – June 2018 |
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27 Jun, 2018 |
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Omega-3 helps muscles and reduces inflammation, lipids, and insulin – Nov 2015 |
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03 Mar, 2018 |
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Seniors gained 0.3 kg of muscle in 6 weeks with 800 IU and Leucine protein – Aug 2017 |
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29 Aug, 2017 |
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Vitamin D improves muscle strength, reduces falling, and reduces frailty – review March 2015 |
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27 Jul, 2017 |
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Fast twitch muscles increased by Vitamin D in athletes and seniors (reduce falling) – Oct 2016 |
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08 Jun, 2017 |
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Muscle strength of senior women increased 25 percent with vitamin D, decreased 6 percent with placebo – Oct 2016 |
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08 Mar, 2017 |
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