Short-Term Magnesium Supplementation Has Modest Detrimental Effects on Cycle Ergometer Exercise Performance and Skeletal Muscle Mitochondria and Negligible Effects on the Gut Microbiota: A Randomized Crossover Clinical Trial.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, published as a randomized controlled trial.

The primary study objective was to determine the influence of short-term magnesium supplementation on cycle ergometer exercise performance.

Why It Was Studied

Background/Objectives: Although the importance of magnesium for overall health and physiological function is well established, its influence on exercise performance is less clear.

The hypothesis was that magnesium would elicit an ergogenic effect.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 9, participants taking part.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were young adults and adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc group a baseline to be compared against.

In the crossover set-up each of the participants took both Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

What Was Measured

During days 8 and 9, participants completed a battery of cycle ergometer exercise tests, and whole blood, vastus lateralis, and stools were sampled.

The primary outcomes were the maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), a simulated 10 km time trial, and the sprint exercise performance.

PubMed files the paper under topics including Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Dietary Supplements, Oxygen Consumption, Magnesium, Muscle, Skeletal, Mitochondria, Muscle and Exercise Test.

The authors tagged it with the keywords ergolytic, maximal oxygen uptake and time trial.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 9, participants.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 2025 (Nutrients), a journal based in Switzerland.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.