Supplementation with Nicotinamide Mononucleotide (NMN) was evidenced to benefit key markers of aerobic capacity in recreational runners when combined with an exercise training program, in a recently-published clinical trial appearing in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
 
NMN, an emerging supplement ingredient, is a precursor to the molecule NAD+, a coenzyme which is essential to cellular metabolism. Researchers have posited that NMN might have performance-based synergistic benefits when combined with exercise programs, but very little evidence exists yet regarding what these benefits may be in humans.
 
In the study, researchers recruited 48 young and middle-aged recreational runners in China, who were administered a daily supplement for six weeks which contained a range of NMN dosages, at 300 mg, 600 mg, or 1200 mg, or a matching placebo. All of the runners also engaged in a training program, which involved 5-6 sessions each week. The authors of the study analyzed the aerobic capacity of the runners both at baseline and at the end of the intervention using a CPET test. Furthermore, the researchers substantiated the bioavailability of NMN, and noted that NMN supplementation was associated with significantly increased circulating NAD+ levels.
 
The authors noted that following the supplementation period, there was a significant and dose-dependent improvement in oxygen uptake, percentages of maximum oxygen uptake power at first ventilatory threshold, and power at second ventilatory threshold for the medium and large dose groups, while other aerobic capacity tests showed insignificant differences among the groups.
 
The authors of the study concluded that combining exercise interventions with NMN supplementation may serve as a novel and practical strategy to increase endurance performance of athletes, and that the improvements seen were muscle, and not cardiac related based upon the parameters which significantly changed. Specifically, the authors of the study attributed the improvements they observed to an improved ability of oxygen utilization by skeletal muscle, which is the most NMN-sensitive tissue in humans, they said.