Research
Micronutrients & recovery
Vitamin D supplementation improves anaerobic performance metrics (sprint time, vertical jump) in young athletes ONLY when serum levels exceed 40 ng/mL.
If you are a young athlete looking to boost sprint or jump performance, ensure your Vitamin D levels are high, not just 'normal'. Aim for >40 ng/mL. A common strategy is 5000 IU/day for 8 weeks. Note that this may not improve strength (bench/squat) but can improve power metrics like sprinting and jumping.
ModerateConditionalMEDIUM confidence
These findings support the aforementioned hypothesis that higher serum 25(OH)D levels (>40 ng/mL) may generate more convincing performance improvements [40].
Why this rating
Based on small, unpublished, or single-study findings (n=39, n=61) with mixed results on strength tests.
Source
Vitamin D and the Athlete: Risks, Recommendations, and Benefits
Dana Ogan et al. · Nutrients · 2013
DOI 10.3390/nu5061856
narrative_reviewCited 178×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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