Herbal Formula for Athlete's

Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.

In general, no. I would start with reading “What Does Acupuncture Treat?” for a basic view of why this is. Long story short, the absolute best response would be from the formula that is best for that individual with the consideration of their physical activity levels. Not just that they are an athlete (i.e. using some general tonic).

In the most general terms possible, female athletes would tend towards yin deficiency, qi deficiency, blood deficiency or a combination - but they could easily have other patterns.

Formulas such liu wei di huang wan would likely form a base for the more yin deficient of those and formulas such as bu zhong yi qi wan (among others) could form the base for those more qi and/or blood deficient.

For the most basic effect that generally doesn’t have many downsides but can support the body with mild tonification of the qi and blood is moxibustion at ST 36.