Menthol feels fast. Does it make you fast?

Does menthol before a workout improve performance?

Slightly. Wang et al. 2026 pooled 16 studies with 191 participants and found topical menthol produced a small but significant improvement in exercise performance, an effect size of 0.27. The benefit was clearest in aerobic endurance exercise, with rub-on application, in temperate conditions, and it faded in heat of 30 °C and above.

The authors concluded the benefit is context dependent and most relevant for endurance exercise, working mainly through the sensation of cooling rather than any real drop in temperature.

How does menthol work before exercise?

It changes how the effort feels, not how hot you are. In the meta-analysis, menthol made people feel cooler and rate the work as easier, while core body temperature stayed where it was. In a long, steady effort, feeling better can let you hold a pace a little longer — which is where the small performance effect showed up.

That also explains its limits. A cool feeling on the skin does nothing about the acid that builds inside the muscle during repeated all-out efforts, and in hot conditions the effect largely disappeared.

Is it okay to use Icy Hot or Biofreeze before a workout?

Menthol rubs like Icy Hot and Biofreeze are sold as topical pain relievers for minor aches, and the pre-workout evidence on menthol is the meta-analysis above: a small effect, mostly on how endurance work feels. If you use one, follow its label. LactiGo’s own menthol label, for example, warns against broken or irritated skin, heating pads and tight bandaging.

What a menthol rub will not give you is a buffer. If the reason you reached for it is legs that die in the last rounds or sprints, carnosine gel vs Biofreeze explains the difference.

Does menthol help muscle recovery?

Menthol’s established use is temporary relief of minor muscle aches — that is what it is labelled for. The meta-analysis looked at performance during exercise, not recovery afterwards, so there is no evidence here that menthol speeds recovery itself.

LactiGo’s standard version carries that same label use: it is registered in the US as an over-the-counter topical analgesic, 1.5% menthol, for the temporary relief of minor aches and pains of muscles and joints. So the menthol in the bottle does the job menthol is known for, and the carnosine is there for the performance side.

Why did LactiGo’s trial put menthol in the placebo?

To prove the result was not the menthol. Beaven et al. 2025 gave seven world-class rugby sevens players two unlabelled gels: LactiGo, and a placebo with the same 1.25% menthol, matched for smell. Both tingled the same, and nobody — players, testers or analysts — knew which was which until the statistics were done.

• Peak power across twelve maximal sprints: 5–10% higher on LactiGo in the authors’ summary.
• Sprint 7: 1426 W vs 1270 W. Sprint 2: 1433 W vs 1332 W. Sprint 4: 1347 W vs 1244 W.
• Four of the seven players thought the placebo day was their better one. The blinding held; the power meter still saw the difference.

Same menthol in both bottles means menthol cannot explain the gap. Is carnosine gel just menthol? goes through the design in full.

Does menthol work in the heat?

Less well. In the meta-analysis, the performance benefit of topical menthol diminished in hot conditions of 30 °C and above — exactly when athletes most want to feel cooler. The cooling sensation is still there; it just stopped translating into better performance.

That fits how menthol works. It makes you feel cooler without lowering your core temperature, and when the heat is real, a feeling does not go very far. If you race or train in summer heat, a menthol rub is a comfort, not a plan.

When should you use a menthol rub and when carnosine gel?

Use a menthol rub when you want the feel — cooling, comfort, minor aches. Use carnosine gel when the session is decided by repeated hard efforts: sprints, rounds, intervals, surges. That is what its trial measured.

Can you use menthol and carnosine gel together?

You do not need to: standard LactiGo already contains 1.5% menthol, so it gives the cooling feel and the carnosine in one application. Layering another menthol rub on top adds nothing the trial tested, and the label says to apply only as directed.

If you want the carnosine without the tingle — sensitive skin, grappling, or a hot day when menthol does little anyway — the menthol-free version is the same carnosine formula without it.

The bottom line on menthol before a workout

Menthol makes a workout feel easier and gives a small boost in endurance work. It does not buffer the acid that kills your power in repeated hard efforts. LactiGo does both jobs: the menthol for the feel, and the carnosine that beat a menthol-matched placebo by 5–10% in peak power.

Apply 10 ml per leg 45 minutes before your next hard session — the protocol page has the details — and try it with the 30-day money-back guarantee. Here is where to buy it.