High-Intensity Exercise and Joint Health: Why MyCondro™ Matters

Interest in sports and physical activity continues to grow worldwide. In Europe alone, nearly 60% of the population participates in sports, with 17% exercising more than three times per week. As more individuals engage in regular and often intensive training, maintaining musculoskeletal resilience becomes increasingly important.

Public health guidelines recommend that adults engage in either 150–300 minutes of moderate physical activity or at least 75-150 minutes of vigorous activity per week, highlighting the important role of higher-intensity exercise in modern physical activity patterns.

While regular exercise provides well-established health benefits, high-intensity and prolonged physical activity can place significant mechanical stress on the musculoskeletal system, particularly joint structures exposed to repeated loading.

How High-Intensity Exercise Affects Joint Structures

Exercise-Induced Inflammation

Repeated high-intensity training sessions expose joints to substantial mechanical and inflammatory stress.

Exercise acts as a physiological stressor that can trigger inflammatory responses during and after physical activity. Intense and prolonged exercise has been shown to induce leukocyte mobilization and to increase circulating inflammatory mediators released by immune cells and by active muscle tissue (Cerqueira 2020).

While these responses are part of normal physiological adaptation to exercise, excessive or repeated high-intensity training may lead to sustained elevations of inflammatory mediators, potentially increasing the risk of tissue injury and chronic inflammation.

Mechanical Stress and Cartilage Degeneration

At the same time, high-intensity physical activity significantly increases the mechanical load applied to articular cartilage.

Sustained mechanical stress can accelerate the metabolic degradation of the cartilage matrix and stimulate the release of pro-inflammatory factors from surrounding tissues, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of mechanical stress and inflammation (Cui 2025).

Elevated loading may also influence subchondral bone remodeling, further disrupting the distribution of mechanical forces within the joint and compromising cartilage integrity (Cui 2025).

Cartilage is particularly vulnerable to these processes because of its limited regenerative capacity. Age-related changes in chondrocyte activity reduce the synthesis of key matrix components, such as collagen and proteoglycans, progressively weakening cartilage’s structural resilience and its ability to tolerate mechanical stress (Cui 2025).

From Cartilage Stress to Joint Issues

Over time, these mechanisms may contribute to the development of degenerative joint conditions such as knee osteoarthritis, a chronic disease characterized by progressive cartilage degradation, joint pain, and functional impairment (Cui 2025).

Epidemiological analyses suggest that physical activity intensity plays an important role in this balance. While moderate physical activity can support joint function and muscle stability, high levels of physical activity have been associated with a 26% increased risk of knee osteoarthritis compared with moderate activity levels (Cui 2025).

For athletes and physically active individuals, these observations highlight the importance of strategies to preserve cartilage structure, manage inflammation, and maintain long-term joint resilience.

Among the nutrients investigated for joint support, chondroitin sulfate has attracted particular attention for its structural role in cartilage and its contribution to joint resilience.

Chondroitin Sulfate: A Key Structural Component of Joints

Chondroitin sulfate (CS) is a glycosaminoglycan, a natural substance found in human cartilage. By contributing to tissue hydration, elasticity, and resistance to mechanical stress, it plays a key role in maintaining joint function and mobility over time.

However, natural chondroitin production gradually declines with age and cumulative mechanical stress. As levels decrease, cartilage may become more vulnerable to degradation, potentially leading to:

• Joint discomfort
• Reduced mobility
• Increased susceptibility to joint disorders

For decades, CS has been widely used in dietary supplements to support joint health and is commonly recommended in the management of moderate osteoarthritis, particularly affecting the knee.

Traditional Chondroitin Sulfate: Challenges Linked to Animal-Derived Sources

Traditionally, CS has been sourced from animal tissues, including bovine, porcine, avian, and marine sources such as shark, squid, skate, and shrimp. Today, the majority of chondroitin sulfate on the market remains animal-derived, raising concerns for vegetarians and individuals with religious or dietary restrictions, as well as for those with growing environmental and sustainability concerns.

Furthermore, animal-derived CS may pose a risk of contamination with microorganisms or residual proteins that could trigger allergic or adverse reactions in sensitive individuals.

Another key issue is quality consistency. Poorly controlled animal raw materials can lead to CS with variable structure, limited batch-to-batch reproducibility, inconsistent purity, and unpredictable biological effects, efficacy, and safety.

Fermentation-Derived Chondroitin Sulfate: A New Generation of Joint Health Ingredients

A non-animal source of chondroitin sulfate is now available. MyCondro™, developed by Gnosis by Lesaffre, is a CS produced through a fermentation-based process followed by selective sulfation, resulting in physicochemical properties comparable to those naturally found in cartilage.

This approach offers several advantages, including:

• a homogeneous molecular structure,
• a highly controlled and reproducible production process,
• a high-purity, non-animal chondroitin sulfate,
• clinically demonstrated benefits at a once-daily dose of 600 mg (compared with the conventional 1,200 mg/day typically required for animal-derived CS).

Furthermore, fermentation-derived CS offers high solubility and stability across multiple delivery formats, including capsules, tablets, powders, and liquids. Its convenient dosage facilitates combination with complementary joint health ingredients such as glucosamine, MSM, type II collagen, or botanical extracts, enabling the development of natural joint health formulations.

Clinical Evidence Supporting Joint Health Benefits

The efficacy of MyCondro™ has been evaluated in randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical studies in subjects with moderate knee osteoarthritis. In these studies, participants received 600 mg of MyCondro™ daily, demonstrating significant improvements in several joint health parameters.

In the first study (Rondanelli 2019), supplementation for 3 months significantly improved knee function, with a 14% increase in the Tegner Lysholm Knee Score (TLKS) compared with placebo. Participants also experienced reduced joint pain, reflected by significant improvements in both the WOMAC pain index—which assesses pain during everyday activities such as walking, climbing stairs, or standing—and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). In addition, blood analyses showed significant reductions in C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), two markers associated with joint inflammation.

A second randomized controlled trial (Rondanelli 2020) confirmed these findings, showing improved knee function and better control of inflammation both at rest and following physical stress.

Supporting Joint Health for an Active Life at Every Stage

As participation in sports and high-intensity exercise continues to grow, maintaining joint resilience becomes increasingly important. Repeated mechanical loading and exercise-induced inflammatory responses can progressively affect cartilage integrity, particularly in highly active individuals.

Supporting joint health is therefore essential to help maintain mobility, performance, and long-term joint function. Thanks to its superior bioavailability and clinically validated efficacy, MyCondro™ supports cartilage structure and joint function, acting as a true lifelong partner for joint health.

As the sports nutrition market evolves, brands are increasingly seeking ingredients that combine strong scientific validation, consistent quality, clean-label positioning, and sustainable sourcing. By providing a fermentation-derived, non-animal chondroitin sulfate with demonstrated clinical benefits, MyCondro™ offers an innovative solution for modern nutraceutical formulations.

References :

Sarita Mishra, Munia Ganguli, Functions of, and replenishment strategies for, chondroitin sulfate in the human body, Drug Discovery Today, Volume 26, Issue 5, 2021, Pages 1185-1199.

Volpi Nicola et al., Oral Bioavailability and Pharmacokinetics of Nonanimal Chondroitin Sulfate and Its Constituents in Healthy Male Volunteers, Clinical Pharmacology in Drug Development, Volume8, Issue3, April 2019, Pages 336-345.

Rondanelli M et al. Effectiveness of non-animal chondroitin sulfate supplementation in the treatment of moderate knee osteoarthritis in a group of overweight subjects: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study. Nutrients. 2019 Aug 29;11(9):2027.

Rondanelli M et al. Short- and Long-Term Effectiveness of Supplementation with Non-Animal Chondroitin Sulfate on Inflammation, Oxidative Stress and Functional Status in Obese Subjects with Moderate Knee Osteoarthritis before and after Physical Stress: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Antioxidants (Basel) 2020 Dec 7;9(12):1241.

Cerqueira É, Marinho DA, Neiva HP, Lourenço O. Inflammatory Effects of High and Moderate Intensity Exercise-A Systematic Review. Front Physiol. 2020 Jan 9;10:1550.

Cui X, Xie F, Cui J, Tian Y, Bai X, Guo L, Liu J, Yao F. Association between physical activity and knee osteoarthritis: a comprehensive systematic review and meta analysis. J Glob Health. 2025;15:04173.