
With the legalization of cannabis in countries throughout the world, it is no surprise that people are turning to the hemp plant to help with their various needs.
Not only can CBD help with conditions such as anxiety, but many folks are also using this supplement as a way to help them along their fitness journey. CBD can help give energy, reduce pain and inflammation, and even help users get some rest after a long day at the gym.
What is CBD?
Cannabidiol, also known as CBD, is one of the dozens of chemical compounds in the cannabis plant called cannabinoids. Cannabinoid levels will fluctuate depending on the variety and strain of cannabis that is tested, but strains of hemp are reliably high in CBD while being extremely low in CBDs psychoactive cousin, THC.
Industrial hemp production is permitted on a federal level, provided that the strains of hemp that are grown contain no more than 0.3% of the psychoactive THC. Since CBD is non-psychoactive, it can be used to great effect by those looking to leverage cannabinoid therapy for various ailments or illnesses. The therapeutic properties are significant enough that CBD can be taken in high doses daily, without any negative health effects.
Pain Management
No matter what type of physical activities or workouts you prefer to engage in, it is incredibly likely that CBD will be able to help you mitigate the effects of training hard, such as inflammation, aches, and pains. These are common, nearly daily, occurrences for fitness enthusiasts like cyclists, athletes, bodybuilders, and professional trainers. Once you find yourself mired in pain after a particularly hard workout, CBD can be used to help relieve that pain and allow you to continue with your normal workout schedule.
CBD helps by assisting in controlling pain ranging from mild to severe by interacting with the receptors in the human brain that are naturally tuned to cannabinoids. Similar receptors are acted on, to help control swelling and painful inflammation due to the damage done to muscles during a hard workout. Since the endocannabinoid receptors that CBD interacts with do not cause intoxication, it can be used without fear of “getting high”.
Nutrition
One of the many ways that CBD oil is available for administration is in CBD oil. Anyone involved in fitness knows that fats and oils are essential for proper vitamin and mineral absorption. Since this preparation is made by combining the CBD extract with a lipid, it allows for enhanced digestion and absorption of the supplement. Many supplements are also enriched with additional vitamins and minerals so you have almost an entire daily multivitamin in your CBD supplement. On top of that CBD is also an effective way to help you feel sated and avoid binge eating.
Sleep Aid
When you train hard, you need sufficient rest so that your body can repair itself, repairing and strengthening muscle tissue and creating new lean muscle mass. While working out can leave you physically drained and full of aches and pains, it can sometimes leave you restless and fighting to get restful sleep. This can be disastrous.
Taking a CBD supplement can help boost the length of your sleep cycle, as well as the overall quality of the sleep you get. It does this by calming the central nervous system without any heavy narcotic sedative effects. This allows your body to recover more fully during your downtime.
Reduce Anxiety and Boost Your Mood
Whether you’re a bodybuilder, a personal trainer, or you’re just trying to get into shape, it can be hard to maintain focus on your workouts if your mind is not in the right place. Anxiety, agitation, and mood swings can make focusing difficult, but they can also make you feel lethargic and unattractive. Luckily, CBD is a great way to combat these feelings.
The endocannabinoid system has Serotonin and Adenosine receptors, which both play a huge role in how your mental health is maintained. CBD is great because it helps regulate your levels of serotonin, thus improving your mood and reducing the symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders.
Improved Energy
Low energy can be detrimental to your fitness journey. Sure, you can still mind your diet if you’re groggy, but working out can feel impossible when your energy levels aren’t where they should be. Exhaustion, lack of sleep, and poor diet can certainly impact your mood, but there may be underlying medical conditions at play.
Every human has a natural endocannabinoid system that maintains homeostasis via naturally occurring cannabinoids. Without this process, your energy balance can be impacted. A CBD supplement can help even things out and give you more energy.
Muscle Recovery
One of the reasons CBD can be so beneficial when recovering after a workout is due to anti-inflammatory properties. The more rigorous the workout, the more tiny tears you’ll have in your muscle tissue. These tears trigger inflammation, which the body then repairs for you. This leads to stronger muscle tissue.
CBD helps to ease the pain after a workout and reduce the swelling from any muscle damage that occurs. Many folks that use CBD after workouts report being able to get back to the gym more quickly.
Final Thoughts
Exhaustion, aches & pains, and even some flat-out injuries are likely on your journey to maintain a fit lifestyle, in fact, for most rigorous activities they will become a way of life. This doesn’t mean you need to live your life in a state of constant achiness and fatigue, however, since you may be able to leverage CBD to help boost your recovery and pain management.
If you are just starting out with a CBD supplement, be sure you monitor your dosages carefully. There is no risk of toxicity with CBD, but ingesting too large of a dose if you aren’t accustomed to it can cause some stomach discomfort. Be aware that each method of administration will work at different rates as well.