CBD (cannabidiol), which is a chemical component extracted from the hemp plant, is trending now. It’s non-toxic, has minimal side effects, yet brings immense therapeutic benefits. CBD consumers find it useful for coping with plenty of ailments, including headaches, inflammation, insomnia, etc. At the same time, many people use CBD in situations beyond medical application.
For instance, many cannabidiol users take CBD for muscle recovery to improve their sports results. So how efficient is CBD for recovery, and does CBD application in sports have a scientific background? Read further to get answers to these questions.
How does CBD Work?
Your body has the endocannabinoid system (ECS) spread across all organs. It comprises cannabinoid receptors and endogenous cannabinoids that are released to cope with stress.
Thus, when you take exogenous cannabinoids like CBD, they bind to cannabinoid receptors. The ECS is a regulatory system influencing many biological functions and processes, including satiety, sleep, body temperature, pain sensation, etc.
As for CBD, it interacts with plenty of other receptors aside from cannabinoid ones. Due to this, cannabidiol has a wide array of therapeutic benefits. What about sports? In short, CBD indeed promotes better sports results, and many athletes use top rated CBD today. So check how you can benefit from cannabidiol’s properties below.
1. Get Rid of Muscle Soreness
No pain – no gain! There is a real scientific background for this slogan. Thus, while pumping iron, you tear your muscle fibers. As a result, your muscles are sore for a couple of days after a heavy workout. Then, your body repairs its muscles and makes them thicker to endure more stress the next time. That is how we make gains.
Also, muscle soreness involves inflammation. While it’s a naturally occurring process, it may affect your performance if you train a muscle group several times a week.
In this case, CBD can help you relieve pain in your muscles and boost their regeneration and thickening by reducing inflammation. CBD reduces the number of pro-inflammatory cytokines and has antioxidative properties, removing free radicals from cells, and promoting their recovery. What is more, CBD’s antioxidant properties will help you recover from endurance training.
2. Have More Healthy Sleep
Your performance and gains depend on your sleep quality. Your muscles recover primarily during nighttime. Thus, most people need seven to nine hours of healthy sleep to keep making gains.
In contrast, sleep deprivation leads to obesity, heart problems, suppressed immune function, etc. The bad thing is that you may not always have a healthy sleep for several reasons, including anxiety before the upcoming competition. If you can’t sleep well before the event, it’s a real disaster.
How can CBD help then? Impacting your sleep/wake cycle, CBD improves the quality of your sleep and reduces nighttime awakenings. Thus, in the framework of a 2019 study, patients improved their sleep quality with CBD significantly. At the end of the trial, they also reduced anxiety.
Thus, CBD can promote better sleep and reduce anxiety before sports events, allowing you to put your best foot forward and become victorious.
3. Normalize Stress Hormone Levels
When you experience stress, your body produces stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. Scientists have revealed that emotional and physical stress raises cortisol levels by nine times. Although cortisol is useful from the evolutionary point of view, it prevents your muscles from recovering and makes your bones less dense. These catabolic effects can ruin your performance.
What about CBD? It brings balance to your nervous system, reducing anxiety and chronic stress. It can indirectly lower cortisol levels, thus allowing you to recharge your batteries and make gains.
4. Combat Overtraining
Intensive training with high volume can drain your recovery potential and lead to decreased strength and endurance, poor recovery, and mood shifts. This is called overtraining. How can CBD help you prevent this condition? The matter is that cannabidiol has neuroprotective properties, which are especially helpful in intensity training. Thus, CBD protects your nervous system from overloading and helps you recover from heavy workouts.
How to Use CBD for Sports Recovery?
CBD is a dietary supplement, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to cannabidiol dosing. Before taking CBD, you should consult your doctor and adjust the dose depending on your goals (improving sleep, reducing pain, etc.).
Also, you can start with around 12-15 mg of CBD per day. Don’t hesitate to increase the daily CBD intake if you see no improvements since CBD is well-tolerated even in very high doses. Besides, you have to take several precautions to benefit from CBD to the fullest:
- Pay attention to THC content in cannabidiol products. Top CBD brands keep THC content within legal concentrations (0.03%). For this, always check the certificate of analysis for each product.
- Stick to reputable brands.
- Research testimonials before purchasing any CBD product.
The Bottom Line
Many athletes use CBD for muscle pain relief, improved recovery, and better sleep. Cannabidiol has a range of scientifically proven health benefits. Thus, it relieves pain, prevents overtraining, and reduces inflammation and stress hormone production. Given that, it can help you gain muscle and improve your sports results. To get the utmost benefit from cannabidiol, you need to obtain the best CBD products from the leading brands. All in all, CBD is worth trying to sail through your competitions.