CBD For Working Out and Work Out Recovery

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve noticed it: CBD is everywhere. Why has CBD become so popular? That’s easy: Many personal stories and a large swath of scientific evidence has shown that CBD can help address numerous illnesses and help people who are suffering from a wide array of problems.

CBD’s applications are numerous, but they may help more than just a regular supplement. For example, many athletes have begun to use CBD to help them recover from strenuous workouts.

Here’s more info on how CBD can help you recover from a workout.

How CBD Works

The process by which CBD works isn’t fully understood, but the limited information available shows that CBD works by affecting your body’s Endocannabinoid System. Your Endocannabinoid System consists of roughly three parts:

• Cannabinoids that are naturally produced inside your body.
• Cannabinoid receptors. Two have been identified by researchers: CB1 and CB2. These receptors are found throughout your entire body, including on all muscles, skin, and organs.
• Enzymes that break down cannabinoids.

Cannabinoids bind with receptors, causing a reaction within your Endocannabinoid System. Upon completion of the reaction, enzymes break down the cannabinoids. CBD itself does not bind with CB1 or CB2. Instead, they appear to impact your body’s cannabinoids, causing the reaction between those cannabinoids and receptors to last longer. This, in turn, appears to impact a variety of bodily symptoms, including appetite, stress, inflammation, and pain.

What does this mean? If CBD can truly reduce pain, it can help you recover faster from a workout or sports activity.

Evidence Supporting CBD’s Use

There is ample evidence to show that CBD can help you recover faster from a workout.

How does this work? For starters, CBD appears to be good at limiting many types of pain:

• Various studies in humans and rats have shown that CBD can help rats who are suffering from arthritis reduce their pain and achieve better mobility.
• Studies have also shown that CBD can help patients who are undergoing treatment for cancer reduce their pain levels associated with chemotherapy.
• People who suffer from Multiple Sclerosis often suffer from muscle spasticity, a particularly painful disorder that causes muscles to lock and spasm, have found relief from CBD.
• Other studies and reviews have found that CBD can be helpful for people who are suffering from chronic pain.

Furthermore, there is ample evidence to suggest that CBD is effective at reducing inflammation. According to this study and others, CBD may be helpful at reducing inflammation which occurs in organs, the skin, and muscles. This is one of the many reasons that CBD has been found to be useful in dealing with some types of skin disorders.

CBD’s potential effectiveness at reducing pain and inflammation both explain why it may be good for helping people recover from a workout, exercise or sports event. When you work out, your body gets a series of small, microscopic tears in your muscles. As a result, the muscles become inflamed, triggering your body’s repair process. Indeed, this is actually what causes the soreness and stiffness that your body feels after a good workout.

Using CBD after a workout may not only reduce pain but reduce inflammation, which in turn can reduce the soreness that you feel. Indeed, this is why so many sports stars and celebrities have endorsed CBD. Many have publicly stated that CBD helps them after an event or workout. Indeed, many celebrities have stated that CBD helps their feet recover after a long night of standing in high heels on the red carpet!

Best CBD Practices For Working Out

So, now that you started using CBD, what are some suggestions for the best ways to use it?

First and foremost: When it comes to using CBD topicals, start slowly. Finding an appropriate dosage can be difficult, so do what you can to remember how much CBD you use each time you use it. If you aren’t feeling any effects, gradually increase the amount of CBD you use. Treat it like you would any other balm or skincare product: Massage slowly into the areas of pain.

For example, let’s say you were rock climbing. As any experienced rock climber knows, your hands, arms, and legs are likely to be in quite a bit of pain after rock climbing. Take time to identify the specific area of pain (“legs” are a bit too broad) and go from there.

Remember, CBD Balms can take a good amount of time to work – potentially as long as a couple of hours. As such, make sure to have patience. You won’t feel its impact right away.

Alternatively, you can take CBD orally. There are a variety of pills, capsules, tinctures, and edibles which you can use. There are, of course, tradeoffs with using this method instead of a balm. Tinctures (which can be taken sublingually) are unquestionably the quickest way to feel the benefits of CBD, as they can hit your bloodstream in under fifteen minutes. Edibles can take longer, as they have to travel through your body’s digestive system.

On the flip side: One of the best aspects of CBD balm or topicals is that you can target the relief specifically to the area of pain. The same does not apply to CBD that you take orally. As a result, you may not feel as much relief in the specific area which is causing you pain or soreness.

The good news when it comes to CBD is that overdosing, getting addicted or getting high is not possible. As noted by a report from the World Health Organization, CBD is safe in humans and well-tolerated. However, some research has indicated that there are concerns over drug interactions, and there are also worries over how CBD may affect liver function. As such, always check with your Doctor before starting CBD. They will be aware of new CBD research and able to tell you if any of your physical issues or current medication may pose a danger.

CBD and Recovery

It is clear that there is some scientific evidence – along with a series of anecdotal stories – that point to CBD’s ability to help you recover after physical exertion. However, if you’re going to try CBD for these purposes, make sure you have realistic expectations. While the news is positive, much more research is needed before any definitive conclusions can be drawn about CBD and its ability to help you. CBD has not been approved by the Food & Drug Administration for any medical use, save for Epidiolex, which is being used to treat two rare seizure disorders in children. Do not take CBD in place of any other medication.

However, the news does seem to be positive and getting better by the day. CBD may have real applications for helping you feel better after a good day at the gym or climbing.