Earlier this month, USA Triathlon sealed a deal to partner with a Colorado CBD manufacturer. This was big news on the Olympic front for many reasons. But athletes know what many other people are learning. CBD is a great tool for athletic training and recovery. Athletes such as women’s soccer great Megan Rapinoe and former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski are singing the praises of CBD oil and topicals for athletic performance and recovery.
Training for a sport takes a toll on athletes’ bodies, sometimes leading to lifelong pain. It’s not just professional athletes who experience pain and injury. Children and teens are not immune to the effects of playing or working hard at their sports. Topical applications and ingested CBD can speed recovery.
So, you don’t need to be a world-class athlete to reap the rewards of using CBD topicals and oil for your own version of athletic fitness.
Here’s what you need to know. CBD seems to be everywhere lately, but buyer beware. You want CBD from organically grown industrial hemp that adheres to strict third-party testing protocols to ensure purity. So do your homework before you buy.
CBD for athletic performance
At the risk of boring you with repetition, I’m going to once again point out that every body already has an endocannabinoid system (ECS), complete with CB1 and CB2 receptors that maintain homeostasis throughout our bodies. Plus, CBD is not psychoactive (doesn’t get you high) like THC found in marijuana. When you consume CBD oil, your ECS gets a boost to keep things humming along normally.
CBD from hemp can be a powerful fitness supplement. Before a workout, it can give you an energy boost that can augment your fitness regimen. CBD prior to a workout has been shown to help with endurance. The ECS is stimulated by CBD. Scientists have also found that CBD directly interacts with the TRPV-1 receptor, known to mediate pain perception, inflammation and body temperature. In combination with other sources of nutrition, CBD is considered better than certain well-known amino acids and supplements.
CBD for recovery
After a hard workout, CBD can help you recover. Workouts stress the body and sometimes overwork can cause inflammation and pain or injury to joints or muscles. Too often the only option for pain is to reach for over-the-counter painkillers, called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). When used frequently, NSAIDS comes with negative side effects. But inflammation can slow recovery and also stall performance. So what can you do?
CBD topicals seem to work really well and have no known side effects. It’s a recognized anti-inflammatory that doesn’t come with negative side effects. Because it can be applied directly to the affected area, relief can occur quickly. It’s not a cure; think of it as an aid to your ECS that helps it restore balance throughout your system. Plus, using it for recovery can help you avoid using pain medication that has negative side effects or can be addictive.
CBD and weight
CBD has also been shown to help you lose weight. It’s not a panacea, of course, you need to be aware of the kinds of food you eat and how much, but CBD can help regulate blood sugar levels. When you have regulated blood sugar levels you have fewer fat-storing hormones produced by your pancreas. The result is less fat being stored in your body and more fat burned as energy. Win-win, I’d say.
So there you have it, a new workout partner that boosts energy, improves endurance, helps control weight and is a great recovery agent. What’s not to love?