Cannabis as Your Next Performance Enhancing Drug
When you hear the phrase, “performance-enhancing drug,” you might think of steroids, human growth hormones, caffeine, or creatine. Even the humble beet has a place in the performance-enhancing world. But, one of the last substances you might think of is cannabis.
Yes, cannabis, the stuff that gives you the munchies, making you laze about on the couch, binge-watching another series. Cannabis, the gateway drug hippies use before graduating onto the hard stuff. Cannabis, as my older brother would say, the devil’s lettuce.
I’m here to tell you that yes, while cannabis has had a bad rap (from years of government propaganda), it also has some pretty amazing health benefits, and I mean documented research-backed benefits. With the green light for medicinal use and spread of legalization, it’s becoming clear that cannabis has a lot more to offer than just the psychoactive effects THC provides.
Seriously taking your runner’s high to a new level.
We already know that our bodies contain an endocannabinoid system, with receptors that become active when binding to cannabinoids like THC and CBD (along with certain foods and spices). This system has been proven to help the body with easing pain and regulating appetite, along with improving mood and memory.
A study from 2003 reported the cannabinoid system can also become activated from exercise, in the same way, it becomes activated from using the cannabis plant (THC and/or CBD). Yes, you read that right. Your endocannabinoid system, the same one that reacts to weed, can become activated by exercising.
Exercising.
Exercise has some pretty incredible health benefits of its own. It can help you to create new brain cells and increase oxygen to the brain — in a way making you smarter, or at least a faster thinker. It also decreases stress, prevents obesity, strengthens your bones, the list goes on. To say it simply, our bodies are made to move.
The first time I heard about runner’s high, I thought it was some kind of sick joke. Run to the point of getting naturally high? People who run until they get high are pushing their bodies to a breaking point when their brain shuts down, blocking out the pain and suffering of their current pavement-pounding reality. Or so I thought. I always said I’d run only if being chased. Then one manic afternoon, I signed up for a half marathon.
Let me tell you, I was a skeptic from the start. Each step was riddled with pain, and every damn Seattle hill I had to climb felt like Everest. It was all pain and suffering until it wasn’t.
I was almost home, coasting down a hill when out of nowhere, euphoria consumed me. It was a crazy, purely joyful feeling, and with Macklemore reminding me that we cannot be held down, the tears began streaming down my face. This so-called runners high is real, my friend, quite real. But you have to put in the work to reach it.
Since exercise activates the endocannabinoid system, my runner’s high couldn’t be credited to endorphins alone. Another way cannabis can affect performance is more metabolic in nature. While exercising, your body is metabolizing fat, which is where THC is stored. So, as you continue on your run or in Zumba class, your fat is releasing small amounts of THC into the bloodstream. This amount could equate to a microdose, or how I like to think of it, just enough to take the edge off.
Per a recent study in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, THC levels increase approximately 15% following moderate exercise (in regular cannabis users). And as science would have it, the higher your BMI, the higher your release of THC.
Cannabis also offers pre-workout benefits. Working to ease anxiety, CBD can help calm your pre-race jitters or quiet the dread plaguing you before walking into that first barre class. It decreases tension, increases focus, and risk-taking behaviors, promoting performance under pressure. THC has been documented to slightly diminish reaction time and impair motor skills, so better to use it with repetitive exercises, such as long-distance running.
During my second half marathon, my cousins — one running the half and the other running the full marathon — both had edibles for breakfast. By the time we got to the race, things were just starting to kick in, allowing them to ease into the strides that took them all the way to the finish line.
Yoga is another fitness activity that pairs well with cannabis. During yoga, your mind slows down to connect with the body. Coupling this with the use of marijuana, mind-altering or not, can help bring you to a new state of mindfulness. Sensory stimulation increases, and your body will experience extra anti-inflammatory benefits since stretching is, in essence, anti-inflammatory.
Recovery is a period where cannabis also shines. CBD is proven to have pain and inflammation relieving properties, making it the perfect post-workout treatment. This may even be one of the reasons the endocannabinoid system is activated during exercise.
Ease painful muscles and help them to relax with cannabis, thus allowing you to get the rest you need before your next session. The cannabinoids from marijuana affect the body’s health systems, regulating homeostasis. This balance is crucial for functioning at an optimal level of performance, both inside and outside of the gym.
Of course, before starting a new exercise program or bringing cannabis into your life, please consult with your medical provider. The most important thing to remember when utilizing marijuana is to pay attention to your body; get to know it, including how it reacts to pot and the activity you plan on combining it with. Make sure it’s safe and right for you before working out with weed. Avoid using too much as you want to have the energy and focus to workout. It should help, rather than hurt your exercise.
References:
DiSalvo, David. (2013, October 13). How exercise makes your brain grow.http://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2013/10/13/how-exercise-makes-your-brain-grow/amp/
Helena. (2019, January 31). Smoking weed and working out: 6 reasons why you should go for it.http://greencamp.com/smoking-weed-and-working-out/
Wong, Alexander, et al. “Exercise Increases Plasma THC Concentrations in Regular Cannabis Users.” Drug and Alcohol Dependence, vol. 133, no. 2, July 31, 2013, pp. 763–767., doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.07.031.
