The legalization and commercialization of Cannabidiol, commonly known as CBD, has prompted its increased use among athletes and sports professionals. Various studies are being conducted to establish CBD’s usefulness and potential risks for health and performance among athletes, including using CBD oil for muscle recovery.
Although significant evidence is available regarding CBD’s anxiolytic, antidepressant, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties, researchers are still studying the physiological pathways through which CBD can promote and enhance muscle recovery and sports performance.
So, today we’ll be talking about how CBD can potentially help recover from muscle damage and fatigue associated with physical and psychological exertion. We’ll also tell you how to use CBD oil to improve your post-workout recovery.
Using CBD Oil for Muscle Recovery: What Research Says
Various factors contribute to post-exercise and workout muscle damage; using additional weight, increasing workout time and volume, or performing muscle-building intensity-boosters. This results in muscle soreness and stiffness that may persist for many days and take weeks to overcome.
Although limited, scientific evidence suggests that CBD can function as an ergogenic adjunct to enhance the efficiency of muscle recovery during exercise and sport-related fatigue. This is attributed to the neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, anxiolytic, and analgesic properties of CBD, which help mediate recovery in athletes during training and competition.
Restoration of Physical Performance
As mentioned, intense exercise and workouts cause functional and structural imbalances within the body. Using CBD oil for muscle recovery, along with other recovery protocols, can help mitigate pent-up fatigue and stress to improve physical performance and stamina.
CBD and DOMS
Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) can occur both before and after a workout, such as after a more exhaustive warm-up or some low-intensity cardio. While supplements like fish oil have been shown to help manage exercise-induced soreness, CBD is now also a contender.
Even though research connecting CBD and DOMS is currently limited, one study published in the International Journal of Physical Education, Sports, and Health has shown promising results. The study revealed that trained athletes consuming CBD post-workout showed quicker recovery and reported significantly less muscle soreness. Hence, the study concluded that CBD positively influenced muscle soreness due to EIMD (exercise-induced muscle damage).
Better Sleep, Better Recovery
CBD is also known to improve sleep quality, and numerous studies reveal that sleep significantly promotes muscle recovery and negatively impacts healing if you’re not getting sufficient time to rest.
How to Use CBD Oil for Muscle Recovery
If you’re thinking of using CBD oil for muscle recovery, keep in mind the following:
- Choose a CBD Delivery Method: there are various ways to ingest CBD; oils, tinctures, capsules, pills, and eatables. Based on your personal preference, you can choose any mode.
- Start With the Smallest Dosage: since there’s no standard dose, start with the lowest effective dosage, preferably 10 mg per day. If that doesn’t provide relief, sequentially increase the dose by 10 mg daily. Keep increasing the dose till you find an effective dose.
- Use CBD Consistently: keep using CBD after every workout to help boost your recovery processes. Moreover, it will also help you sleep better after a strenuous session and enhance muscle recovery and rebuilding.
- Always Consult a Doctor: even though consuming CBD is considered safe, it can interact with certain medications and adversely affect your health. So, before including CBD in your daily regime, always consult your doctor to ensure it’s safe for you.
If you’re looking for reliable products, CanX offers some of the best CBD for muscle recovery. Their collection features both full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oils to manage muscle pain and various other physical and psychological problems.
Using CBD Oil for Muscle Recovery: Final Thoughts
Although studies are limited, using CBD oil for muscle recovery appears to boost post-exercise recovery. With a more comprehensive understanding of the physical and cognitive effects CBD has on recovery processes in the body, a more authentic claim can be made about its efficacy as a muscle recovery agent.
Moreover, various factors must be considered before prescribing CBD to athletes and sports professionals, such as general health, the intensity and duration of the exercise, body composition, and other external factors.
Additionally, athletes must create an ideal internal environment to enhance the effectiveness of inherent endocannabinoids. This means that apart from regular exercise, athletes must regulate their weight, positively channel stress and anxiety, and avoid exposure to environmental contaminants and toxic substances. These practices will help create an ideal bodily environment for CBD to promptly work as a muscle recovery agent.