CBD Oil Is the Next Big Thing in Fitness and Bodybuilding

Athletes and bodybuilders require a strong and healthy body for performance. CBD oil has shown ways of soothing pain. This article explains how CBD oil is used in bodybuilding and fitness sessions. It further elaborates on how it is consumed and its effects.

Cannabis-derived products have become the trending mainstream worldwide, especially in developed countries like the USA. It is no longer a secret that a few drops of CBD oil under your tongue can reap endless health and wellbeing benefits. Cannabidiol can promote the health sector by minimizing patient stress and anxiety levels, relieving pain, boosting focus and attentiveness to students, boosting the body's immune system, helping in sleeping disorders, and improving heart, bone, and skin health without dangerous side effects. On the other hand, CBD oil is trending in fitness and bodybuilding areas as it is evidence from trials that it acts as a non-intoxicating product that improves performance due to its psychological and physiological effects.

What is CBD Oil?

Shannon, Scott & Janet (2015)  explained that CBD oil is derived from marijuana and hemp, especially the sativa species of the plant. Their many cannabinoids compound in the plant, the most common is Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), famous for its psychoactive properties. It causes the sensation of getting high that is often associated with cannabis. However, CBD oil is a non-psychoactive compound. This quality makes CBD oil an appealing option for boosting performance in fitness and bodybuilding.

CBD oil is made by extracting the chemical compound from a hemp plant's leaves, flowers, and stalk and then diluted by carrier oils such as coconut and hemp seed oil, making it to be organic, having an earthly herbal flavor.

CBD Oil Consumption, and How Does it Work in Bodybuilders?

Franco et al. (2012) explained that CBD oil is available to bodybuilders in various brands and products. Each product has its way of using it and its unique set of pros and cons. They include

• CBD edible oils. It involves infusing the oil in gummies, baked goods, tea, coffee, and honey. Allows the user to take the CBD oil without the unpleasant oily flavor. Although its effectiveness is delayed, the effects last longer.
• Cream oil. It involves rubbing the cream oil directly on a specific area of the body of athletes. The CBD targets the cannabinoid receptors that are located on the skin to do its function.
• Soft Gels. It is mostly used by athletes who are under other supplements or medications.

Once the compound is consumed or applied to the bodybuilder's body, various activities occur to induce the benefits. The human body contains a system called the Endocannabinoid framework, which helps to balance the body's functions. It produces its cannabinoids and contains two receptors:

CB1 receptors are mostly located in the central nervous system in the brain. There work to coordinate the movements, emotions, mood, pain, and sleep of a bodybuilder. Hence CBD oil is rubbed to the affected area or consumed orally. It may combine with these receptors or fasten the process of combining with cannabinoids to boost the body to counter-attack the problem at hand.

CB2 receptors-they are mainly found in the immune system and mostly work on pain and inflammation, thus boosting the immune system. CBD compounds stimulate the production of these receptors together with endocannabinoids.

Benefits of CBD Oil for Fitness and Bodybuilding

Crossland et al. (2022) elaborated on the following benefits of CBD oil on body exercises:

Improves Muscle Recovery

During an intense fitness session or mass lifting muscles, causing microscopic tissue tears and inflammation. These minor damages to the body repair the tissue strengthening the muscle simultaneously where antibodies eliminate the dead cell while fixing the damaged cells. However, sometimes the body may need assistance repairing the muscle damage caused by injuries. CBD is an anti-inflammatory in the body, helping the body to lessen muscle inflammation.

Increases Body Energy and Mobility

It is very hard to perform some exercises when you feel lazy. At the same time, age can affect joint stiffness, thus decreasing body mobility. CBD oil consumption helps regulate glucose levels in your body by reducing the production level of insulin; thus, more glucose is burned into energy. This aid also in reducing the production of fat as no glucose is transformed to fat. At the same time, CBD compounds help bone flexibility and enhance mobility. Learn more about how to take cbd oil drops?

Improves Sleep Quality

There is no denying the key role that good sleep plays for general health and efficient muscle recovery for users. In addition, bodybuilding is not only physically demanding but also mentally. Therefore, lack of rest and sleep results in difficulty for the body to convert protein into muscles and reduces body energy and performance for bodybuilders. By interacting with receptors in the endocannabinoid system, CBD can promote deeper, good, and quality sleep by inducing calming effects to bodybuilders.

Stress and Anxiety Reduction

Stress results in decline in muscle growth. When one is under stress, a hormone called cortisol is produced, which hinders bones and muscle development. CBD oil is well known as a stress and anxiety relief aid. It is normal sometimes to feel anxiety during a run by athletes or mass lifting. CBD helps clear the mind of these thoughts.

It Helps in Weight Loss

During fitness sessions, most participants plan to reduce body weight. CBD oil helps weight loss, promotes body metabolism, and also reduces appetite in the long term. In addition, it encourages the breakdown of body fat into energy, thus improving the performance of the bodybuilders. Studies show that marijuana users tend to weigh less than non-users.

Pain Relief

Muscle soreness, injuries, and pain are relevant during some fitness sessions because of microscopic damage to muscle fibers. Certain CBD oil products like cream, when applied, provide relief from these aches. Most people use CBD oil instead of other painkillers since it shows no signs of addiction.

Possible Disadvantages of CBD Oil for Bodybuilders

Ogle & Whitney (2021) said that it could react chemically with other medication or alcohol, thus leading to side effects for bodybuilders. They include:

• Dry mouth
• Causes loss appetite
• It may cause diarrhea
• It can result in gastrointestinal problems.
• It can cause drowsiness when taken with other drugs or alcohol. Learn more about is cbd oil good for arthritis?

Conclusion

CBD oil has shown essential benefits to bodybuilders and in fitness sessions, thus making it popular in this field. For example, consuming CBD oil before workouts will help your body to deal with any anxiety and to function efficiently during your workouts. On the other hand, taking it afterward will help alleviate any pain, muscle soreness, and inflammation you experienced after the session. In addition, it reduces the reliance on other addictive painkillers for bodybuilders. All of these factors make CBD an interesting option for sports in general. Also, it is legal and thus not part of any drug screening test, making it suitable for professional fitness competitions.

References

Shannon, S., & Opila-Lehman, J. (2015). Cannabidiol oil for decreasing addictive use of marijuana: a case report. Integrative Medicine: A Clinician's Journal, 14(6), 31.

Franco, J. R., Jacobs, K., Inzerillo, C., & Kluzik, J. (2012). The effect of the Nintendo Wii Fit and exercise in improving balance and quality of life in community dwelling elders. Technology and health care, 20(2), 95-115.

Crossland, B. W., Rigby, B. R., Duplanty, A. A., King, G. A., Juma, S., Levine, N. A., ... & Varone, N. L. (2022, June). Acute Supplementation with Cannabidiol Does Not Attenuate Inflammation or Improve Measures of Performance following Strenuous Exercise. In Healthcare (Vol. 10, No. 6, p. 1133). MDPI.

Ogle, W. (2021). Cannabis in exercise and sport. In The Routledge Handbook of Post-Prohibition Cannabis Research (pp. 117-127). Routledge.