By now, you must’ve heard about all different kinds of benefits you may enjoy if you incorporate CBD in your daily diet. From psychological to physical benefits – it seems like the benefits are virtually endless and you could make almost anything feel better if you include it in your daily life. But, what about sports? Is there a way that cannabidiol can help you achieve better results if you’re a professional athlete or just a fitness enthusiast?
As you might’ve expected – the answer is a solid yes. Athletes, both professionals and sports enthusiasts push themselves greatly on the regular basis. A workout strains the body on both the physical and emotional level.
One of the most important aspects of working out is rest, or post-workout regimen, however you want to call it. Without the proper rest, you’ll never be able to achieve the best possible results, no matter how hard you train or how clean and healthy you eat. It’s just the way it is. Your muscles grow when you are resting, not when you’re training, contrary to the popular belief.
Now, we all know of the most common ‘symptoms’ after a good, hard workout session. After an intense training session, our body experiences soreness in the muscles, inflammation and even nausea. All of them are pretty common and many struggle to cope with them. Traditional over-the-counter medication can be used to alleviate these symptoms, however, they tend to have side effects – both short and long term.
That poses a question – is there an alternative approach? Well, if you consider the National Basketball Association has made cannabis use legal and many major sports associations and leagues across the globe are also trending towards it, you could probably guess where we’re going with this. You can use cannabidiol rich products to help boost your recovery and perform better.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at why exactly you should give CBD products a chance.
1. It Helps With Post-Workout Pain and Inflammation
As we’ve mentioned earlier, when you’re working out you are putting a lot of stress on your body, more precisely muscles and joints. Naturally, the body’s response to such stress is pain and inflammation. If you’re someone that works out often, you know that this is a regular occurrence.
Now, inflammation is the immune system’s response to any injury or infection, whether it is a virus, bacteria or physical injury, so why does it happen after working out? Well, by actively working out, your muscles are literally suffering micro-injuries and traumas. Healing process regenerates it and that’s how your muscle grows. That’s why inflammation occurs – because your body is injured in a way. That is also why you’re experiencing pain.
Now, CDB has natural anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties. So, if you’re tired of being in pain, incorporating a cannabidiol-rich gummy bear in your post-workout regimen can be more than helpful. Just make sure you choose right – gummies should be THC free, that’s not what you’re looking for in this situation. If you check out hwxcbd.com you’ll find some tasty, THC-free CBD gummies for sale that’ll help you out tremendously.
2. It Helps With Muscle Recovery
Once again, a hard, strenuous workout will damage your muscles, sometimes even more than it should if you push yourself too hard. With this in mind, it’s paramount to have a proper post-workout routine to make sure you recover perfectly. That involves dieting, rest days, protein shakes, supplements, proper sleep schedule and so much more.
One of the ‘by-products’ of intense training sessions is the production of the hormone called cortisol. You’ve all heard of it. Cortisol is what is called a catabolic hormone, which means it reduces the synthesis of the proteins needed for muscle growth. That is why anabolic substances are often used to boost muscle growth, but that’s beside the point.
Now that we know that catabolic substance is released after a workout and that substance can slow down the muscle growth, what do you do? You don’t turn to anabolic steroids, of course. Instead, you use a natural substance that is anti-catabolic and it regulates the amount of cortisol released. That way, you’re not damaging your body, but are still making sure your body grows and regenerates.
3. It Helps With Sleep
You can ask any professional athlete in the world, aside from dieting and training regime, what is the next most important aspect of staying healthy and fit and all of them will say a good night’s sleep. A lot of people underestimate the power of sleeping and are often boasting about how they excel with only a few hours of it every night. That is wrong on so many levels. You need at least 7 hours of quality sleep every day. Less than that increases your chances of various health problems by a significant amount.
Our body is virtually being rebuilt and regenerated as we sleep. Sometimes, if you’re stressed or just in pain from training, it can be quite difficult to fall asleep, let alone sleep steadily for 7 or 8 hours. Luckily, sleeping pills aren’t necessary. It has been proved, many times, that cannabidiol is more than effective helper when it comes to sleep. It relaxes you, making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep for as long as you need.
4. It Alleviates Nausea
Nausea is a common symptom after a heavy session in the gym. And let’s be honest, as much as it feels good on a psychological level to know that you’ve crushed your workout so much you’re feeling nauseous, hugging the toilet and throwing up isn’t something we look forward too – especially if we’ve had our post-workout protein shake. That’s just protein down the drain. A little bit of CBD can help with nausea significantly, with the emphasis on the ‘little bit’ bit.
There you have it, most of the post-workout ‘side effects’ eliminated by a single gummy bear. However, the benefits of CBD are far greater. It could be beneficial as a pre-workout as well, helping alleviate some performance anxiety and even boost your circulation. Either way you look at it – it’s more than helpful.