How and Why CBD Oil Can Improve Your Fitness

Introduction

It’s not always easy to choose an effective health supplement to help improve your health, fitness, and speed up recovery.

With so many options available on the market, it has become extremely difficult to separate the beneficial ones from products that promise false claims.

However, there’s one product that’s recommended by many modern-day fitness trainers: CBD oil. But, what is CBD oil good for anyways?

Individuals who perform intense exercise experience different sensations after they finish their workout, but soreness and pain is pretty much unavoidable.

Simply put, working out exposes your body to some level of physical stress, especially if you perform HIIT or high-intensity interval training style workouts.

The process of building muscle (hypertrophy) results in microdamage to your muscle fibers, which in turn leads to muscle fatigue, inflammation, or pain.

After we train our muscles, our body basically begins the natural process of repairing these damaged fibers which in turn increases the size of our muscles. That’s how muscle building works.

So in regards to CBD and working out, pain reduction and recovery is primarily where it comes into play. Let’s take a closer look…

The Endocannabinoid System

If you are wondering why intake of CBD oil is important when you exercise, you must understand the endocannabinoid system.

You must also know how CBD affects certain hormones and neurotransmitters in the human body.

As mentioned above, most people suffer from muscle aches and inflammation after they perform intense exercise.

These individuals can add CBD oil to their post-workout routine to alleviate the occurrence of such side effects.

Every human body contains a system called ECS or endocannabinoid system. The ECS contains cannabinoid receptors in two forms, CB1 and CB2.

According to experts, CBD oil affects primarily the actions of CB2 receptors. These are receptors present in our central nervous system. CBD oil activates the CB2 receptors and thereby improves our immune system and regulates both inflammation and pain.

Effects of CBD Oil on Post-Workout Pain and Inflammation

Several studies conducted over the years have confirmed that CBD oil is useful as a pain reliever.

CBD can reduce pain caused by both chronic and acute conditions. So, its use as a remedy for pain caused by high-intensity exercises is pretty common.

According to the findings of a 2017 study, CBD oil is a potent treatment for joint pain, which is common in individuals who engage in strenuous exercise regularly.

An animal study conducted in 2014 explained how cannabidiol (CBD) affects the activities of glycine receptors. For your information, the glycine receptors are responsible for our perception of all kinds of pain. During the study, researchers found that the mice that received a daily dose of cannabidiol experienced a considerable reduction in their inflammatory pain.

CBD Oil and Muscle Recovery

Irrespective of the kind of exercise you engage in, or the level of physical stress that form of exercise causes, you must take the necessary steps for complete muscle recovery.

And if you perform strenuous exercises, you must have an extra focus on the process of muscle recovery. That’s because strenuous workouts can result in excess muscle damage if you don’t follow a healthy post-workout routine.

Most individuals prefer to take breaks between two days of an intense workout so that their strained muscles get enough rest.

Trainers also suggest that one must sleep well and eat high-protein foods to prevent muscle injury due to intense workout. While each of the elements we have mentioned above plays a crucial role, things can become even more perfect for you if you include CBD oil into your daily routine.

CBD oil can enable faster recovery and allow you to resume working out after the rest day with additional vigor.

When we perform an intense workout, our body produces a stress hormone called cortisol. Cortisol works as a catabolic hormone. To put it more bluntly, it decreases protein synthesis in the human body and thereby prevents muscle growth and production of new tissues.

If you fail to control the production of this catabolic hormone, you will fail to gain muscles even if you follow a strict workout routine. What’s even worse is that the rise in cortisol often results in weight gain.

CBD oil is a proven anti-catabolic agent. As a result, a daily dose of the ingredient will regulate the production and release of cortisol into your system. CBD oil will effectively decrease the cortisol level in your body and promote protein synthesis and muscle regeneration. This, in turn, will enhance the effects of the exercises you perform.

If you want to relax your strained muscles and get rid of muscle fatigue, you must sleep well. CBD oil will also improve your quality of sleep and enable better muscle repair.

Conclusion

The discussion above hopefully helped you better understand how introducing CBD oil into your daily routine can help, especially if you are an avid fitness buff.

There is no denying the benefits of CBD when it comes to post-workout recovery. Many fitness enthusiasts and professional athletes use CBD keep themselves running at peak performance. You too can reap the same benefits.

I recommend CBD oil manufactured and marketed by a reliable company. Additionally, consulting with your doctor or preferred specialist prior to introducing CBD into your routine is not a bad idea either.

All in all, though, CBD is very safe and quite effective. I personally use it myself and highly recommend you give it a try.

Have your ever used CBD for your health or fitness? What was your experience? Please let me know in the comments below…

About Theresa Duncan

Originally from Detroit, MI, Theresa has been offering health and fitness advice for the last 30 years while working as an engineer. She decided to turn her passion into a profession, and finds nothing more satisfying than helping others reach their health and fitness goals.